178 



Pofular Science Mhnthly 



Extinguishing an Oil Fire with 

 Carbon-Dioxide Foam 



FIFTEEN thousand gallons of gas- 

 oline were set on fire recently at 

 the Greenpoint plant of the Standard 

 Oil Company to test carbon-dioxide 

 foam as an extinguishing compound. 

 The oil was allowed to burn for about a 

 minute during 

 which time the 

 flames and 

 smoke gained 

 such headway 

 that a column 

 of it mounted 

 three hundred 

 feet in the air. 

 At this point 

 the carbon-di- 

 oxide foam was 

 turned on, and 

 it was so effec- 

 tive that the 

 fire was within 

 control in a 

 very few sec- 

 onds and en- 

 tirely out with- 

 in forty-four 

 seconds. 



Most of the 

 big oil tanks of 

 the country are 

 now protected 

 by an auto- 

 matic device 

 which releases 

 carbon -dioxide 

 foam in quanti- 

 ties sufficient 

 to put out the 

 biggest fire. 

 Where a tank 

 explodes, how- 

 ever, other 

 measures have 

 to be taken. 



Thi oil was allowed to bum for a minute when the 

 carbon -dioxide foam was forced into the blaze from 

 the pipe which is shown at the left of the picture 



Sand is most frequently used in these 

 emergencies, and water, used in the early 

 days of oil fire-fighting, is now never 

 used, since it is heavier than oil and 

 causes the gasoline to overfiow and thus 

 spread the fire insteail of confining it. 



Where vats of highly inllamniable 

 liquids such as benzine, naphtha and 

 kerosene are stored, they are e(|uipped 

 with pipes so that they can be drained. 



Locating Guns by Delicate 

 Earthquake-Detectors 



SCIENCE has discovered that gun- 

 fire affects the earth's surface much 

 like an earthquake, so it is not surprising 

 to learn that guns are being located by 

 the seismograph — the delicate little in- 

 strument which records terrestrial trem- 

 ors. An Aus- 

 trian authority 

 on the subject 

 of earthquake 

 disturbances 

 announces that 

 the seismo- 

 graph can 

 record the po- 

 sition of hostile 

 artillery as well 

 as the caliber 

 of the guns. 



In the fairly 

 recent engage- 

 ment between 

 Italian and 

 Austrian 

 troops at Ison- 

 zo, the tremors 

 induced by the 

 heax'y cannon- 

 ade were duly 

 registered by 

 the apparatus, 

 and the opera- 

 tor was able to 

 detect, by 

 means of dia- 

 grams of arti- 

 ficial m o V e - 

 ments of the 

 ground, the 

 difference 

 between the 

 shocks pro- 

 duced by the 

 fall (if projec- 

 tiles anil those 

 caused by the recoil of the guns. More- 

 over, the form of tlic tracings revealed 

 to the practiced eye the number as well 

 as the caliber of the latter. From these 

 results came the suggestion that movable 

 seisniograpliir stations ten to twelve 

 miles in the rear of tlie trenches and con- 

 nected with them by telei>hone would 

 enable trained observers to transmit 

 infcirniatiiin to tlie commanding othccr. 



