The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-01-14
A CYCLONE OF FLAME
Fires In Bamboo Forests Are the
FierceSt Known.
SWEEP ON A MILE A MINUTE.

Like the Roar, the Roll and the Rattle
of Great Battle Is the Noise of the
Exploding Stalks That Sometimes
Shoot High Into the Air.
When the forests are afire, when
the smoke makes dusk at noon and
reddens the harvest moon thousand
miles away, there is the measure OF
conf1agration. When the prairies burn,
as they used to before farms had crept
in upon the endless miles of grass,
there was a fire which ran like mad
and left behind it a blackened trail Of
death. If one could combine the speed
of the prairie fire with the tumult Of
the blazing forest. that would be
fire indeed.
Such a combination is effected when
the bamboo groves catch fire. The
bamboo is but grass, a grass with
the height Of tree, swaying stems
reaching 100, even $50, feet in air.
In Cambodia, whore the bamboo
groves along the rivers cover the space
Of forests, 1t Is no unusual thing for
fires to break out and sweep all before
them for many miles. If the summer
has been dry the bamboo turns scar
and infammable as any grass.
All that is needed Is a spark; then
ruin runs red. 1t is not necessary to
rely upon the careleSsneSS of the
woodsman to start the blaze. The
bamboo can kindle itself.
Let two swayirg stalks of dry bam-
boo be set In motion by the breeze, let
one rub across the other long enough,
and the friction will set the spark, and
the long dry leaves will feed the flame.
It is known that many fires of the
bamboo forests thus originate. Per
haps 1t was from observing such
sight that primitive man learned the
Promethean secret. That theory has
been advanced.
AS soon as fame in the bamboos
has crept to the level Of the tossing
tips It spreads like wildf1re. The wind
carries q sheet of fame along the grove
at tremendous speed. Some observers
say that such fires have been seen to
move forward at the rate Of more than
a mile a minute. Seen from below, 1t
looks as If she sky had burst into an
instant fash Of flame.
From such a burst Of fire there could
be no escape. Fortunately it passes
high overhead at the tops Of the bam-
boos. II serves as a warning to the
traveller who may be making his way
along some one Of the water courses
by which the forest is intersected. The
bamboo itself Is almost an obstacle to
travel Of any sort. 1t is well nigh i'm
possible to force way through it ex-
cept by the slow and toilsome labor Of
hewing out path.
The fire In the great trunks moves
more slowly, and If warning be taken
It may be possible to sink ones boat
and tA.ow mp wet heritage and clay
against the bank Of the stream to pro-
vide shelter until the furnace blast
has blown By. Such a fire In the bam-
boo has not only the speed Of the prai-
RE fire on its sweep overhead, but it
has the same volume Of fuel as Is
found in any forest fire. 1t combines
the two types.
Bamboo forest fires have another
quality which Is all their own. They
bang and rattle with thunderous
crashes, as Of artillery fire, without
cessation.
The stalks Of these tree bamboos are
frequently more than foot In diane
ter. Near the ground the joints are
close together; IN the younger growth
the nodes may be several feet apart
But, long or short as they may be, each
Joint Of the sun dried bamboo Is O.
tightly sealed chamber filed with air.
The partitions between the cavities are
stngularly tough; the outside rind OF
the stalks Is almost pure flint.
When the blast Of the fame sweeps
onward the air in the stalks upon
which It Is driven Is suddenly heated
to a very high temperature. The resid-
uum Of moisture which may be in the
stems Is Immediately transformed into
steam and at once subjected to super
heating, thus becoming violent explo-
sive. As the hot breath Of the fame
becomes hotter these joints burst with
loud cannon discharges.
Sometimes the force Of the explosion
near the roots Is 80 great as to shoot
the stalk like javelin high into the
air, where 1t flashes into torchlike
dame and is carried by the wind to
spread wider disaster. The bursting
Of the smaller joints Is like the roll and
rattle Of rifles and machine guns. The
effect Is that Of battle hotly contest
ed.-Washington Post.