The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-08
THEY MERELY SMOULDERED
HIGHLY sUCOESSFUL FIRE TEST OF
LOWRY COTTON BALES.

Piled in Miniature Warehouse and Set
Ablazs, They We're Too Compact for
Flames to Penetrato-Rival Company's
Bales Burned Rapidly Under the Same
Conditions.
BosTos, Sept. 7-There was o compare
tive Gre test by the Planters Compress Com
pany OF the Lowry and American Cotton
Company's bales on the East Boston fats
few days ago, that was not only in;
terestiDg but also BIT sensational and
for ,ns 0G 4ssd1 nS mn
ture warehouse and cotton were quickly
George A lowry. inventor OF the cylindrical
the supsryiso9 Of b Mhttem;Gse Of tn the New
ager Of the Etna Comany. Among other pppdeGG,
writer's present were Messrs. w. II. Colby. o.
F E " s,;s so9Ess a. faspo1
A W. Pore and Frank 4. Stevens. 80
asS sna h tns so
wsshs was 200 pound: e ths SSl,,dl q s.,..
Ssss 1S9 pSnSsait to poanSs Ths d:a.ss
e Sa Ssf fo 90 tne ef! @ Ffs
while an od-fashioned bale had density Of
Snq H., syS Of Of ! pIs.5o. +, oe ss
mssses OF cotton were fred at II "a 9eloeki
torches at ether end of the bales nearest the
ends OF the impromptu WAREHOUSES.
Tns SsEs and Sas' sSs'.
building was burning like, a finder box. The
lanes 'otsa 1 T. ccosF the sdss is from
the American warehouse. and the cotton. e1.
roll and dsin int giving, the names addi-
tionaI food as layer after layer became ex'
Meanwhile the fire in tho Planters house
was an exceedingly tame affair; There, there wa;
thA UAmAR would do DAMAGE other than
to burn s the bageing sove1inE each i, bale NM,
each buTniDs Pile and two ' MINUTES later The
flames were extinguished. The house OF the
tps Was not
loss being the burning Of the canvas cover.
Lowry bales because Of their extreme hardness
and compactness. ;.
the S1 .r g. hs bGd Ss
cotton would then burn rapdly. An Official Of
that The BALES aione Would never ever furnish heat
enough to melt tho wires and sufficient heat
from any optslds source ,G n case OF warehouse
At the request OF two representatives of
prominent fire insurance companies. who
Vigorously for, As minutes. apparently, without
oWins to 1 the compactn ts Of tho Lowry bales
they do not absorb water readily. and on this
sSsi broke oS n Il.
BarbarOssa. bound from New York to Bremen.
partmsnts aim ost CON com pleteiy hooded With
water. Putnam & Nissan OF New York. sur
s9f al Tn
few days later report as follows: -...
ana thiT5yseyen bales Of LSp;EEy packing.
equally submerged in water for over twenty
four hoprs. This cotton was all sold at auction.
fore the sale, after the cotton had been dried
out for about ten days. The square bales aver
6 poSnd Of at @ n
cent IeO per cent Of the cotton In these bales
h had been h Tet The koT I bales weighed 25o
water. Fully ninety, per cent. go per cent Of
the cotton In these bales had never been wet.
square bales average Cd about $1,000 although
they con tanned about twice as much cotton, and
therefore should have brought over $500 per
"subpmsyon p T., water Apparently . viii net
is due to the fact that thsr. being absolutely
no air IN these bales. the only way water could
rs Sss b Sy fs sst :a
OF the cotton ITO BY your method OF packing, goes
aro Frn the 6als nstesd Of 16It mi.
very important Steamship agents. who could
find very reasonable grounds for declining to
soggy. wet and swollen square bales, could raise
no Objections to the Lowry bales Such bales
under the Original shipping documents, with a
large saving to all the parties Interested. This
Ia one OF the strongest arguments in favor Of
your method Of packing"
No one was more pleased at the result Of the
test In Boston than District Chief Ryan OF the
Fire Depar ment who has good many hot ores
to handle In the course OF year. and who ex-
pressed his unqualified approval OF the Lowry
bale as a resistant to fire.
To some OF the underwriters present the test
was In the nature Of q revelation, but others
were we'll posted on the Lowry bale.
Mr.. W. r. Colby Of the Atlantic Mutual OF
New York has made something of q study Of
cotton bales and he seemed to think one trou-
BILE with the American bale was that it was SO
light and fluffy on the outside that the flames
caught readily and rapidly burned the out
side layers. though the centre OF a bale is 40
bard that 1t is with difficulty pointed rod caR
which to unrol 1t.
Mr., B. B. WhIttsmore. ex-president Of the
board OF fire underwriters. said: The Lowry
bale wthstood unusual tests with complete
success-tests which l should think would
rarely be brought to bear in actual warehouse
fires, The wires WHICH bind the bales seemed
to hold them so the fire could not penetrate,
and think they would resist water equally
WELL"
Other underwriters present expressed similar
views.-Adp.