Mysterious Gas Explosions

A lawyer who always wished toreach his office punctually at nine o'cloek wa starting, one morning, when his wife oalled him back and asked h!m to do an crrand for her. He grumbled a little, for it would make him late; but he went, and so did not reach his office till quarter past nine. When he arrived he found fire engines and a crowd of people around the door, and that the hall aud stairways were all blown to pieces. Th people told Mm that there had been a gas explosión in the cellar at just about nine o'cloek; if the lawyer had been going upstairs at the moment he would probably have been killed. How could this be? How can gas which is burned freely in city houses, shops and halls créate such an explosión? The secret is that, although gas is not ordinarily explosivo, vet when it is mixed with atmospheric air the compound if lighted will explode with greftt violence. The best proportion is when one part of gas is mingled with aboui five parts of air; henee there need not be a great deal of gas at large in a cellar to make the air explosive enough to do damage. And a great many disasters are caused in cities and large towns in this way. A pipe downstairs spring a little leak, or sonie ono carelossly Ieaves a burner turned in ono of the rooms. The gas steadily, though Yery slowly perhaps, poui's into the cellar or room, and before long the peopl begin to say, "What a atrong smell of gas; there" must be a leak somewhere." luej ought never to use a light in searching for the leak. But, often, one is used. If the trouble is in an upstairs room, and it is evening, a servant girl, very likely, goes in with a lighted lamp to finid Ihe burner which is open, and close it. Or if it be in the cellar, and a ga fitter or plurnber is sent for, he very often eames down a burning candle. Then the mixed gas and air will blow the building to pieces, and may Tery likely kill the people. In the cities men walk the streets sellkig toy balloons. These balloons are made of very thin, light india rubber, and are about the size of a large soap bubble. They are filled with common "gas," such as is burned in hous 38. One day a gentleman bought one and was carrying it along the street, holdng it by a string about three feet long wEich lay over his shoulder and allowtd the balloon to float in the air behind him, bobbing up and down as he walked. In the crowd a gentleman smoking a cigar came near and the balloon toucned the lighted end of the cigar. The fire in the cigar burned or melted a hole in the balloon, the gas within and atmospheric air outside rningled together, forming an explosiy compound, and took fire, and imniediately there was an explosión in the smoker's face, singing his whiskers and burning his nose. It is not strange that servant girla d not know it may be dangei'ous to earry a lamp into a room where there hae been a little gas escaping, but one woulcl suppose workmen employed íd repairing gas pipes would understaud all about it. Many, however, do not; the people in the house ought to watch a workman whoiu they send down cellar to find a leak, andsee that he doe not carry a light. An Albany man once sent to the gas company to have a leak in his cellar stopped, and the workman who carne struck a match. The explosión blew up the floors overhead so that the man's wife and daughtpr were thrown through the ceiling of the room in which they were sitting up into the next story and then feil into the cellar. The samé sort of calaniity ha happened in a great many cases from like ca.-elessness of gas-fitters themselves. If you notice a person lighHng the ga af ter the fauoet has been turnea a little, you will sometimos notice that it light with a little puff. When what is called an Argand burner is used this puff i quite loud; for the chimney holds a little quantity of the gas mingied with air, and the puff you hear is the explosión of this mixture. A grown person could show you a pretty good illustration of those explosiona by holding a mug or tumbler over a gas burner and letting a little gas poiir into it, which would ïmmediately mix with the air already in it, and then lighting this mixture. Hut the mug or tumbler should be a pretty strong one, else the explosión might shatter it. .