Richland beacon., 1880-11-13
Thii' MYSTERY OF FIRES.
' 'us Combustion the lhierCau.e.

'us COmbusti0n the l'hierC.u..
nevis hundred fires yearly remain
linz Ell, even after the most pains
Ams nj exhaustive investigation.
Ill all the wonderful phenomena
go. "a emlstry presents to u.s." writes
,ors Weissman, "there are few
iole ten iarkable than those Of snontan.
GUS CON .bustion of bodies. animate md
ON -, g "hich emit flames, and are
n ;ra sHm Q entirely Consumed by internal
among the substances subject to
!, 1.oou. Combustion pulverized char
~ ID '.e OF the most remarkable. A
hd OF charcoal was delivered III an out
aouse ola clergyman in LEIPZIG, and
showed no signs of taking fire until the
door by accident was left open, when the
WIND blew sprinklings of snow on the
charcoal. The rapid absorption Of oxygen
Irom the melting snow caused the char
coal to ignite, and as the day was windy
the whole range of buildings was burnedto
ashes." In this connection fruitful and
unsuspected source Of fire suggests it.
self to those Of our American house
keepers who burn wood az fuel and who
store the ashes in boxes and barrels. The
accidental disturbing of such ashes, even
after years, will cause them to ignite,
provided the air is damp or foggy. The
phosphuret Of potash from decayed wood
renders wood ashes highly infiammable,
and mysterious cellar fires in the rural
districts are, no doubt, in some cases
caused by this extraordinary form Of
Spontaneous combustion.
Professor Weissman himself had the
unfortunate experience Of being burned
Out Of house and home on n wild winter
might some three years since, and he has
since diligently collected facts about
spontaneous combustion. 1t appears
that he had been having his house
painted. 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 removed
from their hands with spirits Of turpen-
tine the paint with which they were
soiled The ball Of rags took fire, the
pants and paint pots followed suit, and
the house was burned to the ground.
In the carriage factory Of Messrs.
Eaton & Gilbert, Troy, New York, n drop
of linseed oil fell into an open paper of
lampblack, set it ON fire and came within
an ace of burning the whole great fac
tory.
In several instances oilcloth in large
rolls has taken fire in damp, muggy
weather. An instance Of this also occurs
nm American fire experience. A planter
IN Virginia sent his servant to Fredericks-
burg for roll of oilcloth. II was warm
day and the wagon was open. During
the Journey home it began to rain, and
the roll OF oilcloth took fire on the road.
Another instance of the kind is supplied
by Philadelphia during the war. An or
der from the War Department Ill Wash
ington for knapsacks for q regiment was
filled in the City of Brotherly Love. The
sacks were all finished and collected, and
counted over and left in pile III the
paint shop about ten o'clock on Saturday
night SO as to be sent to Washington 10y
cars early on Monday morning. On en-
4ering the paint shop before daylight OF
Monday morning no knapsacks were tt
he found. In their place was nothing
Int a heap of smoldering ashes
Newly pressed hay frequently ignites
as do also oatmeal and cornmel III bar
rels. During the famine Ill Ireland IL
1S47.48 a vessel was dispatched from
New York with a cargo Of cornmeal FOL
tbe relief of the sufferers. In discharg
inc the bags from the vessel the las
three were found to be on fire.