, 1879-05-22
1.v Kerosene Lamps Explode.

,R C. Kedsie. M. D., President
,..s Gate Board Of Health OF Mich
'",n ~ and Professor in the State Ag7i-
D,, D,,oI College, lately delivered an ad-
. ..os, before the Michigan Legislature.
a, ,hrb kerosene lamps usually explode.
,;a. some persons seem to think
nc he"rIo,;on S,,I ola kerosene lamp is caused
!nsSSF .ss same way as boiler explosion;
IN ,o,r ."y by the pressure o! the yapoF OF
nanGIIii nI inside the lamp. In rare instan-
In' m synIosisns w. may be caused in this way.
Ges &C.: ee%5pmpc, e~p where the ignited oil over
10, H"ms S the lamp and the lamp is enyeloped
nOS, s,mc No. But explosions usually occur
IL ~ ano,ber way; namely, where the vapor
~ ~ selo,ene se is mixed in proper proper
" ';an with air, and thus a true explosive
WV s;xture is formed which will explode
l .;,h the force OF gunshot when fired by
ANNE. % This explains why lamp is in
na .~ore danger OF exploding when only
u n,,,;,yly filled with kerosene, because a
1.rser p amount Of space is filled with the
arolosjye mixture; it is the same as a
,srpsr load of powder in gun. Many
neTsons ,Sn suppose that there can be no dan
ger Of lamp explosion unless the whele
SSodv S Of the oil in the lamp is heated to
the flashing point; that because the tenn
nera,ure Of our rooms never rises to Iso
5screes there can be no danger in using
oil whose flashing point is Iso degrees.
Rut DR.. Baker. Secretary OF the State
Board of Health, has proved BY expert.
ment wiki lamps that an explosive mix
ture may form ard the lamp may explode
while the body Of oil in the lamp is not
above S. degrees Fahrenheit. The tenn
uera,ure of the body Of oil in the lamp is
no, the only factor to be considered, be-
cause different parts of the lamp become
yery uneqlally heated. Ifyou will touch
the brass collar of a lamp which has been
burning for sometime you will find it
quite hot, and the tubes supporting the
wick is still more strongly heated. The
formation ol vapor will be 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 fitting OF the lamp become
excessively heated. Dr.Baker found in
his experiment that when the chimney
was removed by breaking or otherwise,
and the lamp continued to burn, the tenn
perature Of the brass collar rose very rap
idly in every instance; in one case in
fourteen minutes it rose to I56 degrees
Fahrenheit, In this last instance very
rapid explosions occurred by the side Of
the wick, and to prevent the whcle lamp
from exploding the light was extinguish-
ed. In none Of these experiments did
the temperature of the nody of the oil
rise above S. degrees Fahrenheit. Many
peisons on leaving room turn down
the lamp to save oil, but such economy
is very liable TO cause lamp explosion,
which is anything but economical. l
know Of case in Charlotte which illus
,rates the danger ofthis practice. A lamp
in store vas turned down during the
absence Of the clerk; person passing saw
the lamp explode and by promptly break
ing open the store he extinguished the
fire. Ifa light is not needed in a room
either exinguish the lamp or leave it burn-
ing with the usual blaze"