Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-02-24
The Danger i'm Kerosene Oil.

IL IL simply 10 DC set own 10 TOOO
fortune ii one who has employed the
pSn. oils for household lurpose, has
escaped injury, since no amount OF
care can avail against the inevitable
result which must follow one accident.
Ii i easy t. understand how persons
ignorant oi the highly dangerous
character OF the light petro!eums
may unhuowinsly make use of them
IN the manner above named; but it
Is really d matter of concern and SUI
Prise that 50 many, even of tiiosu
vino arc thorough V aware OF the ma
lure Of T." Incendl"ry they are nitro
ducing Into their households, are
nevertheless thou less OF indiftei-
eht cuou,h 10 continue tie suicidal
| Practice ~ 10 ierm can be too
strong 10 properly cha, act ne The
fearful nature of the risk one is con
stnntly raining while employing
these oils in the household.
There 50, ms 10 exist a notion that
he explosive or infammable proper
lies ol ,he light petroleums can be
eileciualll neu!ralized by adding va
rious substances to them. TIE pat
snt Office records for the past few
years contain numbers of claims for
such mixtures of naptha or gasolene
with Gr, at variety of substances too
mum rous to mention.
Whether OF not the inventors of
these recipes really have faith in the
claims til y present is a matter of
small Importance; but the deceptive
illustrations which they are able to
oilor in yindication other assertions,
no less than the attractive names
which they attach to their incendiary
mixtures. are the sources of many
distressing calamit 'es.
There is one simple and, for p,ac-
teal purposes. sat s'actory method OF
determining the character of all such
mixtures, and which appears equally
az well Ia the common oils Let a
few drops bo poured into saucer,
apply match; if the material burns
reiec, il rs unsafe. The fact that the
material can he set on fire at the Or
binary temperature of our dwellings
should be sufficient evidence to a
person Of ordinary intelligence that
when employed in the household it
may, at the iir:t thoughtlcs, or care
less act, become the cause of fright
ful accident.
Now for the reason why these dan
gerous oils find their way into the
market in defiance of legal prohibition.
The crude petroleum, IA it comes
flom the wells, is not simple sub
stance, but consists OF Il mixture of a
number Of oils. The operation of re-
iining the crude product consists es-
sentially in subjecting it to o system
Of FRACTIONAL distillaiion, whereby it
il separated into some six or seven
products TO which the commercial
names of rhigolene, gasolene, naph-
tina, benzine, kerosene, etc., are at
tached
The benzne or naphtha makes up
generally about Is to 20 per cent. of
the crude oil, and for this demand
in tho various industrial arts is by no
means equal to the supply, in conse-
quence of which it commands but an
inferior price in the market: in fact,
considerably less than that demand
for the burning oils proper. Here,
then, exists a direct temptation to
dishonest OF ignorant manufacturers
aud dealers to adulterate their stock
of burning oil with oils of inferior
price ard dangerous quality. To
what extent this reckless practice is
carried on, the community have no
Just conception, but the writer feels
safe in asserting that it is as general
"a any of the trade adulterations.
SO general has it been practiced,
in Philadelphia at least, that only
three years ago an examination of
5000 oil samples sold in the various
parts Of the city and its suburbs,
showed that not more than one
twelfth of one per cent. of all the
burning oils sold in the shops OF this
city were of sufficiently high grade
pass the fire test; and it may be
added that there is no reason to sup
pose that any improvement of this
condition of things has taken place
since the time when the examination
was made. The constant occurrence,
therefore, Of accidents with coal oil
no long as the cheap and highly dan
gerous products of the refinery are
Unfortunately used to adultrate the
comparatively safe burning oil, the
kerosene, or doctored, with equal i'm
punity into the numberless burning
mixtures with alluring names that
meet one at every turns q perfectly
natural result, and one that should
occasion no surprise. And so long
as inspection is Q farce, and the in
spector and vendor are beyond the
pale Of legal accountability for their
deeds Of omission and commission,
just 30 long will coal oil murders and
L l.