The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-04

The following communication to the Gin
rinnati Commercial II SO pertinent to the
question Of eoaI oil matters which we have
raised in this city, that we reproduce It entire
DANGEROUS OILS.
To the Editor Of the Commercial:
Some weeks ago read valuable and In
tafesting article in the C5m,pwridl on the
subject Of oils. dangerous and otherwise. and
was led thereby to investigate the, character
Of the fluid upon which my family was de-
pending for light. | happen TO be one of the
many who feel that they cannot afford to burn
gas, OF who, barring the necessary unpleasant
gsdgfs Of the lamp. etc, really prefer the steady
]. light ..,. Of good =, argana burner to .
and my experiences. ]. found that the oil we
were tising-an and which came from grocery
near by would flame up, when touched with
p lighted match at LAB degrees, and so,
paratively safe. But my fears were now
somewhat aroused, and determined TO take
some trouble. to obtain really safe oil. / there
fore Procured large sized can and proceeded
r tpssb eea sr s@ as RS sss horSSse s
msnaed to me as eo keptp tuck Wt tss ae'o oil
warranted TO stand 100 degrees before
Naming. This can full Of oil | did not test,
met with no accident | then returned my
can TO be reiiled, and speefled-and / am
sure Twas clearly understood wanted
the same oil had purchased before, viz: the
were to that. In due time the oil was sent
home, and the lamps filled and lighted: but
soon thereafter our kitchen girl came run
ming up stairs in GREATNESS haste for me to
,acolneg. and see, whatever allied that ere
lamp. went down stairs. three steps at q
time, to find q large lamp on the dining table
blazing nearly to the ceiling. Notwithstanding
the wick was turned down much below the
top. and In such condition that. with safe oil,
THO light would simply have gone out.
A Rancs explained matters The lamn was
quite full. and the heat of the brass top was
transforming the oil into gas. which, as the
gas had centre and free draught. was
passing Up and being burned as fast as gen
display, and had not the lamp been quite full
OIL Oh, might have been more difficult to deal
with. As IT was. knew there could not be
any considerable amount of gas i'm the lamp
and certainly not more than would easily
pass off Without an explosion, and 50 did
not fear to- blow 1t out. Many II not most ar
gand burners have small brass ratchet strip
which extends down some inches along with
the wick into the oil. This Is always heated
by Its immediate connection with the flame at
it's upper part, or by contact with other metal
portions OF the lamp, and being good con
ductor OF heat. Is capable OF generating sllf-
sion, unless The oil s so refined az to endure a
high degree of heat before changing into gas
next allowed the lamp to cool off, and tried
1t again with q less quantity of oil, but
eventually small quantities Of gas were con
hnually generated in the lamp, which rose
like bubbles, and kept up an interesting but
disagreeable popping as they came in contact
with the flame, It is putting 1t mild to say
that we didn't thoroughly enjoy our suppers
around that lamp. the women folks TO their
credit, being too much afraid Of it TO stay in
the room, or to return to it until the threat
ening bomb was removed.
Next morning, bright and early, / armed
myself with my thermometer. tealsettle of
hot water. tin cup, etc, small quantity of
the oil and q box Of matches, and repaired to
the back yard ] first tried the oil at t4O de-
Krees and y famed savagely; at 100 deg. and
went again without the slightest hesitation:
Mt 100 deg, and the blaze again answered the
match: at e5 deg, and 1t burned more lam
guidly ut first; mt 30 deg and the limit
seemed to have been reached, for while it
would not extinguish the match, the oil would
only burn in connection with the match.
Below 30 deg, and the matches were ex-
tinguished In the oil. Here was oil.
then, Kentucky test" that only needed the
heat Of a warm summers day to become as
explosive as nitro glycerine, and it was mer-
eiful providence that we escaped without
having added another to the long and woeful
list of "eoal oil horrors Only think of the
respondent was thus the means of leading
nae; and note. II You please, the pernicious in
huence Of the "unbridled press" But what
shall be said of the respectable and reliable
grocer who is guilty of exposing his con-
fiding customers to such danger2 The fellow
cumstance by eetnparison Go to; let us ex-
narmtnate him! -
Respectfully, W: .. HATHAWAY.
F4h -