Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1909-11-04
DANGERS OF ASOLENE.
is AS AN ILL JNlIrlArJT
In Liquid Form il Never Expiodes

+, / E
,;A pint OF gasolene spilled ina clos
ed room will make 20 cubic feet of.
aria high OK plosiye. a thigh ex-
plosive'' ID one which ON ignition ex-
pands with greater force that gun
powder.
About seyen.eights of the gasolene
sold Is known as SO degrees --that is,
its weight Is 6s per cent that of water.
This is the kind sold by grocers for
heating and lighting Different lots
Of it vary Two or three degrees in
specific gravity. Gasoline heavier
than this but lighter than kerosene is
know to the trade as naptha or ben
zine. Its used by dry cleaners. For
automobile engines stove" gasolene
is used in summer and naptha of rs
degrees in winter.
Death by burning is death in it's
most horrible form, Gasolene yapor
is exploded by the same accidents as
gunpowder and it's being invisible
adds greatly to the danger. There
fore the state should limit it's sale as
the sale of other high explosives is
limited.
The Lamps
The cheapest and most dangerous
source of light is the gasolene lamp.
j. In some states the use of gasolene
for lighting is prohibited by statute.
W There are twenty odd styles of these
lamps which are well made and
which will stand the pressure caused
\ by their contents becoming heated.
Gasolene warmed to the temperature
s OF the human body expands SO as to
cause a pressure of liz pounds to the
square inch of it's container. AT 100
degrees the pressure is 125 pounds.
The danger. is from handling gaso-
! lene in the house. The fluid is likely
TO be splashed about. Some one may
try to hll the reservoir while the
lamp is lighted or the burner may be
left open. A gasolene lamp which
can be moved or carried about is too
dangerous to be used anywhere.
Looks Like A SlSille,
The gasolene lamp, which looks
like a covered skillet on the shank of
"a big fish-hook, and which is hung on
posts in markets is not so dangerous.
The gasolene flows down hill to the
burner at the tip of the hook. Being
out of doors so much air moves past
it that there lis not vapor enough to
makeit explosive. But there are
some lamps for outdoor use which
have q rubber bulb, or air pump,
which forces the gasolene out faster.
These are twenty times more danger
GUS because the pressure will spray
sgasolene into the air through a leak
or open burner.
Carbureters
Air mixed with gasolene.yapor from
carbureter placed outside the house
and burned in nantles is a fairly safe.
8illuminant. 1t would be as safe as
any gas but for the fact that vapor
from a leak settles to the floor and
wallis fOr a spark or blaze to explode
1T, while gas being lighter than air
rises and ii carried away.
The small machines which are put
inside the house and the machines
which force gasolene in liquid form
through pipes, are more dangerous
because gasolene Is in the building.
What happens when attempts are
made to fill one of these machines by
the light of a lamp or candle is not
1 known because none of the persons
who tried it were subseq uently in a
condition to give information.
Gasolene Never ExpIodes
Liquid gasolene never explodes.
It cannot because 1t contains no oxy
gen and oxygen is necessary to the
4 combustion which constitutes an ex-
plosion, The high explosives used
inswar all contain SO much oxygen
that they can be exploded without
the presence of air. "A mixture Of
gasolene in yapor form with eight to
eighty per cent of air forms a high
explosive which will run 4 a,ttomo-
d bile, or fire q cannon ball
ss recently emptied can is the one
most likely TO xplode from a spark
5oT hot match stick falling into it, for
ntains cir and yapor in the pro-
portion To- max an explosive mix
.st.lre: W hen = can is full Of gasolene
slits yapor cannot be exploded & The
aporc oming from the mouth of d
! can WI ~ burn until the collar melts
soft and afterRards without ex ploding
even Il heated BIZ burning woodwork
sssall around il. 3s