The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-01
CURIOUS CAUSES OF FIRE.
Rats and Reaches, Water and Dust,
SpOnges md Naphtha NapOr.

So far as causes of fires go, there is
nothing new under the sun The rat
that knawed at a box OF grease-dipped
matches until they ignited and burned up
a western town is an old, old story. So
is the tale OF the cockroach that crawled
from an oil receptacle into a gas jet,
where it took fire, and falling spread the
flames. A nail glanced from hammer
welded by carpenter, fell into the con-
veyer of raw material in a jute factory,
rubbed against the drum and produced
spark which set fire TO the place. \
running belt which sagged into mass
Of greasy waste set fire TO the heap by
friction.
There was a fire on the east side Of the
city recently, caused. curiously enough.
by water. The feed pipe at the back Of
boiler burst, causing water to escape
into the fire. In this way sufficient steam
was generated 10 blow open the furnace
door, thus forcing the flames into the
boiler room. The woodwork in the place
was set on fire and a serious calamity
was the result. a somewhat similar ac-
cident took place not long ago in west
ern mill which fed its fires with shavings
that were blown under the boiler. It
seems that the shavings-blOwer stopped
for a moment causing a back-draft in
the furnace, which sent flames through
the furnace doors and ignited the shaw
ings in the boiler room.
Having long ago despaired of attribut-
ing specific causes TO fires. underwriters
fell back on the general term 'spon-
taneous combustion" which may means
always anything. For example, In a
mandatory Of plane-bits in Chicago a
sponge was usel to transfer the water by
capillary attraction from water box
to emory wheel on which the bits
were ground. The sponge wiped off the
fine particles from the wheel and they
were collected in the cells of the sponge,
where they were kept constantly wet.
After the sponge had been laid aside for
week or so. 1t was discovered that the
mass had become spontaneously ignited,
and but for its timely discovery another
mysterious fire would have occurred.
Another singular fire was caused by the
ignition of coal piled up against the outer
wall of a boiler house. The wall was
built of brick thirty-two inches thick,
yet sufficient heat passed through from
the boiler 10 set the coal on fire.
1t has long been determined that any
substance capable of burning viii explode
If turned into powder and mixed with
air. This is one Of the most interesting
forms of spontaneous combustion. There
was a dust explosion in a fur-cleaning
establishment in this city a few years
ago that furnishes an example OF this
sort. The dust consisted of q powdered
mixture of wood and flour. and when Il
came in contact with the air there was an
explosion that lifted the roof off the build
ing Explosions in -four mills. due To
this cause are of frequent occurrence.
Another interesting form Of spontaneous
combustion is that resulting from the
mixture Of a small quantity of naphtha
Vapor with a large quantity of air. In
a local machine shop, where repairs We're
being made to a locomotive boiler, the
steam dome had been removed 10 allow
a workman TO get inside. A pint Of ben
zine had been used on some of the in
terror belts and screws. for the purpose
of lOOSening them SO that they might be
removed. The men at work on the boiler
went off to dinner. and on their return
one of their number got inside to re-
move the bolts, while a man outside hand
ed him a light As soon as the light came
in contact with the air from the boiler,
slightly impregnated with naphtha vapor,
there was a tremendous explosion. The
man outside who handed the light, was
killed instantly as was also a man stand
ing on top of the boiler. The man inside
was blown clear through the fourteen
inch opening of the steam dome and
thirty feet into the air, being killed in
stantly.
A similar case was that of the petro-
leum steamer Vile de Calais which was
blown to pieces at Calais in January,
1889, after the discharge of her cargo. The
explosion, which was heard twenty-six
miles away, was caused by an accumu-
lation of gas in the steamers hold. The
matches having been thrown open, a many
entered with a light. Instantly the ship
was blown TO pieces.-N. y Times.