Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-11-30
ABOUT GAS METERS.
A.Y rHESE sRsATic INSTRUMENT
90 NOa EXPLODE
such an Accident IL No More Like
90 Happen Them Than q" Vs..
Bottle. or Salt Bag~-A hat Doe
Happep N Cese of Fire

Bottles salt baEs-A ha' D@%
Happep N C-se of Fire
The, proneneSs of the average new
paper reporter 10 attribute cellar tois
fagration~ 10 the explosion of .si> tn
ferS represents what appears 10 IN ~
ineraGicahir race trait No hituuhf o.
contradiction and no accumulation ~
proof that such an accident IL an i;ti
possibility seems 10 reach the news
CATERERS. who go on reporting the "N
plosion of gas meters. doubtless he
cause. the fireuien have a tradition that
meters are explosive and give This "X
pIanaIion OF every fire which they can
not OF berwiSe account for
For the reinsurance OF nervous p.o
pie il gives us pleasure 10 say thar nc
gas meter ever exploded since THE
world began. and until they are made
on very different plans aud contain
gas of very different composition trou
that now used for Illuminating pur
poses such an accident is no more IKE
Iy to happen 10 them than TO milk Dor
ties or salt bags
The domestic gas meter has hlore
or less well deserved reputation Tor
habitual uiendacity. though as likely
70 lie aga inst the gas company as TOT
II: bvr Ii has never done anything I"
warrant the suspicion that II Is iiaoie
10 go of with a bang. Ii is tip poz
OF a iirtie less than one cubic foot
CAPACITY. put together with soldereo
seams and japanped.
Into and through II passes the gas.
which enters through the service pipe
connecting the main with the house
usually OF half an inch diameter II
has very little capacity for gas storage.
and IS not strong enough 10 carry gas
under a greater compression than. say
( half pound per square men. More
/ than this would bulge its sides IN
point of fact the pressure or gas III
! meters is rarely more than enough 10
balance column of water Two or three
inches high.
If a gas meter Is exposed 10 great
I hear from external ore. nothing very
serious happens. The soidered seams
will prohahi melt. allowing the gas
/ TO escape This gas is not explosive
however. IL Becomes so only when
mixed With air in certain definite pro
portions.
should this admiXture exist in
meter. which is almost Impossible ITS
shell is not strong enough 10 offer any
great resistance and should an ex
plosiop occur by reason of fire reach
inc this admixture of gas ana ar tht
meter would toe wrecked. but II Is
doubtful OF any other damage wooio
result None has been wrecked from
this cause.
$50 .... .e.mA of the meter are opened
by the melting of the solder or by fruc
ture from accident. the gas within l
: would escape. and. if it had the chance
burn. Outside the meter IL might ha W
opportunity to form the explosive mix
ture with air aud do some damage.
What actually happens in the cas-
of fires attributed 10 the explosion o
gas meters is usually this: Gas which
, has leaked FROM defective pipes q
, worked into the cellar from broken o.
defective street mains accpmulates II
pockets formed by rafters aud else
where and remains there until II come:
In contact With an accidental tir'
of some sort A fire starts in the Gel
lar and the temperature gradually rises
. until the smoldering rubbish bursts in
to flame This reaches the mixture OF
gas and air along the ceiling and al
explosion follows.
The meter. naturally enough. IS
thrown down and probably torn from
its connections. and the conclusion is
reached that. instead OF being the vic
tim of the accident the inoffepsive me
ter Is the cause of all the trouble and
has INDUCED its inherent propensity to
set the LoIlse attire after lifting ii from
its foundations.
It is Il perfectly safe generalization
that the Gas which makes trouble IN
cellars il wholly outside the meter and
never inside oil it Grindstones some
tirles explode with fatal results in 50 W
factories. but the excellent old ladv
who. after reading of such an accident
and recalling thar there was an old
grindstone in one correr of the cellar
which had been there twenty years,
hired a couple of tramps to carry it to
the extreme corner of the garden and
pour water on II for an hour. mean
while giving thanks that IL had not
blown herself and fla mily Into eternity
-unbek nownst TO any of US. was OF
the type of those who. through fear of
gas meter explosions, are all their life
time subject to nervous cbills.
There is not a gas meter in use under
which it would not be perfectly safe
to build a bonfire, provided. OF course
there was not a quantity OF gas out
side of it which the sa me fire could
reach.-New York Times
Why STOW IL Not Black or Red.
Why Is the snow whitei is a ques