The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1872-01-04
FIRE PHILOSOPHY,

During the late forest and city fires. the ter
ror->trirkcn sufferers have been nstOn.hrd b,
un!ccolIntNhr pm nom'np. forcing upon them
ti' 0ppNlIing conviction thpt the end Of all
IiiNs' was II hrnd In j, >crihing these appear
tu''s. they U,e III terms fire IRON heaven ~
"tt' air VS. on fire - "a solid wall of flame
seemed 70 be coming" &c.
rms j. not. ~ m'uy think, the eXaggeration
Of fear, bat simple description of fats. But
these Fact involve nOthint uf the supernaturtl,
The mir "r>. ~ many instances, filled with
Il ,'nr, md lire dil llv long dist nrc> apparently
through the air. where there was no visible fuel
setting irn',>, t"li.c> and everything comb j.
Bile in IL way on fire.: md, what /, infinitely
s'Iirr overt King fugitive, in search Of safety
with it, dryouring heat.
Bat how, the reader will ask could this be !:
In I'll common fire, a large portion Of the fuel
u'"I escapes Uncon-um"d. because Of the lack
Of oNy-on in the draft TO con slime it, Th, is
the smoke which We see di-pcrsc in the air. A
sm!li part 0fthi' lodges continually in our chin
ny., III thr form Of ">not." until its nccllmult-
ton cllistS it to take FIRE. and we all know with
what intensity il burns.
The dense black cloud which we see risinr
tr0G. our ocomotivcsan factory chmnCys L. the
Nry best part OF thr! fuel. which they are thu.
throwing away because til draft Of the FUR
nue. L. yet too sluggish, and the heat too low to
conSun" it. A. the heat increases, ana the air
rU>hr, IN more rapidly, with supply of oXy-
gen. the combustion becomes more perfect. and
the UI1rhnc>, Of thu smoke disappears. l. tie
iu' ]" dry, and III" combustion perfect, little
or no smoke viii De- seen.
when inl> smoke escapes into the open air. it
n""t- oxygen enough. inJcel but bv that time
It BIS cooled b,yond the point Of inlanlnabili-
y, IN l!onl> N. ltlS al generally 50 at,rntl-
ttrI TINT on" particle hurAiu" does not inilnme
Il, nci"hNorng particle, ana thus keep I'D the
i've, 1t Is thu, speedily dis,ipatcd in the atmos-
ph"rn.
Fire in the forest differs in no way from fire
cl-rWh"lr. \ burning wood is an immense i'm
perfect fnrnHcc. In the process of burning, a
lr-e amount of DmronSumrd carbon l>rnoke)
was evolved, fiat tiled tn" mir to com lttr sat
NrttIon. This was mingled with large prOpo.-
ton of wood Gus. and in the case Of pine forests
with rrSnou> vapor. forming an inlHmmablc
and explosive mixture horrible 10 think Of
Lrtu now Imagine hundreds OF acres, in fact |
square miles Of dense burning forests, from
Whirh this smoke and yapor, almost burning
hot. No9tS down the wind From the top Of
somr small r'c a blazing branch is borne for !
W"rd, and falls INTO this ready prepared maya
zine. 1t is fired, and the flames dalt. roar
Int through the mir, it may be for miles;
cert inly ~ FIR a they find the vapor to feed
'h'm. They heat the air and fire other objects,
thus mini,tcriu: to their own fury. 1t wa, this
me- that burned pr>htigo, the conhng9ation be-
inE prob1bly kindird IN the air from the dcmes-
lit hearth or factory chimney. Read the fol-
lowing viz id description:
"Thr iphrlltmt> knew Of the fire in the Vi
cinitr. but they had back burned all around the
village, 0nd did not npprchcnd any danger I'M
I'll the storm Of fire burst upon them. There
were about three hundred buildings in the
i.1'", ami IN fifteen minutes after the fire struck
N Village t!,r" WIS not Il building that was not
IN .'un'>. The heavens seemed iull Of fire an.
il'' earth va, covered whit. 1t was preceded
ny ro'Iitg cloud of smoke, thick and black rs
midnight darkness, and when it touched the
ground it became sheet Of living tire and lick
g ~ the very sand and dust in the STREETS
Nothing living could stand before it. All not
paraIyzrh with int,Nsrst fear nc toward the
lIvcr, and those who were not Oyertukrn by the
fiery demon and burned up in IN instant pIUng-
eel Into the water up to their ncckS, and even
then only saved thrm,,lyr- by continually dip
ping their heads beneath the >url'lce. MANY
were drowned after reaching the river, being
TOO much exhausted TO save themselves in the
W ucr. II is simply impossible to describe the
horrors of that awful sunday night"
This Is III" most Illustrative modern example
Of Il place burned by Tire from Heaven. -
Smok" Of midnight blucknc>s from the contia-
graft N Of dist mt pine forest, rolled over the
country, ana tnvriopcd tn" doomed city. The
'en" was suddenly illuminated as by some
mems the mMrky mass was fred and escape.
lor thih-> anlnVt" or Illuminate, in that sea OF
mr. VS. next ~ Impossible.
rHn all remember the tragiral scenes that
u ''I to occur upon the Sudden opening Of Il new
w.. III the oil regions Of Penn. ylyanil. The cs-
ctHlu< = = sVIein caught lire from furnaces
2 x t nit ne away. until it became rule to
rNt,uGu"h all fires, III such eases. while new
waI.' were being secured. rhr communication
Ji ~ .roi II the ntr, IN or recent calanities
" pf2r!,.iE sGan-Ou, To thi>.
inc n',u HIGu> qu lily Of the Dead Sea, and
II" roI,,ititol OF the region in which stood
'ih' rit"N OF the pialn." are convincing proof
III I iJ' rim Of IRE and birthstone" that tie
~ ,y'a IL a WIS nothing les, or more than fire
IL u ar, e. u'rd 10y petroleum gas, resembling
* .r,.5 tn ''tructiOn Of derrckS and build
u q 80. tn VI, wells. and Of Pc>htigO by the rus
.od' IN lor OF Il burniL pine forest. We have
nv D,!'i'n'r tat the inhabitants Of SOdom and
'"aarr , discovered the direct agency Of Gods
I'nl ~ their destruction, and If they were nc
III int Il with the geology Of their country, and
III lite, otpatrOleum. their misfortune appear
nj easily eNPIMntDe by natural law" To the
alrr"ofid the sacred pcnman has revealed the
truth, j.? slowing the wickrdneSs of these cit
.h,,, oid elitinG thr mission OF the angels to
y Dr nam and Lot.