The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-09-17
TIE MYSTERIES OF EIREs.
SOME REMARKABLE CASES OF sPoNTA-
NEoU-S CO1IBUSrION.

SDOnf nfaneOUS CGflbtNtlbii. anu a
theory to account for the destructive
and extensive forest fires that almost
yearly work such havoc with the sylvan
forests of America Professor Weiss
man is of the opinion that some dewd ops
cITuoing to the leaf of a tree or plant
acts as a double convex lens, and brings
the suns rays to focus on some dry,
infIammable substance which must be
at the exact distance trom the dewdrop
lens as to correspond with its sphere of
curvature.
Many IA hundred fires every year re-
maiued unexplained, even after the most
thorough and exhaustive investigation
tsAmong all the wonderful phenomena
which chemistry presents to MS, )" writes
Professor WeiSSman. ''theie are few
more remarkable than those of the spon-
tareous combustion Of bodies, animate
and inanimate. which emit flames, and
are sometimes entirely consumed 10y in
ternal fire. - Among the substances
subject to spontaneous combustion pull
veriZed charcoal is one of the most re-
markabIe. ~ load of charcoal WAS de-
lived i'm an outhouse of a clergyman III
Ieipsic and showed no signs OF taking
fire till the door 10y accident was lett op
en-. when the wind blew spTinkingS u
snow on the charcoal. The rapid aDSof-
I
1 caused the charcoal to ignite. and as
/ the day WAS windy the whole range OF
( buildings were burned to ashes. IN
/ this connection, a fruitful and unsns-
pccting source of fire suggests itself TO
! those of our American houSe-keeperS
/ who burn wood as fuel and who stole
the ashes in boxes or barrels. The ac-
! cidental distributing of such aShds even
! after years, viii cause them to ignite,
provided the air is damp Or ioggy- Jhe
! phOSphuret of potash from decayed wood
renders wood ashes highly intiammable,
and mysterious cellar fires in the rural
/ district are, no doubt, in some cases
/ caused by this extraordinary form of
! spontaneous combustion.
/ Professor Weissman himself had the
I unfortunate experience Of being burned
! out of house and home on Wild winter
! night some three years since, and he
has diligently collected facts about the
/ spontaneous combustion. 1t appears
/ that he had been having his house pain
ted, and one night the painters, as their
manner is, left their working pants,
their pots and their brushes on the as
! phaltum floor OF the cellar. They had
previously, with a bunch OF rags, re-
( moved from their hands, with spirits of
turpentine. the paint with which their
hands were soiled The ball of rags
took fire, the pants and paint pots fol-
/ lowed suit and the house was burned
to the ground.
In the carriage factory of MessTs.
I Eaton II Gilbert, Troy, y. Y, u drop of
linseed oil fell into an open paper of
lampblack, set it on fire and came within
an ace of burning down the whole great
factory.
In several instances o'lcIOth in large
a,
. weather. An instance OF this also Uc-
. ours IN American fire experience. y
planter in Virginia sent his servant TO
fredericksburg for roll of oilclo;h. 1t
. WAS warm day aud the wagon was op-
I en-. During the journey home 1t began
to ram. and the roll Of oilcloth took fire
on The road Another instance of this
Kind is supplied by Philadelphia during
the war. An order from the war de
pdrtment in Washington for knapsackS
for Il regiment was filled in the city of
JroLhpIly love. The sacks were all I'm
I ished and collected. and counted over
and let in pile in the paint shop, about
ten o'clock on Saturday night. 50 is TO
be sent to Washington 10y cars early on
Monday morning. Gu entering the paint
shop before daylight on Monday morn
ing no kBapSacks were to be found. Ia
their place was nothing but = heap of
smouldering ashes
Newly pressed hay free quently ignites,
as do also oatmeal and curnInCal in bar
rals. During the famine in Ireland in
1SIi-fS a vessel was despatched from
New York with cargo of corn II cal
for the relief Of the sufferers. In dis
charging the bags from the vessel the
last three were found to be on fire.
The Imcricau Journal 0f Science gives
. 10 it,cfarra of tbt. a.,nnfa,,o
Gus combustion of wood. \ Mr.. y dam
Reigart, two ycals previous to the oc.
curance, received Il piece Of wood, sup
posed to be cedar, detached from large
piece dug up 80 feet below the surface
near Lancaster, Pa. The piece weigh
ed few ounces, and it was broken il
two and laid upon white pine Shelf in
Mr.. ReiCart 5 counting room. About
four days before the discovery os the fire
he had occasion to wipe the dust from
the shelf and from the piece of cedal
with wet cloth. Three days afterward
I it was discovered that the piece of wOoC
had igDited, and combustion was pro
ceeding 50 rapidly that in a few minutes
the shelf would have been on fire.
Probably another prolific source o
our forest fires is to be sought in tht
liability of decayed wood, not only L
spontaneous combustion, but from tn,
direct rays of the sun. At Winchest CT
Conn, some years since, some wOrkmeI
about | p. NJ, on August ,, discovered
smoke arising from a barren upland
The sun was excessively hot at tha
time. When they went to seek the or
, igin of the smoke, they found that tht
remains of an old decayed hemlock 10.
had burst into blaze and was burnin;
. / tiercely,
;. Professor Weissman relates severa
d well authenticated cases in which bul
y bous vessels, hyacinth glasses. wine de
p canterS on shelves, by receiving the di
rect rays Of the sun from ar open win
dow, have caused serious coDhagraticns
In the township of Boscawin. Merrima
county, n. H., i is related Il shelf wa
set on fire in a hotel by means of pear
shaped decanter containing gin. An
other transparent liquid would be, o
, course, equally dangerous if exposed t
the sun.
That animal bodies are liable t
spontaneous combustion, =" says Profes
\ SOr Weissman, lis a fact which wa
y well known to the ancients. Many cas-
es have been adduced as examples, whic
were no doubt merelycaSeS of individual
who were highly susceptible TO stron
electrical eNcitatiOn." a certain gen
, tleman, known to the professor, on
cold. keen winter night, retired to III
chilly sleeping room. He had worn sill
q stockings over WOODEN ones during tn
day. On undressing for bed, as Il
= drew off his silk stockings. he heard
sharp, cracking noise, but paid no SDet