Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-11-15
EXPLOSIVE DANGER OF DUST.
Instances of Disastrous Results from
Dust Explosions.
(New York SUM

An explosion of flour dust in the New
England Mills in Chicago on Wednesday
which killed several men and destroyed
the mills, IS but another instance OF the
power for harm which resides In an at
mOsphere heavily charged with fine parti-
Giles Of starchy or other cOmDusllUle mat
ter. Such accidents are not uncommon,
and the necessity for guarding against
them as one would guard against the pro-
lection OF q spark into an atmosphere
charged with gas or the Fumes OF sdso-
lene or alcohol, has been demonstrated
often.
such explosions used 10 be common in
the malt-grinding mills Of breWeries
where sparks generated by nails or Other
bits OF iron getting into the mills would
set FIRE TO the matt dust, ana IL was the
custom 10 build the mill-rOOms OF iiShl
material which could Doe destroyed with
out very costly damage. Magnets are
now suspended IN the malt chutes 10 pick
out the dangerous bits OF metal, ana eN-
plos.Cns i'm the mills are uncommon. 1t
was only a few weeks ago that an eN-
plOsion took place in the malt-roOm or
StevensOn's brewery, I'm this city, from
which came fire tnat dld mucn damage.
The dust-laden air was exploded by u
spark from an exposed machinery Drit.
About q year ago there was an accident
some what similar 10 that in Chicago, IN
a mill in Long Island city, which was
accompanied BY loss OF lie. Grain was
and IL was supposed that the dust was
fired by the opening OF furnace door
in the nearby bOuer-rOom. the Iie
travelled with explosive force along tie
conyeyor for several hundred Iset anu
injured some men who were Working al
the end Of IL.
Finely comminuted combustib.es of any
kind, when mixed with proper portion
Of air, form explosives AKIN 10 gunpOW-
der. A spark or open flame, which meats
"a fap d
perature, causes these TO combine with
the oxygen OF the air in when they are
suspended and the flame shoots through
the whole mass with explosive idplull3.
Flame has been known 10 travel Tor -
feet or more along dratt or ar Iadeh
with ga.olene fumes, and IL VIII DO the
same with a dust-.aden draft.
With dust mixtures, as WITH those Oh
volatile hydrocarbons or Illuminating gas
the explosions are most violent when the
amount of air in The mixture Is just SUM-
cient 10 supply the oxygen necessary Tor
the perfect combustion Of the suspended
matter. When these conditions exist these
mixtures have the ability 10 DO more dam
ago TO buildings than would be done by
the disintegratlOn of an equivalent amount
OF dynamite or illuminate. In the case of
the more powerful explosives their par
ticlcs are simply shaken apart and re-
solved into gases with an action 50 sud
den that the air itself offers as much re-
sistauce as more solid substances. The
manifest effect is 10 SKATER the harder
substances, but only within small area.
The slower explosions produced by the
release of gases Dy combustion and their
expansion by the resultant heat, get time
10 spread their effects over a wide area,
and hence their Wreckng effect upon q
building whsn the explosion takes place
within.
only a few weeks ago a house IN east
Fiity-siXth street was wrecked by an eX-
plOsiOn of gas that had leaked into IL
overnight from broken street main. Its
walls, front and rear, We're blown COM
pletey out at the lower story and strip
ped above, and the workman who unwit-
tingly started the explosion was found
dead within the basement door where he
had evidently stood while he lit match
That accidents Of this kind are not pre-
ventable, SO long as men viii light
matches or take a lamp TO look for a gas
leak, Is evident. but those IN fiOur-mllls
and other manufactures where the dan
ger Is known ought 10 be made impossi-
bic through the provision OF ample vent-
latiOn and the exclusion OF all fire or
spark-prOduclng devices. Is clear. Suitable
precautions have made the manufacture
of gunpOWder almost az safe az stone
crushing, and the like would be true OF
the manufacture OF srlOkeless powder
and nitrOglycerlne. IL II We're not Tor the
unstable chemical character Of the mate
rails during parts Of the process.