or with some form of artificial light incapable of igniting vapour. For this purpose a Miners' Safety Lamp, or a special form of lamp constructed on the same principle, is sometimes used.

spirit stores.

Where a building in which spirit is used or stored Lighting of is lighted by incandescent electric light,* special precautions should be taken in regard to the wiring and fittings, in addition to the regulations enjoined by the insurance companies. All switches and fuses should be outside the building, or should be enclosed in safety cases of metal or gauze. The wires should be led through metal pipes connected to earth, or should be protected by casing. No current-bearing part should be exposed that is to say, all metal in contact with the source of electric supply should be either well coated with insulating material, or else entirely closed in a globe or metal case.

The Wenham Lamp Company have, at the suggestion of one of the authors, designed a gas lamp for the lighting of such buildings, which is so constructed that the air supply is brought in from the outside, and vapour cannot come into contact with the flame.

Some persons appear to consider that an ordinary closed lantern affords sufficient protection, but this is not the case. Unless a lamp is fitted with a properly constructed gauze covering to all apertures, it cannot with safety be taken into a building in which petroleum spirit is present.

The readiness with which petroleum vapour can be Electric ignited by even a very small electric spark, has been spark. shown by several accidents in factories where fabrics are treated with petroleum spirit for the purpose of cleaning or waterproofing.

In such cases the spark from the electric charge which had accumulated on the cloth was sufficient to

* The arc light could not, of course, be safely used.

Lightning.

Leakage.

ignite the vapour. An accident of this description occurred on December 14, 1893, at Bradford, in a process for waterproofing cloth by treatment with paraffin wax dissolved in petroleum spirit. On this occasion the question of the prevention of such accidents in future received a good deal of attention. Probably it would be impossible entirely to guard against this danger, but the chance of accident may be much reduced by artificial ventilation and by fitting fine wire brushes or series of needle points in close proximity to the cloth so as to remove the electricity by silent discharge.

Every large tank, whether for oil or spirit, should be fitted with an efficient lightning-conductor, and it would be well if all petroleum stores were similarly protected. The number of serious fires and explosions of petroleum tanks, which have been caused by lightning in various parts of the world, is considerable, though fortunately in this country there has been comparative immunity from accidents of this descrip

tion.

It is most important at all times to guard against any leakage of petroleum, whether in conveyance, storage, or use. The neglect of this precaution has been a fruitful source of accident in the past. Thus at Mexboro' on May 13, 1881, oil stored in a yard had been allowed to leak into a cellar, where sufficient vapour accumulated to cause an explosion on a light being brought into the place. Again, the danger of allowing petroleum to leak or escape into the sewers has been illustrated by numerous accidents of a formidable character. For instance, on May 5, 1884, the roadway at Newport, Monmouthshire, was torn up by an explosion in the sewers due to a quantity of benzoline having been allowed to escape from a barrel in a shop. All taps for petroleum should be fitted with

drip-pans to catch any drip or leakage which may

occur.

vessels to be

covered.

Every vessel, of whatever size, containing petroleum, Tanks and whether oil or spirit, should have a cover. In the case of large tanks the cover may take the form of an airtight lid or top, having no opening except a ventilating hole which should be covered with fine wire gauze. Petroleum in barrels should invariably be under a roof of uninflammable material. The fire which occurred at Broxburn on August 19, 1887, is an illustration of the danger of the contents of an oil-tank, the cover of which is imperfectly closed, being ignited by a spark from a chimney.

The necessity for a cover applies with equal force in the case of smaller vessels inside a building, as is shown by an accident at Hackney on June 17, 1896, where oil, which was being kept in open pails, became ignited, and a serious conflagration was caused.

barrels.

It is highly desirable that precautions should be Danger from taken to prevent children and unauthorised persons empty from having access to petroleum, or even to barrels in which it has been contained. Numerous explosions have been caused by mischievous boys applying lighted matches to the bung-holes of empty petroleum spirit barrels, which generally contain vapour and are always highly inflammable. Such barrels as well as all other Inflammable material of an inflammable character should be kept as material. far distant as possible from the place where petroleum is stored. The fatal fire which occurred in Lambeth on January 26, 1893, was caused by the ignition of a quantity of inflammable rubbish which had been allowed to accumulate near a leaky oil-barrel.

on fires.

A fruitful source of accident, both in this country Pouring and abroad, is the foolish practice of pouring petroleum petroleum on a fire to make it burn up. This is frequently done with impunity, but the risk is never absent, and persons

L

Quickdrying

paints.

Ventilation.

Sand for extinguishing fire.

Metal tanks.

indulging in the practice are liable at any time to meet with a painful death.

Special precautions to prevent ignition of vapour should be taken in using the so-called quick-drying paints or paint-driers which usually contain petroleum spirit. Where these paints are used in a confined space, the conditions are highly favourable for the formation of an explosive atmosphere. The loss of H.M.S. Doterel in the Straits of Magellan on April 26, 1881, was due to an explosion of vapour from one of these paint-driers, known as Xerotine Siccative. The above are the more important precautions for the prevention of ignition; it remains to deal with those for minimising the effects of an ignition should one occur.

Every store in which petroleum spirit is kept in tanks should be thoroughly ventilated. This is not feasible where the spirit is kept in barrels, as it is found by experience that the effect of ventilation is to shrink the wood of the barrels and thus to increase the amount of leakage.

In every petroleum store, or in any shop where oil is kept, there should always be a quantity of sand in a large bucket or coal-scuttle, ready for throwing on to any petroleum which may be spilt and ignited on the floor. In this In this way a fire may be extinguished in its initial stage. It must be remembered that water is useless for this purpose, as the oil will float and continue to burn on the surface. In the case of petroleum being spilt and ignited in a room, or on the clothes of a person, the flames should be at once enveloped in a hearth-rug or woollen table-cloth.

The safest description of vessel for containing petroleum, either in storage or conveyance, is undoubtedly a metal tank. It would be beyond the scope of this volume to enter into details of the

construction of tank-steamers or of tank-waggons for road or rail (though some particulars are given in chap. iv.); but specifications for storage-tanks, which it was proposed to prescribe by law, may be of assistance to local authorities in determining the suitability for licence of a proposed store for petroleum spirit. These specifications are given in Appendix X. Every tank, if not provided with a gauze-covered air-hole, should be fitted with some form of safety-valve to prevent its being burst by internal pressure when heated by a conflagration. In the disastrous fire which occurred at Walker Gate on January 29, 1898, eleven persons lost their lives and many more sustained injury owing to the bursting of a creosote tank made from an old boiler, which had become heated by the flames.

The most important precaution for minimising the Precautions effect of a fire is to prevent the outflow of the burning outflow. against liquid. Thus every overground tank, every store for petroleum in barrels, and in fact every vessel containing petroleum oil or spirit, should be placed in such a position, or should be so surrounded with walls of masonry or earth, or with trenches, that under no circumstances can the liquid escape, even if the containing vessel gives way altogether. The capacity of the space formed by the surrounding wall, or of the trench, should be made sufficient to hold the contents of all the tanks or barrels which it surrounds. The effects of many of the largest petroleum fires have been aggravated by the outflow of the burning liquid into sewers, streets, or harbours, often with disastrous results. Thus in the accident at Exeter previously quoted, the burning petroleum flowed over the surface of the river and set fire to a vessel, which was completely destroyed. In December 1881, at Bristol, an oil-store took fire, and the burning oil ran down into