Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-07-16

blI, that this is far from being the
, case has been clearly proved. Several
! insurance companies conducted Sc
rics of experiments which showed
! cnnclnSivcly that rats constitute n for
!ni'lablc fire danger. a number of rats
and mice were shut VIZ in cages where
they could be observed, and furnished
with supply uf matches of all kinds.
They were then kept short Of food for
few days. Result: While the mice
merely carried couple of safety
matches tn their nests the rats did full
justice To every class oi the sulphurous
dclicacics provided for their dclccta-
| ton. chewing them all impartially. In
the case of the safety matches nothing
happened, but the others took fire.
Countless instances might easily he
collected from the records of various
fire brigades of rat-induced blazes.
But while mice arc, c,tmparativ0ly
speaking, innocent in This respect, it
is impossible to hold these tiny ro-
! dents altogether guiltlcss Croydon
once suffered Il loss of no less than
$4,000 through Il fire attributed to a
mouse. This fire occurred at tho cleo
trio generating station, with the re-
suit that the whole town was ahroud-
| cd III partial darkness for two nights
| at first its origin was n mystery. hut
eventually the charred body Of the I'M
| lucky offender was found near the ter
minals of n hgh-tcnsion voltmeter,
and there is little doubt hut that the
small creature had caused the out
break by forming Il connection between
two live wires, and so short-circuiting
| the current
Fires have been traced to other
fonr-lcggcd "flrcbugs," generally with
disastrous results to the animals them
selves. cat rcpoSing on the hearth
rug In farm sitting room mt Cavana-
cav, County Armagh. was startled by
the sudden bark of n dog, and spring
ing upon the table for refuge upset
lighted lamp. AT once stream Of
burning oil poured in every direction,
turning the unhappy animal into a
living torch In her agony the poor
beast lcaped through the window and
rushed into tho stacliyard adjoining,
setting fire to rick after rick before
she could be mercifnlly killed. The
| flames were not got under control until
considerable damage had been dono
both to house and riais.
On another occasion sheep were the
innocent offenders. During the pro-
longed drought which devasteh Au-
| stralia three years ago flock of sheep
were being driven along n road at Cas-
terton, Victoria. whom they trod upon
a box of matches, dropped by some
careless person. Tho blaze which fol-
| lowed ignitcd some dry grass and the
result was Il terrible bush fire, which
| cost the residents in tho aggregate
many thousands Of pounds.
| For n fire to be caused hy n flood
seems paradox quite, yet it is a well
known fact that there has really been
an inndatiOn on Il large scale whose
horrors have not been aggravated by
/ lire. That most dreadful of all mod
crn Hood cataStrOpheS, the destruction
| OF Johustown. Pa by the bursting of
{, the Conematgh Dam is an instance in
: point. Wooden houses were seen
, sailing away on the surface of the
muddy torrent, with flames bursting
from their upper windows and driving
their miserable occupants to tho terri
/ bic choice between roasting or n quick
) or, If equally certain end in the raging
waters beneath. In February, 1903, a
flood-canscd fire did most serious dam
age at brunswick, Now South Wales.
Heavy rains resulted i'm the 1oodlng OF
a basement whore quantity OF quick
lime was stored. and the action of the
, "'''' WI ti''1 llllit' ltn w III OuIDrc0k
of fire. which tho local brigade had
the greatest difficulty in quelllng.
/ Perhaps as strange Il cause of fire
MS ever originated In the fertile mag
inatioh of Il nctonist was one which
was reported in February, 1909, from
Vienna. military kite carrying a
Photographic apparatus was being
flown for practice from the arsenal,
! when the wind falling suddenly, the
Kite foil across the overhead wires of
E, n tramwav and tho wooden roof of a
house. Tho wire string of the kite
f. caused short circuit and tho roof i'm
mcdlafcly burst into flames.
| Fruiters have custom of artificial
| ~ ripcnlng green fruit in warmth. and
this practice once led 10 n most seri.
GUS fire in Drury Lane. A basket
containing green plncapplcs being srs.
pended over gas Jet In Il fruit shop.
the dry leaves took fire, and the shop
being ,lnoccuped at the moment the
flames spread with great rapidity.
The inmates of the two houses lnvolv.
cd-ahout Is In number-wcrc rescued
with much difficulty and the two sets
oil premises were practically burnt out.
gentleman residing in fiat on the
first story of house facing a London
thoroughfarn recently wrote. to the
press complaining that twice within
one week his drawing room was found