The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-05-27
Spontaneous Combustion.

It has been known for long time
that things have burnt up without
any one setting them on fire, and
much thought has been expended to
find out the reason.
| Among the substances subject TO
spontaneous combustion is pulverized
| charcoal, A load was delivered in an
out house of clergyman in Leipsic;
| the door by accident was left open,
and the wind blew sprinklings of
snow on the charcoal. This caused
the charcoal to ignite, and as the day
was windy the whole range of build
| ings was burned to ashes. The same
thing will take place with ashes from
wood. Sometimes these are stored in
barrels or boxes, and if they are acct
IDENTIFY wet ignition takes place. This
is the cause of mysterious fires in eel
| lars in rural districts.
A gentleman had been having his
house painted, and one night the pain
tiers left their working pants, their
pots and their brushes on the asphalt
/ tum floor of the cellar. They had
previously with bunch of rags re-
moved from their hands with spirits
of turpentine the paint with which
they were soiled. The ball of rags
took fire, the pants and paint pots
followed, and the house was burned to
4 the ground. 1t was a wild winter
night, and the family barely escaped
with their lives.
In the carriage factory of Messrs.
Eaton & Gilbert, Troy, New York, a
drop of linseed oil was seen to fall into
an open paper of pblack. 1t set it
on fire, and came near, for many COM
bustibles were close by, burning down
the whole or, at factory.
In several instances oilcloth in large
rolls has taken fire in damp weather.
A planter N Virginia ent his servant
to Fredericksburg for roll of oilcloth
1t was a warm day and the wagon was
open. During the journey home it
began to rain, and the roll of oilcloth
took fire on the load. Another in
stance occurred in Philadelphia. An
order from the War Department came
for Bnapsacks for regiment. The
sacks were all finished and collected,
and counted over and left in pile in
the paint shop about ten o'clock on
Saturday night, so as to be sent to
Washington by cars early on Monday
morning. On entering the paint
shop before daylight on Monday morn
ing no knapsacks were to be found.
In their place was nothing but a heap
oil smoulderiDg ashes!
Newly pressed hay frequently ig.
mites, as does also oatmeal and corn
meal in barrels. During the famine
in Ireland in 1S47-48 vessel was dis
patched from New York with a cargo
of cornmeal for the relief of the suf
ferers. In discharging the bags from
the vessel the last three were found to
be on fire.
The american Journal of Science
gives remarkable instance of the |
spontaneous combustion of wood. A |
gentleU an two years evious to the |
occurrence, received a piece Of wood |
supposed to be cedar, detaoh from a |
large piece dug ub thirty-nine feet be |
low the surface near Lancaster, Penn. |
The piece weighed few ounces, and |
1t was broken in two and laid upon a |
white pine shelf. About four days be- |
fore the discovery of the fire he had |
occasion to wipe the dust from the |
shelf and from the piece of cedar with
wet cloth. Three days afterward it
was discovered that the piece of wood |
had ignited and combustion was pro-
ceeding so rapidly that In a few min |
utes the shelf would have been on
fire.
Decayed wood is also liable to spon-
taneeus con- bustion if heated some
what. At Winchester, Conn.,, work
men discovered smoke arising from
barren upland. The sun was exces-
sively hot at the time. When they
went to seek the origin of the smoke /
an old decayed hemlock log had burst
into blaze, and was burning fiercely.
Many other curious cases are re-
lated.
A gentleman on cold, keen winter
night, retired 70 his sleeping room.
He had worn silk stockings over his |
wooden ones during the day. On un-
dressing for bed, as he drew off his
silk stockings, he heard a sharp, crack
ling noise, put paid no special atten-
ton to 1t. In the morning, on look
ing for his stockings, he found them
consumed to ashes, without having
set fire to the chair on which they
were laid. A workman in the JERSEY
Gity ahatt0ir th roU off b;o Him Ill.,.