The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-04-05
sAFFTY o. FUEL On.
Remarkable incident Which Recently Oo.
cured at Beaumont.

cured al beaumont
Galveston News
remarkable case demonstrating the
safety Of Beaumont crude petroleum rs
given out from the office OF General NIon.
ugcr Nixon Of the Gulf Colorado and
santa Fc II has beeu asserted that tnc
great danger Ia storage Of the new liquid
tupl rs from explosion. ana some uUthnr
ties have stated that the crude product J..
very dangerous should IRE reach II while
tanbed up and that explosions Will We
common after the railroads complete thclr
series Of large storage reservoirs thAugh-
out the state. The railroad people have
cunicnded that there Is no danger OF ok
plosion if the oil Is properly handled and
Tint IT. does not explode very readily, lt
has been shown by reports from the oil
fuel department Of the railroads that II
is Impossible to impress their cmpIyes
with the necessity of being cautious ia
handling the petroleum, and that despite
the care .essucss displayed by the employees
with lighted torches IN and about the tanks,
engine, ana oil reccptacles, explosions are
very rare. Thc one great Danger, ANA the
( only danger that seems TO Impress Itself
on the men whose duty II Is 10 handle aud
be about the oil fuel all the time, Is that
from inhalation of the oil gas When about
the tanks the w0rkmen guard against
/ sticking their head into small openings In
/ large tanks, but these same individuals
would hardly hesitate about sticking n
( lighted torch into the tank. They fenl
mrailug the gaseous fumes but this is not
When the Santa Fe round house burned
/ recently three oil engines were more or
| less damaged. One Of them. No. 020f was
/ In the building and suffered the greatest
damage II faced the terrible heat. ana
the flames simply stripped the locomotive
/ o. eYrrs thing that would burn The cab
aud every piece Of wood was burned TO
ashes and q great deHl Of the metal sue
cumbcd 20 the heat Hud melted, The tank
1 Of this engine, which was an oil burner.
was hlled with oil While the buldin4
! was burning the report was circulated thqt
on oii-hurning locomotive with supply OF
! oil In her tank. Wns iu the heart OF the
Z fire and everybody predicted an explosion.
The flames continued their work ~ de-
& struction aud Il was known thar the tAnk
OF oil must be getting mighty hot, bnt no
one could understand why the tank Of oil
the locomotive attached 20 the tank were
. wood and they were bnrued through aud
through SO that the heat Snust have been
intense. After the ire had exhausted Itself
( snd the wreck Of an engine was dragged
from It's charred bed, a careful examlna-
tion OF lbs parts revealed The following
results;
The heat was so Intense that the water
In the water tank WIS turned TO steam
and eyaporated. The gas from the oil was
lgnlted and burned. ana II WAS clearly
Demonstrated that about two inches OF Tie
oil IN the tank was consumed IN burn ne
gas But the Oh ala not explode The
only opening In the tank was the sos n
opening nj the TOD where the supply Of
fuel oil Is fed Into the tank for the loco
motives use. IL was clearly proven that
the heat was intense and that the gas OF
top OF the oil IN the closed tank burned
aud that several gall0n- u oil went up IN
smoke After the engine cooled on thu
OIL remaining IN the tank WAS taken out
aud used IN another locomotive.
II the oil inclosed In o tank with ony
small opening al the TOP and terrific
fire underneath VIII nni cXnl0dc. there
would seem 70 be little DANCES from large
tank with an open Ton for the free circnla
tiou ~ air aud an adjustable cover. which
would be lifted from The tank by the force
~ gas generated from the oil General
Manager Nixon Is very proud OF the test
aud while hemaaninc the toss Of the loco
motive he feels that the costly experience
has served valuable purnosP. The Santa
re reservoirs are all equipped with moy
able tops and the management feels that
there IS no danger Of explosion.