Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-10-16
THE DEADLY MILLDUST,
TERRIBLY EXPLOSIVE FORCE OF
FlNELY.CROUND GRAIN.

| Hgnites From u Spark and Is More Pow
erful Than Dynamite-A Danger That
PrecautiOn Cannot Prevent-How the
Explosions Occur - Some Examples.
Dynamite is a childs plaything COM
pared with vegetable dust held in sus-
pension in confined atmosphere.
Distribute ten per cent of finely pow
dered grain or tibrous matter in aroom,
set free minute spark, and there will
be an explosion that will wreck the
building and kill or main everybody
within reach. The stronger the struc-
ture and the more confined the air the
more disastrous and destructive will
be the explosion.
Fire insurance men assert that much
of the danger com %" s-~--- "A. 40" ~ "
cess of cleaning grain used in many
modern houses and Chicago agents
have been instructed to make sharp
discrimination between elevators which
are used for storage purposes only and
those in which business is made Of
cleaning the grain.
Hundreds of men have been killed
or injured and millions of dollars
worth of property destroyed in this
country by these dust explosions. 1t
was an explosion of this nature that
wrecked the Northwestern elevator in
Chicago, August 5, killing four fire.
men, manning thirty-three others and
causing money loss of $275, 900. The
destruction in this instance could not
have been more complete if giant
charge of dynamite had been inten-
tionally touched off in the building.
1t was n similar explosion which two
days later wrecked the Hartwell grain
mill in this city, when four men were
badly hurt. In 1890 the starchroom
in the Chicago sugar refinery blew up,
killing nine men, injuring seventeen
more aud entailing loss of $65, 900.
The Chicago oatmeal mill was dam
aged to the amount of $4,000 and
three men killed in 1889 by the same
kind of an accident.
A fair example of the terribly de-
structive force of dust explosion was
given when the Planet mills in Litch-
field, ILL.,, were wiped out of existence
in 1898. The explosion fortunately
took place at night, when only four men
were in the building. OF these one
was killed outright and the other
three miraculously escaped with serious
hurts. The money loss was $500, 900,
the entire plant, which was one OF the
largest and most complete in Illinois,
being completely destroyed. A picture
taken for the American Miller the fol-
lowing day shows the massive structure
razed to the ground and left mass OF
worthless debris, even the timbers,
bricks and heavy iron machinery being
blown to fragments. Twenty years
ago the Pillsbury mills in Minneapolis
we're destroyed by similar explosion,
and later the Pullman car shops in De-
troit suffered like fate. In each of
these disasters the loss of life was ap-
palling, while the money damage was
heavy.
One of the questions first asked by
people who hear of these explosions is
why mill owners and operators do not
take measures to protect their work
men and property against them. They
do, but thus far no etfectual safeguard
has been found. The first recorded
accident of this kind took place i'll
Turin, Italy, in 1876, when a large
-four warehouse exploded, causing
heavy loss of life. Ever since then
men of bright minds have been study
ing the cause of the explosions and
looking for remedies. The first is now
understood, but the latter is yet to be
found.
Editor Mitchell, of the American
Miller, and Secretary Barnum, of the
Millers' National Insurance Company,
two recognized authorities, agreed as
to the cause of the trouble. This they
give as follows:
First-The diffusion of the dust OF
any substance that will burn, in such
proportions in the atmosphere that the
particles of dust will all have sufficient
oxygen to permit of their burning at
the same time, and so closely together
that they ignite each other.
Second-The contining of this dust
laden atmosphere within the walls OF
the building, dustroom, or machine.
Third-The application of spark OF
flame.
People engaged in business which
necessitates the manufacture of vege'
table dust in considerable quantity
have long understood and feared its
dangerous properties. Tt is an ever
present risk in grain elevators. flour
ing mills, sugar retineries, starch fac
tories, woodworking shops-in every
place where any portion of the vegeta
BILE material handled is turned loose in
the surrounding atmosphere in the
shape of an impalpable powder. Floul
tightly packed in barrels is innocuou'
and harmless; flying about in the all
of a mill it is material greatly dreaded
by workmen, owners and insurance
companies. So it is with all Other
vegetable substances in which grind
ing is feature of treatment. One o.
the heaviest items of expense in mills
and elevators is incurred in seeking
protection from this danger. Large
sums of money are expended for; dus
collectors and similar contrivances
but despite the best efforts of ingenious
men the risk of explosion is but little
reduced.
In elevating grain, for instance, the
friction caused by the rapid passage
of the kernels from the belt buckets
into the bin chutes grinds off fine
dust which in part fluids its way into
the various compartments. A large
proportion of it is carried away by the
downward draft caused by the buckets
on their return trip, but enough re
mains in the elevator rooms TO be I
constant source of danger. 1t settles
OH the beams and rafters in quantities
which are constantly increasing will
time. So long as these deposits nr'
undistnrbed they are of no more &c
count than so much dry earth. Blu
some day something happens to gen
crate a spark-the bucket belt, for in
stance, gets clogged and does no
move. The delay is only matter o