The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-03-14
Why KEROSENE LAMPS EXPLODE

Of the State Board Of Health of Michi-
gan and professor In the State Agricul-
tural College, lately delivered an
address before the Michigan ,Legisla-
ture, In which he explained the manner
I'm which kerosene lamps usually ex-
plode. He said: Some persons seem
to think the explosion Of a kerosene
lamp Is caused In the same way as q
boiler explosion namely, by the pres
sure OF the vapOF of the oil inside the
lamp In rare instances explosion
may be caused In this way; for exam
pie, where the ignited oil overlows the
lamp aud the lamp is enveloped It,
Name. But explosions usually occur In
anothar way; namely, where the .vapor
OF kerosene il mixed In proper proper
ttOus with air, and thus q true explo-
stve mixture Is formed which will
explode with the force of a gunshot
when Ared by fame. This explains
why d lamp Ia In more danger Of ex-
ploding when only partially filed with
kerosene, because q larger amount of
space L. filed with the explosive mix
tnre; Il is the same ~ larger load Of
powder In q gun. Many persons sup
pose that there can be no danger OF q
lamp explosion unless the whole body
of the oil Ia the lamp Is heated to the
perAt0re Of our rooms never rises to l2O
degrees there can DO no danger In using
oil whose flashing point 10 40 degrees. |
Bnt DIR. Baker, Secretary of the State
Board of Health, has proved by expert
ment with lamps that an explosive
mixture may form and tho lamp may
explode while the body of oil In the
lamp Is not above s5 degrees Fasren-
heit. The Temperature OF the body of
oil In the lamp Is not the only factor
TO be considered, because different parts
OF the lamp become very uneQuaIiy
heated. II you will touch the brass
collar Of lamp which has been burn
ing for some time you will find it quite
hot, and the tube supporting the wick is
still more strongly heated. The forma-
tion Of vapor will he determined by
the hottest part Of the lamp which
comes in contact with the oil. When
the combustion Is Imperfect from any
cause, the brass fittings of tho lamp
become excessively heated. DR.. Baker
found In his experiments that when the
chimney was removed by breaking or
otherwise, and the lamp continued to
burn, the temperature of the brass COL
lar rose very rapidly in every Instance;
In one case In IA minutes 1t rose 16i
degrees and In another case in 10 min
utes to lbs degrees Fahrenheit. In this
last instance very rapid explosions oc-
Cured by the side OF the wick, and to
prevent the whole lamp from exploding
the light was extfngaisiled. In none
OF these experiments did the tempera-
ture of the body OF the oil rise above
IS degrees Fahrenheit. Many persons
on leaving a room turn down the
lamp to save oil, but such economy is
very liable to cause IL lamp explosion,
which Is any thing but economical. i
know Of case in Charlotte which, illus
trates the danger Of this practice. A
lamp In a store was turned down
during the absence Of the clerk; IL per
son passing saw the lamp explode aud
BY promptly breaking open the store
tie extinguished the fire. If light is
not needed In Il room either extinguisll
tho lamp or leave it burning with the
usual blaze"