The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-01-05
EXPLOSIVE DUSTs.
Rangers from Pulvsrized Grains
Sugar, Starch, Etc.
9he Philosophy OF slae nTatter-strsss.
Ing CGses and Curious Accidents
-sThs Investigations or
a Chemist.
New York s,,n1


Flour looks innocent enough, an
.CverseeR remarked while watching the res
movai of some barrels of -four and other
grains from large warehouse.
That depends upon how it is cooked, :"
the reporter suggested.
Just so. It Is dangerous enough in
that way; but was thinking of it as an
explosive. Just look across the room.
Xous see, when the sun rays come in the
air Is loaded with a fine grain dust, and Il
you were provided with microscopic eyes
you would see yourself fairly surrounded
with atoms Of grain Of all kinds. Now,
suppose You take dried ear of corn and
Ere it. It burns very slowly and the
chances are that it viii go out Shell It,
or take the kernels of. and it burns much
quicker. Suppose now we grind the corn,
10 viii burn quicker still, say in a minutei
but If you pulverize it, reduce il to- q
powder or dust. and ignite it, 1t goes of
Ike a fash, and has great expansive
power. That Is Just the case here. II
the room becomes overcharged with dust,
and Is ignIted, it goes of. blowing the
house 60 pieces.
zone Of the most striking cases occurred
several years ago when the WashingtSH
-Glill caught fire. Those who ~'ew any thing
about It Just g. out Of the way as quick
as they could: powder wouldn't have sent
them any faster. Blow up? Well. ]
should rather think she did. The walls Of
the mill were solid stone six feet thick,
and when the explosion came they were
Just like paper. and the roof, made OF
eheet-ircn. was blown SO high from one
sntH that 1t landed more than two miles
Hrou the spot where it went up. OF
course it was helped by the wind, but the
force exertad was shown. Men have been
blown ottE through windows, hurled
Through the air, and the walls of build,
Ing completely demolished by q mana
lighting pipe In . big grain house.
A curious accident once happened in
Scotland In large house. A man walked
In with q cigar In his mouth, and In o
second the room seemed to be filed with
fire ans terra lie roar, but a minute latet
&c cleared e. With the exception of a
smuggling, not person was hurt, but every
one of the four walls was fat ON the
ground. and the roof had been lifted bod.
hy sud dropped 200 fest away. In such
cRse8 there must be fire first The dust
burns. and powerful heat is created, and
then follows the terrific expansive forca
Mat nothing can withstand. The explo-
sion In Barclay street several years ago
may be accounted for in this way. In the
manufacture of candy, sugar and starch
hgs vlsed IN great quantities Their dust
aacuunulates. and when lighted Nigh.
s&aIly display power enough to hurl q
building 70 atoms.
Has tho explosive power of different
dust6 ever been determined"
Yes. the -four man replied. Pro.
sessor Peck, the chemist, has made some
experiments that demonstrate the enor.
nous power of sawdust various hours.
starch, and grain of all kinds. In one Of
the experiments he took three-quarters OF
an ounce of starch and, by raising 1t al
dust Ia the air. ignited it in compart.
meat intended to represent room. When
exploded It threw boz weighing sin
pounds twenty feet in the air. You can
Judge y STrself of the power of th5 ma.
teria!. Half an ounce of starch ignfted
In the same way was shown by the pro.
lessor TO lift the cover of a box and o
heavy man standing on it three inches.
s0as of the most dangerous materials
Is the wbeat-dust of douT-mills. Whea
burned il goes CT like fash. One of the
first movements Ia making -four is to rattle
tie wheat. aud pass heavy draft at the
ssgDe time over 1t, TO carry OFF the highly
ixaammable dust Yet, despite FL care.
Nss air becomes, heayilg loaded with is
Prof. Peck has shown what flour would
do by taking q box with a capacity of two
cubic feet and placing In 1t a little -four
the light of lamp entering through hole
lESone corner, and the muzzle Of bellows
through the other The cover of the box
on It. The professor then worked the bell
lows, and the small amount of -four filed
she air in the box, as dust, the
facsimile of a dust-laden mill being
produced. The flour Immediately
limited from q lamp, and in second the
cover was blown off and the man lifted
several inches into the air, while blaze or
hFe burst out from all sides. A number
Of interesting experiments were performed
By the same gentleman, showing that In
our large manufactures where dust was
likely { be formed there lurked power
as dreaded as dynamite Peck states that
enc pound of carbon and two and two
thirds Of oxygen, when they combined to
produce cafbonic acid, will evolve heat
sufficient, If applied to perfect heating en-.
CINE, IN lift nearly 900 tons ten feet into
The air. Then he assumes that if 40 pei
cent. of -four is carbon it would require
two and one-half pounds 10 accomplish
this result.
German Forest Police.