Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1875 — Deaths From Lamp Explosions. [ARTICLE]

Deaths From Lamp Explosions.

There are so many circumstances under which accidents, more or less severe and often fatal, occur from lamp explosions, tliat people cannot be too studious in informing themselves with regard to such accidents or too careful in seeking to avoid them,. But a few days since the following case occurred at the house of a friend on Perry street, in this city: A gentleman entered a room late at night in which a kerosene lamp had been burning low through the evening, stepped toward it and was in the act of extending his hand to turn it down and out; but just before his lingers reached thethumbscrew the lamp exploded with a loud report which sent it in fragments to every part of the room. Fortunately there was no fire set- and no person injured. The next morning a careful examination of the fragments to learn the cause of the explosion led to the theory that the tube, which was rather a large one, had been fitted with a very small wick, thus leaving a large air space by means of which, in all probability, the movement of the air in the room caused by the opening of the door forced the small, flickering flame down into the tube far enough to communicate with and explode the gas which would naturally, under the circumstances, have accumulated therein. In this connection it may be interesting, as w’ell as useful, to call to mind the fact that Prof. Chandler, Of New York city, says: “The total result for the year 1869, for the oity of New York, which I myself have cut from newspapers, is fifty-two fatal accidents from dangerous kerosene, fifty severe and six slight—in all 108 persons, to my knowledge, from my own reading, have been injured by kerosene in one year.”— Pacific Rural Prett.• ... A little girl, upon her return from a children’s party being asked if she had a good time, replied: “Yes; but there hasn’t much boys there.”