Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-05-23
The Care or Lamps.

The commonest mistake, and one OF
the worst. is to permit the draft of the
burner to become clogged with charred
wick. pieces of burned matches, etc.
Some people do not seem to know that
the flame of the lamp requires a clear
draft, as does fire. Without it there
is imperfect combustion, Pickering
smoking, and bad smell. which are
usually charged to the oil, the lamp,
the burner or the chimney, when in
fact the fault is in the user Keep the
inside as we'll as the outside of the
burner clean and keep all openings
completely free from even the least OBJ
struction.
More mistakes arc made in trim
ming the wick too often or not often
enough, too much or too little. 1t is
not always necessary to trim it every
day. Usually. indeed, every other day
is sufficiently frequent, if the lamp has
been fully supplied with oil. BE guided
by the amount of use. Do not cut off
all the charred portion. Leave thin
coat of the char on the end of the wick.
1t is next to impossible to get an even,
well-shaped flame from fresh-cut
wick. Slightly round the corners to
prevent the flame Speeding too wide
and over-heating the sides of the CHM
ney. Do not let the wick get too short.
When ii does not touch the bottom of
the lamp it is time to get new one,
and it should be done at once. Never
seek to lengthen it by sewing on strips
of cloth. See that the wick exactly
fits the tube, but not tightly. In put
ting in a new wick be careful not to
let a thread of the warp catch in the
teeth of the rachel and pull out; it will
make trouble ever after. A wick
should be discarded and a new one sub
stituted after years use, even if still
long enough.
OF course, the wick must be perfect
ly dry when put in, and in starting n
new lamp that has been washed or an
old one that has been cleaned, the ut
most care must be taken that every
atom of moisture has been dried out
before the oil is put in. Be sure to
give the wick time to fill with oil be-
fore lighting it; or if haste is necessary.
turn the dry wick far above the top of
the burner and dip that end in the oil
In the lamp; turn 1t back, reverse the
burner, screw it in place and the wick
is ready to light.
Make sure that the chimney fts close
at the base. Occasionally a chimney
will be found slightly rounded on the
bottom so that there is always little
crevice on one side or the other. This
causes side draft. makes the blaze
unsteady and often puzzles the house"
keeper to discover "what ails tho
lamp"
One more error is 10 burn the lamp
with the oil in the reservoir too low.
This not only causes imperfect COM
bustion Of oil and r-burning of the
wick, but is dangerous. At the very
least the oil should not get below an
inch in depth, and it is much better to
keep the lamps neary full. Never fill
it quite full up to the burner socket.
Leave small air-space, for safety and
to allow for the expansion of the oil
when warmed. 1t is usually cold
when put in, and if the lamp be COM
pletely filled. and left in warm room.
it will soon be found flowing over the
top. Use only the best oil. Cheap oil
is much the more expensive, besides
being unsafe. Good Housekeeping.