New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-04-21
Eoroseao Disasters.

part If the demand for ! material for
illuminating nnrnoses. Tallow = tha
meanfime had advanced GREATLY Is
price. owing to the Increased demand
Tor it for manufacturing SOAP. Lard
oil was used to q considerable extent.
but its cost vas in the wav Of ;ts ren.
eral employment. The I'll extracted
from various kinds of fish was exnari-
mented with. Int Il was generally
found to give quite an unsatisfactory light
and q very unsatisfactory odor. Wax
candles were used in q few mansions.
but were far too costly to be found IL
ordinary houses. Candles made Of pa
rafine afforded beautiful white li1ht
not injurious to the ewes Init Ike war
candles thew were verv nrnans;ve
Aho,,t twortu-aovor' vaors 90 -,
these na+ar;ais Tor ar+;{;c;al ;,i,s,o;e 90
tion wara 1,a a, a',,,araodaa ~ 20 !
IRONS k;nds ~ h,rn;nd f,,,;ds ,,;oh
were comnosad ord;nar;7v ~ . hn,,+ on,,ai
narts If f,rnant;na ', and a1coboi 4T,
aadd;t;on ~ IL o1ooho1 ~ ~ +,,,,,a ~
fine was necessary to furnish bvd,dnar
to consume the laroe amonnt II carbon
which the former Substance contained.
Burning fluids were IMPROVEMENTS On
andes and most of the oils that had
been in use. as thew were clearly and
comparatively cheap. while they nro-
duced verv GOOD irht There woe
however. some dancer attond;nr +ho;r
use. The occurrence If tha c;v;, war
nut sudden ston to the consnmnt;on
Of burning fluid! The snnnlv ~ tnr.
pentine fnrnished nv the vast nine for.
ests of the sonth was ent;rel1 cnt nff
while the tar imposed m o1ochol ro,,
dered It altogether too exnens;va n ho
employed for iIlnm;nat;nr nnrnoses
even if it could be mixed With anv new
substance. : :
just previous to the breaking out Of
the war kerosene oil manufactured from
bituminous coal or shales was intro
duced together with an ingeniously con-
structed lamp that rendered its use
possible without the production of
smoke. The cost of the oil was for
some time about one dollar per gallon.
Soon after the war commenced petrole-
UNI 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 bituminous coal. In
the meantime many improvements were
made in the lamps for burning the oil
till the perfection Of consumption with
out smoke or offensive odors was almost
reached. The supply OF the oil became
50 large, the method OF purifying it so
excellent, and the facilities for trans
porting it SO much improved that the
price fell to twelve cents per gallon.
From this time we had not only the best
put the cheapest material Tor illumina-
ton the world ever knew. .y..s.
But there are Objectionable qualities
in the best of things, and kerosene oil
furnishes no exception to the general
rule. It is volatile, very inAammable
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
" accidents that are reported every
season as resulting from the employ
ment of kerosene show the extreme
carelessness with which it is used. With
oil the warnings that have been given
in the papers, with all the accounts of
burnings that have been published,
many families continue to use it for
starting fires in the morning, and for
reviving them during the day.. It is so
cheap that many persons use it instead
of kindling-wood, often spilling con-
siderable quantities of it on the stove,
or floor, and the wonder is that larger
number of " accidents do not occur.
But the "accidents resulting from
the employment of kerosene oil do not
all occur from using it to kindle fires.
We read every year of numerous ex-
plosions of kerosene lamps. The
lamps in which these explosions occur
are sometimes in the hands of persons
who are CARRYING them about the house;
and other 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 neces-
sarv to produce an explosion. however.
are verv often furnished bv causes not
directed bv design. The like of this is
true of explosive compounds formed of
other substances. An experimental
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 compounds re-
suit from the union of the volatile por-
tons of kerosene with the air. When
the oil in q lamp has burned quite low
and the temperature Of the lamp and
tie contents is high, g. spark
conveyed to the mixture above
the oil or the sudden escape of some
of the gas in the direction of the
flame above is quite certain to produce
an explosion. Ii heated lamp con-
tanning a considerable amount Of gas
above the oil is shaken, as bv carving
it in the hand or by Earring the support
on which it stands, an = explosion is
likely to follow. Since kerosene oil
has been subjected to a vigorous in
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