The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1921-03-17
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occurred in any plants where employees had
pledged support to the campaign. This record
is in marked contrast to the five disastrous explO-
sions in the United States and Canada which took
place in the preceding 20 months, between
March, 1916 and October 1917.
Thirty thousand copies of the booklet have been
mailed to all former licensees of the grain cor
pOratiOn throughout the country 1t will be placed
on record in Washington public document
and the Department of Agriculture will supply
every library in the United States with copy
for educational purposes
Since last fall D. J. Price engineer in charge of
the dust explosion Investigations, and DR.. II. h.
Brown of the bureau of chemistry, Department
of Agriculture, have toured the country making
demonstrations and addressing owners of mills
and elevators in every large city of the East,
Middle West, Northwest, West and South the
dangers and methods of preventing grain dust
explosions. All of these meetings have been held
under the auspices of officials of the grain
poration and have been well attended. DR.. J. W.
T. Duvel has supervised the work at the New
York office of the corporation
A photograph reproduced herewith shows de-
mOnstratOr staging miniature explosion, which
is. however, quite large enough to be convincing.
Miniature grain elevators like this one were car
ried all over the country. The demonstrator got
the wOrknsen in a factory together. They were
induced TO gather a spoonful Of dust-so that
nobody should say afterward that some secret ex-
plosive had been juggled into it. Then the dust
"vnloded. Almost invariably a new group of
converts made. Usually Improvement in fac
tory conditions made.
The miniature elevator is made of heavy steel
boIted through from side to side. There is a
sliding door in the front. On the roof is square
four-inch ventiatOr In the back wall is a small
hole. pair of bellows, a short rubber tube and
a candle complete the demonstrating outfit.
Suppose the demonstration is staging an explo-
sion for the benefit of starch factory. The
workmen collect a spoonful of starch dust from
SILL beam bench. The operator stuffS the dust
in the mouth of the rubber tube. plank is put
over the ventilator and weighed down. The can
die is lighted and set inside the elevator. The
steel door is closed and fastened. The end of
the rubber tube is inserted in the small hole in
the wall. The demonstration squeezes the bellows
The starch dust and the candle flame do the
rest
Bang" goes the starch dust The weights
on the plank and the plank itself go sailing
through. the air-in a they go slam up
against the ceiling. Flame leaps from every Gre
vice of the elevator. The steel box jumps The
noise is impressiyely loud Every man who sees
the demonstration is set to thinking
There is constant danger of a dust explosion
In every factory where the air is dust-laden and
machinery constantly generates electricity Wa
ter-drenches and devices to keep the dust out of
the air lessen the danger of explosion Probably
still more effective preventive is device which
allows every piece of machinery to ground the
electrical current it may generate In short hitch
special sort OF lightning rod to your machine
that generates electricity and prevent the spark
that fires the dust and destroys the establishment
So frequent have been the explosions in thresh-
Ing machines that the cry OF bombs" has been
raised. They really dust explosions Dust
explosions grain-threshers and the expert
ments conducted by the United States Depart--
ment OF Agriculture with a view to their proven