The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-12-11
$1.5O per Annum.
Kerosene Disasters.

:
burned without the productions of smoke
resulted in immeasurable benefits to all
civilized people. At the time the oil
was discovered and this lamp invented
i whale oil had become so scarce that it
could not supply One-hundredth part of
the demand for a material for illuminat-
ing purposes. Tallow in the meantime
had advanced greatly in price, owing to
the Increased demand for it for manu-
featuring soap. Lard oil was used to a
( considerable extent, but its cost was in
way of its general employment. The
oil extracted from various kinds of fish
was Experimental with, but it was gen
/ orally found to give quite an unsatisfac-
tory odor. Wax candles were used in a
few mansions, but were far too costly to
be found in ordinary houses. Candles
made of paraffine afforded a beautiful
white light not Injurious TO the eyes, but,
like wax candles, they were very ex-
pensive-- q. f..... ~.
f. , About twenty-soven years ago all these
materials for artificial Illumination were
/ generally superseded by various kinds
/ of burning fluids, which were composed
4 ordinarily of about equal parts of tur-
I pentine and alcohol. The addition of
the alcohol to the turpentine was neces-
| sary TO furnish hydrogen to consume the
] lsiI8C sLllOEilt IL CttEDOu WHICH luC lOI-
mer substance contained. Burning
] fluids were improvements on candles
! and most of the oil that had been IN use,
as they We're cleanly and comparatively
cheap, while they produced a very good
light. There was, however, some dan
ger attending their use. The occurrence
of the civil war put a sudden stop to the
consumption of burning fluid. The
supply of turpentine furnished by the
vast pine forests of the South was entire
ly cut off, while the tax imposed on al
cohol rendered it altogether too eXpen-
sive to be employed for Illuminating
/ purposes, even if it could be mixed with
any new substance. t --
just previous to the breaking out of
the war kerosene oil manufactured from
/ bituminous coal or shaIes was introduced
together with an ingenioniously con-
structed lamp that rendered its use pos
sible without the production of smoke.
/ The cost of the oil was for some time
about 81 per gallon. Soon after the
war commenced petroleum was obtained
| in enormous quantities from wells in
PENNSYLVANIA and other places, which,
being purified and freed from certain
amount of naphtha, took the place of
the article that had been manufactured
| from Dituminous coal. In the meantime
many improvements were made in the
! lamps for burning the oil till the perfec-
! ton of consumption without smoke or
loffenSive odOrs was almost reached.
/ The supply of the Gil became so large,
! the method of purifying it so excellent,
! and the facilities for. transporting 1t so
much improved that the price fell to
/ twelve cents per gallon. From this time
we had not only the best but the cheap
/ est material for illumination the world
/ ever knew.
But there are Objectionable qualities
inthe best of things, and kerosene oil
! furnishes no exception to the general
rule. 1t is volatile, very inffammable,
and capable of forming explosive COM
! pounds with the air under certain cir
\ cumstances. Hence it is a dangerous
substance unless it is stored and handled
with proper care. The long list of sac
eidents'' that are reported every season
as resulting from the employment of
. ! kerosene show the extreme carelessness
with which it is used. With all the
warnings that have been given in the
papers, with all the accounts of burn
j ings that have been published, many
families continue to use it for starting
fires in the morning, and for reviving
| them during the day. 1t is so cheap
that many persons use it instead of kin
dling-wood, often spilling considerable
! quantities of it on the stove, or floor, and
the wonder is that a larger number of
- accidents do not occur. e
But the g accidents" resulting from
the employment of kerosene oil do not
all occur from using it to kindle fires.
We read every year of numerous explO-
siOns of kerosene lamps. The lamps in
which these explosions occur are some
times in the hands of persons who are
/ carrying them about the house, and 9TH
er times are standing on tables or other
supports. If one attempts to produce
an explosion by uniting the vapor rising
from kerosene oil with air, with view
of furnishing information to explain the
phenomenon, he is quite likely to fail.
The conditions necessary to produce an
explosion, however, are very often fur
nished by causes not directed by design.
The like of this is true OF explosive com
pounds formed of other substances. An
experimenter may fail in his purpose,
but he may be injured by the explosion
of the same substance at an unexpected
time. As before stated, explosive COM
pounds result from the union of the vol
atile portions of kerosene with the air.
When the oil in a lamp has burned
quite low and the temperature of the
lamp and its contents is high, a spark
| COuNCgGu 10 inc illAIllIS tDONc lllc Oll VI
the sudden escape of some of
the gas in the direction of TIE
flame above is quite certain to produc
an explosion. If a heated lamp con-
tanning a considerable amount of gas
above the oil is shaken, as by carrying
it in the hand or by jarring the support
on which it stands, an explosion is like
ly to follow. Since. kerosene oil has
been subjected to a vigorous inspection
the standard of the oil has been raised
and the number of explosions have been
very greatly reduced. Still there is
some dangerous oil sold and much care
lessness practiced, and as a consequence
there are explosions, more or less com
mon.
Another prominent cause of danger in
the use of Kerosene is found in the prac-
tice of filling lamps after dark or near a
stove or fireplace at any time. If a
lamp is replenished in the evening while
it is heated, light being used to aid in
| conducting the operation, the vapor
issuing from the open lamp-can or filler
may ignite and result in serious Tconse-
quences. Oil is also liable to be spilled
and infamed before its presence on the
, floor, table, or clothing is noticed
There should be a prohibition in every
house against using Kerosene to start or
, replenish fires, and against filling or
trimming lamps at other times than
when the work can be done by daylight.
II this rule was more rigidly observed
, by an the members of every household,
- accidents from the use of kerosene
oil would soon cease to occur. Chicago
: Times.
DIR. w. a. w SPoTswooD of Mobile,
Ala, now 73 wears old, owns a sword