The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1877-05-10
From the scieutinc Ameticanl
Explosion Of Kerosene Lamps.


J the oil At once blazed up and ran of the
, table in a burning stream. setting FIRE 10
! the hoor. The oil blaEed up two or three
feet high. and but for prompt attention
the results would have been serious The
lamp was Of glass. Of the Eat form. said
to be the best; the oil vessel would hold
J half or three quarters ofa pint; tho wick
, was long enough 10 reach the bottom.
The hsme was turned rather low. but by
no means as low a. possible. and the
lamp had been burning the greater part
Of two evenings since IL had been tilled.
80 that IL could not have been too full IL
was not exposed TO n draft and could not
have been upset or shaken: no one had
been In the room for az least half an
hour previously. The oil was claimed 20
be able to stand l5O' FIRE test. and imme.
diately after tae rccident some Of the oil
was tried with a lighted match but IL
would not bura. The explosion did not
Oh ,ow a1y pieces OF the lamp more than
a Few inches. and the oil was not scatter.
ed at all; the noise was 80 slight when
heard In the adjoining rooni. IL was sup
posed that the chimney bad broken and
fallen off Question !. Why did the oil
that ran from the lamp burn as freely 40
turpentine while the oil poured from the
can would not burn at all 2 is any
] kiMa OF AfFOaEuF OIL NAlEs anu NaN " So
how can the consumer test itT
As this subject involves the protection
Of life and property. and a. similar in
stances have lately become commsn. We
think IL OF primary importance that the
causes Of such accidents should be well
known. and that some prevailing errors
shoSld be corrected, as they lead 10 pre-
ci-ely such cataAtrophes a. the one in
preston. But our correspondent was
more fortunate than one acquaintance Of
ours. who. coming home late in the even
ing. found his house entirely burnt down.
t5e only possible cause being that = ser
want had LEFT kerosene lamp. partially
burnt out. alight ia her room. and AZ the
fame burned down an explosion doubt
less followed. spread the oil, aud set the
house in flames.
Our correspondents accident illus.
trate. the following popular errors; !.
| Tie states that the lamp was Of the aat
/ kind said To be the best some Of the
| fiat lamps have the flame 40 ncrr the
body OF the lamp that the containing
/ vessel and the oil brcome warm. then
/ the latter easily reaches the temperature
Of the flashing point. 40. l2D or more
/ degrees. This shows that a.l lamp. are
not by any means ths safest
, lie also .ays: The lamp had been
/ bu ming the Z. Eater part of 40 evening"
since it had been flied. and zo couli not
have heen too full" A iuil lamp cannot
explode; explosion 10 caused by the
space in the lamp ovec the oil. which.
when filed with AIR mixed with vapor OF
the oil, forms an explosive mixture. A
Sarrel full OF petroleum can take FIRE, but
will never explode Not long ago w.
bad an illustration in New York of the
dangers OF empty petroleum barrels A
man struck a match. in order 10 light a
pipe. upon an old petroleum barrel. and
u exploded at once. nearly killing him
The ba. rel '7as filled with a mixture Of
petroleum vapor and athiospberie air.
which happened TO De in the p oportioi
necessary TO lake an explosive mixture. |
namely. ! volume Of vapor TO abo W
volumes Of air In fact. the addition OF
10 pc. cent OF petroleum vapor 10 com
mon air makes n most dangr. ous mix. |
ture. IL Is. therefore, an error TO sup |
pose that lamp can be too full and We |
advise housekeepers 10 fil them, and |
never let them burn out. and to avoid as
L.ueh as possible any empty space over |
the oil.
3. II is a popular mistake to test tho
oil at the com.non temperature. Only 1
beuzine and naptha will take FIRE under |
these circumstances; but II the kerosene /
10 adulterated with the latter. the mix.
turs may be ignited also. Good kero
sene. when cold, will burn onty with q
wick but II we warm IL. the vapor will
fash on nearing fame " We warm IL
more. the oil itself will take Ere.
We should. therefore. warm the oil
when we test IL: the simplest way
Is TO pour some in a tablespoo and keep
il in contact with the si-faee Of hot wa
ter. Of which the temperature can be
found with a common Thermometer; II
the oil is claimed 10 stand the & q test Of
l50'. IL ought not 10 burn before being
he1ted 10 that degree. We published an
illustration Of a simple method Of testing
kerosene on page 402 Of our voluaae
IL will thus be seen that our CORES
pondrnt's lamp exploded because IL had
burned for 4 long time since filed. leav-
ing a space over the oil. which filed with
its vapor as the lamp. being Of the aat
kind, became wa. m. When the fame
was turned down, the lamp cooled lie
tie. the vapor contracted. and in ia con.
tr~ ctiOn drew in air, until enough Of u
had ent ed the space above the oil TO
form the explosive mixture referred 20
This mixture was .et on FIRE by the
fate. and. Of course. the lamp was
broken by the explo-ion. The kerosene
left in the fat laLip became heated by
the flame being much nearer 10 10 than
IL would have been la lamp of a taller
or more nearly globular form. aud Of
course was therefore ready 10 burn.
while the cool kerosene in the can was
not The pieces Of glass were not scat
tered much and the explosion made little
atFM.N s.Fa ]
very large space FLIED with the explosive
mixture. or the explosion took place a.
-o1n as the mixture became ind ann tbis.
aud before enough air bad been drawn
IN to give the mixture the most rtvctivs
proportion.
We believe that these remarks solve
the difficulties which many readers have
encountered. aud ~ will close this arti
Gle with a few words OF advice Do
not buy lamp. in which the 4 ,ms is too
near the body Of the lamp. Kerosene
can ascend in long wick aud short
wiclSs only tend 10 heat lamp. and oil.
and 70 encourage accidents ? Use the
cy ylindrical wicks. with the draught Ia
the middle; and use q long burner.
which brings the flame TO n distance Of \
at least three inckrs from the body Of
the lamp. The form Of the brass stu
dents lamp l. n very safe one as in this l
the OIL reservoir Is at n long distance /
from the fame. 3 Be always prepared I
TO test the oil you boy. a. already de |
scribed You can heat the water 10 /
boiling point. and then mix IL with cold |
water until IL shows ljO'. or any other |
desired temperature. ~ people would
take the trouble TO apply this simple test
occaIionally. they would largely diminish
the numOer OF accidents 4 Keep the
lamp full Of oil. and never let the kero.
sene br-n away much, aud 80 avoid the