Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-12-25
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NEW ycrsx- Dsc. ls-The 50 carsd II
ssmpt To dynamite tbs Schuisldt dissinorJ u
Chi ago turns out 10 have bssn the explosion
VI e~rsalne lust coating in tbs air. Cereal
ins is Vegetable food made from corn and
i largely c.d in brewers and tstflte-tes IN
stead Of malt A llttls later . similar sxpio-
sion occurred in Oliyerfs ostrreai Ell IN III
same city, tlis material causing tbs trouble
hsing fns oatmeal dcsr The explosions b.
long 70 rare class 10 Which sc.snrisrs have
only a late turned their attention-
Professor Richter IN Germany. DR.. Chan
der and Professor Rood in this euuHtry have
studied the subject with considerable cara
From Their studies as well - from eon5rma-
tory experiences and observations made since
they announced their work, IL Is known that
any vegetable matter which can be burned
becomes an explosive when converted into
dust and raixed with . large bulx Of air
Ordinary white -four IS a good example
Thrown in small quantities upon coal or
wood fire it burns, bot with considerable DIFF
fculty II thrown in large quantity IL chokes
and quickly srnothers tbs fire Yet If, As Was
dor.e by King, two ounces Of IL 50 shaken IN q
clean barrel as TO form . dusty cloud IL
ignited, they explode with such violence as
20 biow out the heads.
II was from ttis possibility that the great
mill EXPLOSION in Minneapolis occurred SONS
yeas ago. In number Of rooms. owing, II
rlay be 10 ignorance Of the fact or 10 in1rerfsc
tioa Of machinery the atmosphere IVES Laden
with forr erst or fine -four suspension. Prob
Ebly match struck by one Of the victims
YES what i.nited the mixture Of air and
noar y thing certain Is known, except that
the next moment u giant explosion occurred,
blowing tae walls out and making the build
ing 4 mas Of riiEs.
OF similar character was a serious accident
in q cazd; factory in Nav York city. In
.his establishment n leading raw material
was tee finest powdered sugar. IL was used
in such large quantities as to make an ap-
preciable dust everywhere. When tbs heavy
machinery was III motion the jarring and
shaking srlrred up tbs sugar dust and made
the air white. The mixture Of sugar and air
took fire from a burning gas jet used TO
illuminate dark rear room, and blew out
the front Of the building
In discussing the subject, DR.. Francis
Wyatt, chemist Of the Mercantile Exchange,
says; Explosion Is simply combustion.
Anything that can be burned can be induced
10 blow up A smolderlng piece of wood, IL
left alone goes out; If dipped into q jar Of
oxygen, burns with as fierce 1arne Gs does
naphtha under normal circumstances; If
plunged In a current OF heated oxygen, blazes
with fash resembling that Of gun cotton.
A better Illustration, perhaps. is sawdust. II
IL be shoseled into blazia: furnace, it pro-
duees a hideous smoke end practically suffo-
Gates the fire. II, however, blower or any
contrivsnce be employed which will force
air through both coal and sawdus, the latter
burns as well as the former Finally, il the
sawdust re SO fine that when agitated It will
rise and float some time in the air, it will
explode with more or less violence"
In the Ca;sLills and other parts Of New
York state a curious industry consists in con-
verting beech trees into wood -four. A whole
trunk is stripped Of its bark, put into huge
mechanism which IS practically . pencil
sharIca;s' on a vast scale, and cut into miles
Of the fi.ess ribbons These are tlirffwn into
mill end converted into wood meal or wood
four. Tkis is used, believe, fer making
paper, although the farmers Lilt that it is
taken west by government contractors to fesd
the Indians and supply our army with daily
bread. In very dry summer weather this
dust Ellis the air of tine mill AMI is often ex-
p,osive. Twice there have bsen accidents Of
the kind III this industry.
and scientist, OF Allentown. Pa, called at
tention TO this danger in mills which we're de-
voted to the dry grinding Of eolors whei the
latter were Of vegetable character, and
showed that the dns, OF lampblacI, carmine
and gainboge formed an explosive compound
when floating in or mixed with q requisite
amount Of air. Dr. Charles Perry, the New
York pharmacist, has pointed out the same
danger in those places where roots, herbs,
barks and other vegetable dru.s arr
ground. In the case Of snch fbroua
substances as licorice root and slip
perry elm, the risk is greater, as the
dust from grinding is finer and lighter
and remains suspended in the atmosphere q
longer time than the dust Of oatmeal and
sugar.
John B. King, an expert on explosives,
tried q ssries Of experiments with co;nbusti-
bic dusts, using a stout. strong barrel, one Of
Whose heads fitted but loosely. certain
splall amount Of dust was put in the barrel,
violently shaken until it was all stirred up,
and was then isnited He found that -four,
starch, corn starch, rice -four, rice face pow
der, baby powder, and even house dust, When
dry and sufficiently fiue, were explosive when
suspended in a bulk Of air which weighed
from three to nine times a much as the dust
II, claims that the only safe rule for buiA
ings in which the machinery makes dust u
any kind Is either to incase the working
parts as is done with grinding and boiling n
hrst class mills, or To have . strong current
Of air, natural or artificial, passing continu
ally through the premises.
WILLIAM E. s FAIEs.