Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-10-12
Spontaneous Combustion,

eloL, that the Ieal cause OF nearly every
case OF the kind tbat occurs may be cor
rectly surmised. That there is such a
thing as spontaneous combustion there is
now no room t. doubt, but that the condi-
tons under which this combustion occurs
are such, that with the exercise OF due care,
they may rarely exist, seems almost equally
assured. The question, in all its belong
lngs, is both interesting and imp rtant, and
onein regard to which the managersof in.
surance conn anies should secure all posi-
BILE information to be obtained in the prem
iSes
Certain employments require the use of
materials which should, afteI use, be always
slowed in place absolutely fiTe-prooi, to
avoid danger from ire, and certain classes
of goods should be so stored that air may
freely penetra' e, to avoid tn same result.
Any number of instances may be quoted
in this connection, but more convincing
proof is found in the results Of expert
ments recently made in Detroit, and de-
scribed in the Free Press of that city:
In March last, a well-known Detroit
chemist. assisted ny two otiTiiousiy-iuciined
and scientific loving gentlemen, resolved to
make number Of exper ments to test the
worth of this talk about spontaneous com
worth the attention of every reader They
first took a piece of cotton cloth which had
once f rmed q part of sheet, and which
had been used until quite threadbare, and
sun, AIRED it with boiled linseed oil An old
chest was placed in the lott Of a store room
back of the drug store, q piece of zinc un.
der it, another piece over it, and then the
chest was filed with pager and rags, and
this particular piece OF CLOTH placed in the
center Although the room was not q
tight one, and the weather Geld, in eight
days there wa such smell Of ire alb ut the
trunk, and the chances were so good for a
confagration within it, that the contents
were emptied out An examination showed
that the fore of the oiled cloth had un-
twisted and shriyeled up, and that the rag
looked as if it had been held too near the
fire.
In April, when the rays OF the sun were
stronger, pair of painters ovealls, liter
ally covered with paint and oil, were
roll up, handful of pine shavinys
placed inside, and these were crowded IN
next to the roof boards of the loft. Tee
experiment was not week old when, dur
ing one warm afternoon, smell of smoke
alarmed the workmen IN the next room,
and he found the overalls burning, and so
tinder.lige was the Goth, that IL had 20 be
crowded ina pan of water 70 prevent total
destruction During the hot weather, last
month handful of old cotton rags, in
which two ma ches were placed, but which
were not smeared with oil or other matter,
were shut up in tin box, and hung up in
the loft, a rear window allowing the after
noon sun TO shine directly on the box for
several hours.
Towards the close Of the fourth day the
chemist took down the box to see how the
experiment was progressing, and found
the contents to consist of a puff of black
cinders which flew all over the room as
the lid was lifted. Having vacant cor.
ner in his brick wood house at home, the
chemist took the truck up there where
| there was no danger of burning build
| ing. He filled the trunk with the contents
of the paper g-bag, and then smeared
| one with benzine and threw 1t in the last
of all The trunk was shut tight every
| thing cleared awav from its vicinity, and
he commenced watching On the first day
! of the meDagerie the family went TO visit
| the sights and came home to find few
ashes marking the place where the truRk
stood, while the bricks above and around
| were badly stained with smoke.
The results OF SUCH experiments as
these show strongly the necessity for eau
ton when dealing with certain substances,
Rags, saturated with oil, become liable to
combustion, or a rag uied with benzine
for cleansing purposes, as is often the case,
becomes equally dangerous. Around any
machinery the same danger constantly oc.
ours, while the simple close storage of ma
terals of this kind is almost equally un
safe. The great fire of last year, III Chica-
go, illustrates this fact, and shows with
equal force the necessity for knowledge
Of the laws which regulate spontaneous
combustion, and their due observance by
property owners-a point upon which in
surers should specially insist.--Amertcan
Builder.