Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1915-07-07
WHEN DUST GOES "BANG."
Some Domestic Commodities as Ex-
plOsive as Gunpowder.
(PearSon's Weekly.)

our keenest detectives have been re-
Gently explained by the cold, method
| ical researches of our chemists, who,
| it will be remembered, also warned
| the government not to let Germany
! have cotton to manufacture gun-cot-
| ton.
The men of science have not been
able to wipe out the miseries that
have been caused to the thousands
of persons who have been convicted
or condemned of arson, and other
similar crimes, without a cause, but
they have cc"tai'iy succeeded in
teaching the police to be very care
full before they blame any house
holder or manufacturer or servant
for an explosion. And the key to
their researches has always been the
same-dust.
How many cooks, for example, re-
| alize that the ordinary everyday
| flour they use in their kitchens is one
of the most dangerous Of explosives?
Recent calculations show that the
contents Of 25-pound sack of flour
mixed with 1000 cubic feet of air,
will, if ignited, throw a mass of iron
weighing one ton As miles through
the air Indeed, many disastrous
explosions have occurred in big -four
mills from this cause, wrecking huge
buildings and causing heavy loss Of
life
Unhappily flour is not the only do
nestle commodity that is as danger
GUS in its destructive effects as
gunpowder, and hourly threatens
our homes with red ruin. Every now
and then a sweet factory gets blown
up in spite Of the vigilance of the
government inspectors, the watch
fulness Of the insurance companies,
and the zeal Of it's foremen. Such an
explosion occurred not long ago in
Boston. 1t originated in a room
where marshamallows were being
made. These sweets are coated
| with finely pulverized sugar, and the
| hot and dry air on a summers day
! laden with sugar dust, with the re-
suit that the mixture ignited, a lot
| OF workers were injured, and many
of the buildings were set on fire.
1t is nothing new to hear also Of
explosions Of starch in starch mills
and of the rice in rice mills, and in
| each instance the blame is to be at
tributed to the innocent-looking COM
| modities, and not to the malice or
| carelessness Of the employees. Oat-
| meal, too, has been known to go off
with dire results, and great break
| fast commodity mill not long ago
was sent en- bloc heavenwards owing
to some maize dust getting mixed
with air.
Spice dust in spice mills has
wrought similar damage, and all lin
oleum is now manufactured under
special precautions against fire be-
cause sad experience has shown how
easily cork dust and the cement used
in linoleum manufacture will ignite,
or ever take fire OF their own accord.
Soap is another domestic suspect.
1t has even set fire to a shin in the
mouth of the Thames. Only o few
years ago there was great explosion
in soap factory engaged in the pro-
ductiOn of a finely powdered soap.
Some enemy hath done this thing!"
mutered the proprietor, but as a mat
ter Of fact he and the detectives who
hunted for criminals were for months
on the wrong scent. Soap is fat,
and therefore combustible," The
chemists reminded him. "Your soap
powder was dry, and so it got freely
distributed through the air, when it
exploded with more violence and
greater heat than flour or starch"
Zine has been known to cause ex-
plosions. The story is often told how
workman was once handling a
quantity Of finely worked metallic
zinc when he got a spell Of laziness,
and. to save further trouble, threw a
shovelful into a flaming furnace.
There was a terrific explosion. The
blade of his shovel was driven into
the roof of the building, and he got
half killed.
Malt mills are also not immune
from perils of explosion. In fact,
detectives nowadays, when they are
faced with explosions, the origin OF
which they cannot fathom, are always
| instructed by their superiors to re-