The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1905-01-26
FIRES.
State Fire Marshal
Davis Talks.
CHEMICAL HINTS.
That May be Of Service to Prevent the
Havoc of ConfIagration.
FIRES.
CHEMICAL HINTS.


Marshal during 1904 as being
caused by gas explosion, gas leaks
and by explosion, number %, but
many fires reported as from un-
known cause are doubtless prop
erly chargeable to gas.
Gas leakage under the imper-
vious pavements Of cities is sub
tie, uncomfortable, menace to
property and to life as well.
Many mysterious conhagrations
presenting inexplicable phenomena
are due to the presence in houses
of gas which has entered through
the cellar from leaking main.
Gas companies anticipate loss
from leaks of II to 20 per cent. of
all the gas they force into their
mains, it being cheaper to bear
that loss than to open the streets
and repair the pipes. A leakage
of 1877, 900 Gu. ft. per mile per an
nun for four-inch mains or 450,-
coo feet for twelve. inch mains is
considered normal. The report of
the Massachusetts State Board of
Gas and Electric Light Commits
sions showed that in 1899 the
mains in use for gas distribution
in that State av, ragged 4.81 inches
in diameter and their leakage for
the year was 1852, ,334 Gu. #. per
mile. The gas companies of
Massachusetts are required to re-
port their "gas unaccounted for"
which elsewhere is considered a
confidential fact.
The authoritative tables of
Fields Analysis of Gas Undertak-
ings show that in the cities of
England the gas leakage is about
500, 900 cubic feet per mile of main
per annum.
In small towns this gas escapes
harmlessly through the earth, ex-
cept when the ground is frozen,
but under the asphalt and stone
pavements of the city it is at all
times forced along the outside of
the main until it finds fill around
service pipe, which by reason of
its being more open, offers a path
of least resistance into the cellar
of some house. If the ventilation
of the cellar is not ample the gas
being lighter than air, aceumu-
lates in coal vaults or between the
joists where an accidental spark,
the striking of a match or the
flame of candle will ignite it
with or without explosion. If the
amount of the escaping gas is
large it may be found in layers
next the ceiling of every story of
the house.
ibis insidious enemy gives no
warning, because in passing
! through the earth it's olefants and
imperfectly assimilated naptha
vapors which give it odor are fit
cred out.
An eminent expert in gas leak
age, James c. Bayles, NJ E., Phi.
d., in speaking of the presence in
houses of gas from defective mains,
in INSURANCE ENGINEERING, said:
"The most dangerous character
istic of this filtered gas is that it
has little or no odor. None of the
gases composing 1t carries any
smell Of its own. 1t is a rattle
snake which has lost it's rattle; it's
power and disposition to strike re-
! main undated, but is incapable
of giving any warning of its pres
ence or purpose. In buildings
fronting on aspLalted streets it is
rarely looked for in vain"
Air containing Z to 30 per cent.
of this gas will explode from a
spark and generate heat enough
to set fire to any readily infamm-
able material near it. That a fire
started from the ignition of gas is
often difficult to prove is because
it leaves no ashes of its own.
Conaagrations from ges have often
been characterized as heat explo-
>i,ns. If companies which manu-
facture gas can afford so heavy
loss of their product rather than
make repairs in mains, how much
leakage may companies furnishing
natural gas be tempted to standp
he reckless use of gasoline in