The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1888-01-12
s,rovLAa FIRES.


A Nunbss q Curisus lnsssaess q spon.
taneoas Co0bustieu.
Scarcely Q month passes that careful
investigation into the causes Of fires
does not reveal some new hazard Of
greater or less importance, or make
known instances Of the starting Of fires
under circumstances hitherto considered
impossible.
Cotton in bales has always been sup
posed 10 be free from spontaneous COM
bustion until lately. when . case was
discovered in 4 store house In Northern
New Jersey. A number Of bales Of Sea
Island cotton stored there were found
10 be on Are. and when It was extin-
guished In one spot It would break out
In another. A careful examination Of
the cotton and its condition showed
that It was roller gin cotton-that is.
cotton which had not been run through
Q gang Of saws, after the method of Ell
Whitney, but the lint had been drawn
away from the seeds by pair Of rolls,
one large and one small. set at just the
distance to keep tho seeds from passing
through. while the fiber passes on and
goes into y bag. ~
It was found In this lot OF cotton that
some Of the seeds had passed into the
rolls and been cracked, which caused
the oil to exude, saturating the fiber,
which was thus by the time It arrived
in the North ia proper condition for
spontaneous combustion. Careful and
extensive inquiry among Northern mills
failed to reveal any other such case.
and therefore 1t can hardly be taken as
strong objection against the use Of
roller gins in general. The ordinary
roller gin is practically prehistoric
tool, as 1t has been In use since cotton
was known in ancient India. It Is not
nearly so fast as the ordinary saw gin,
but It is said to do its work somewhat
better and with the least possible injury
to the fiber, aud to be therefore pre-
ferred for Sea Island cotton. which Is
Of long fiber. and almost double the
value Of the ordinary grades.
Another curious fire was that which
occurred in knife factory in Massa-
ehusetts. In the middle Of room q
small milling machine was working on
hardwood handles Of knives. Tho dust
or small fragments Of the wood which
wore ground off were drawn up through
. metal tube about one foot in diameter
bv q blower in the room above, and
thence forced through a wooden pipe
out into the air. A spark from an
emery wheel, fifteen feet away from
the milling machine, struck q window
twenty feet away, and glancing back
entered the mouth Of the metal tube
and set the hardwood dust on fire, q
stream Of which twenty feot in length
poured out Of the wooden pipe into the
air. The alarm was given by people
outside. tue workmen in the room being
entirely unaware Of any fire.
Another peculiar instance was fire
started by some cotton waste which an
engineer in cleaning up mill put 10
the front Of boiler where 1t would be
convenient for the firemen to burn in
the morning. During the night the
waste got ON fire from spontaneous
combustion and set fire to the kindlingl
and succeeded in causing sufficient
steam to cause the boiler. to blow of
very thoroughly soaring the watchman
who naturally thought the boiler. which
he knew had been left without fire
was going to explode.
Still another singular case was tha'
Of . fire caused in the picker room Of Z
juts mill by man driving nail in thu
ceiling. The nail glanced of and wa
struck by the rapidly moving beaters
and the sparks which were causet
thereby led to serious blaze.-M y
FyrE and Water.