Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1878-02-09
MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSIONS.
EScicntilic Americana

month ago. We adverted to this last
week, giving correspondents theory,
and pointing out that fire officials and
other authorities had reached 10 definite
! conclusion as to its cause. 1nveStiga
ton as to the inhamabe or explosive ma
tcrial in the inanufactory has shown that
| there was chorate of potash, Il small
amount of illuminate used for the making
snap crackers, and !; large quantity Of
starch from which material moulls are
made for candy. These moulGs, it ap-
pears, after being charged with syrup,
are put in Il drying room which is highly
heated. And it is stated that in prcvi-
oUs fires in candy manUiactories, when
| the flames have reached this room, eX-
plosions have occurred. Starch also was
probably present in several of the work
rooms in the form Of fine dust, owing to
it being used in ths condition in some
of the manufacturing processes.
| 1t seems to us that here are quite suft-
| cicnt data to base q reasonable theory us
| to the cause of the catastrophe. It may
| lie assumed that accidental conditions
were such ;isto ignite lie cLlovate ofpotash
or illuminate, which last would explode
| with terrific violence, and that thereby
the powdered starch in the rooms became
fired and also exploded CT the circum
| stances may be reversed. it is quite as
reasonable to suppose that the starch,
| being highly explosive in its con,ln;nutcd
state blew up FIRST constituting the ma
.jor explosion, which subsequently involv-
the details of many other mysterious cN-
plosions tortifcs us in the belief that the
finely pulvcrizcd starch lies at the bot
tom of this one.
Two years ago lust such q casualty oc
CARED in the Pullman Car Works at
Detroit. There all the sawtlust and
shavinGs from the wood working ma
chimes were taken Iy exhaust blast into
| a pipe and forced to the t'urnances, where
| they were consumed When it was not
desired to direct the material into the
f!Irnaucc, communication Herewith was
c.osed and & grating prevented the es-
| capc of the dust, etc, from the cupo!a in
! the roof. to which is was conducted.
| While cleaning this rcceptH Gle the work.
| men discovered its contents to be o.: fire.
| s,al Ks having been drawn in from the
| f.,rnancc. i stream Of water wns thrown
| in, but TIE minute this was done Il trc-
| mcntlous explosion cnsucl, killing Is
| men, and destroying the adjacent poI-
| tions of the building. Two months prior
| to this casualty u similar one occurred
at the works of the Milhurn Wagon Com
| pany at Toledo, where the fine wOo.l dust
in a shaft exploded. causing extensive
| destruction.
| Much further evidence can DC adduccd
to show that Just rs ordinary illumina-
| ting gas is liable to explode when mixed
| with air in the right proportion, so will
| the dust of any intlamlnable material.
| A sawdu3t explosion occurred four years
ago in the town hall of FricAeic,
| Gern"ily. At the Oitcn-pesth (A,stria)
steam mill Il terrific explosion was caus-
| ed 10y cloud Of dust Of so:ue very fine
varieties of f!our bein" i@nitod by Il can-
| die. In 1872. at GLASGOW, a flour cXplo-
sion was caused by sparks from the mill
| stones. Professors Rankinc and Mac
Adam investig gated the subject, and found
that the rapid combustion Of the finely
divided flour, as well as the igmition of
mixture of air with gases furnished by
the decomposition of flour ana of wood,
may produce explosions. Flour and bran
mixed gave ottat 450o Fab. Il gas which
mingled with nine times it's volume of
air, ;gnites and such temperature may
he obtained by friction in the grinding
process, as might have been the case
in The Barclay street disaster, by actual
| contact of The dust laden air witla light.
Flour, bran, starch, s;.wdust, all belong
to the same category in this respect Tho
correspondent whose letter we publisl, ed
last week states that finely pu!vcriZed
cork in air is also explosive. and that il
caused Il similar disaster at the Linoleum
Compauy's factory on Staten Island,
where it is used in the manufacture
of floor covering. IN the Grahamte
mines of West Virginia an explosion -'as
caused by Il dry. resnous, brittle m"tcri
al filing the mining shaft in the form f
impalpable dust, which it WAS aite"wa 4
found could not lie entered with imnuni-
ty without safety lamps
We do not doubt but tha5 conditions
for explosions of this kind, as we'll as
those tending toward slow spontaneous
combustion, often exist over long periods
, of time in manufactures without the i'm
mediate cause of disaster happening to
r come into action. Probably the roolns
, of tl,!s factory had been flied with starch
l.. dust day after day for years, just rooms
= in other candy factories now are but the
y combining proportions might not have