Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-08-13
BLAZES STARTED
IN STRANGE WAYS
"e'inS 'nndle, Moth and Flame
Clock and Match Have Done
D0m0Rc

Outbreaks Of fire are often most .nys-
FERROUS IN their origin. We ore freouent
ly confronted with problems concern
Ing the cause Of fires in houses. fac
tories and fields that are utterly bas.
fling and insolube Yet In what slrnpls
ways We may be victimized the ex-
amples given In this article afford most
striking proof
In the cases now illustrated the
enemy was caught IN the act. saws
The Strand. but In every example. hal
If not been discovered Just In time.
there would have been another mystery
added to the long list. for who could
have conJeCtured the curious origins ms
they are here set forth?
II IS the simplest natural operation,
when lighting a candle. to place the
box Of matches close at hand In the
vicinity OF the candlestick The doing
OF this trifing act nearly resulted one
summer time in a catastrophe. Every
one must have seen how limp and
helpless a candle will become on a
| warm summers evening: and it was on
account OF this weakness In the candle
| that the danger arose. Little BY little
K dropped toward the slightly open box
of safety matches. into which 1t at
| length plunged It's fame, causing a
sudden burst of fire. acCentuated by the
presence Of warm wax which had fall
en- from the inverted extremity The
table carried several odds and ends of
the character generally to be found on
a workran's kitchen table. and had
the outbreak not been Immediately ex-
| t!nguished the whole place might soon
| have been alight. to the marvel Of the
habitants.
A scullery maid. or any one else. for
that matter. would not think twice
about placing a box of matches on tho
ledge o: a sink, even in the event Of a
lamp being situated at lower level on
stool near by. Now, In tho following
case tho combination OF circumstances
was indeed remarkable. The wastepipo
was stopped up. that tho water
dripping from the tap slowly flied up
the sink. When the water had risen TO
the level Of the ledge 1t gracefully Tilted
the matchbox. which fell straight to
the top of the lamp chimney. shedding
its fiery contents into the f1are. and Ct
course. considerably endangerng sur
rounding articles. Fortunately matters
went no further. but I am justified in
supposing that, had they done so. all
concerned would soon have been asking
How did It START without having
,, the remotest chance OF the truth dawn
ing upon their minds.
Moths and flames are universally con-
nected. yet few people suspect that
danger could arise therefrom. Tho In
scots are OF such fran structure that
generally they get destroyed before it is
possible for them to infiict injury: and t
is hardly credible that the wings would
ignite and retain the fame long enough
to enable the moth to fly to It's surround
ings. That, however, Is what occurred
on tho following occasion. The moth
was q large one. and its wings mus,
have been very dry. so that when i,
floundered through the fame II set nro
to one wing and darted on 10 a curtain
near by, which at once flared up. II Is
possible that many summer evening
fires In tho country could be attributed
to a source Of this kind 1t is notor!ous
that mysterious fires often arise at sun.
set In the hot months. In this case the ad.
horent wax may have helped the wings
to keep allght.
The last OF our examples Is certainly
tho most extraordinary OF them all. A
box of lucifers had been thrown upon the
mantel shelf. and an ordinary clock evil
IDENTIFY put IN front of them Mt a later
period. so close as to be in actual con-
tact Eventually the keydrop on tho
back. during Its slow revolutions, had
managed effectually TO pinch In and
hold the matches tightly between Itself
and the shelf. and the continual pres
sure and friction on tho heads 'rcsulted
In their ignition. which soon extended
to their companions. One might vainly
try to repeat a performance successfully
accomplished by chance. Every one has
seen or heard of haphazard occurrences
which could never be repeated. however
carefully attempted. Something sticks
in comcal position when thrown
something else undergoes peculiar man
oeuvres-but never again is II likely 70
occur either by accident or design.
Tho Summer Girl-"There's some-
thing about the ocean this time OF