364 
THE CARRIAGE OF PETROLEUM. 
“ The term naphtha is generally applied to two kinds of liquid—one derived from 
wood possessing very much the properties of strong spirit of wine, and used mainly for 
makino- French polish and for singeing horses’ coats; the other is obtained from coal-tar 
by distillation, and is used very largely for burning in the outdoor lamps commonly seen 
at fairs and markets; it is also extensively used in the preparation of the beautiful 
colours known as coal-tar dyes. # . 
“Of late years, however, the same name has been given (and quite appropriately) to 
the light spirit which is distilled from American petroleum, and it is removed from it 
for the special purpose of rendering petroleum legally safe and burnable in ordinary 
household lamps. . 
“Dr. Paul seems to think that this light spirit finds its way extensively to this country, 
and that it renders the traffic in petroleum more dangerous than it ought to be. I do 
not believe that this is the case, as I cannot understand for what purpose it can be ex¬ 
tensively used; and, moreover, the dealers in petroleum are well aware that an article 
which will not stand the proper test is sure to be detected at once. 
“ It is possible, however, that the coal-naphtha described above may have, in some 
instances, caused serious accidents, since it is excessively inflammable, and is often trans¬ 
mitted by rail or water under the name of petroleum. 
“All the kinds here described—namely, wood, coal, and petroleum naphtha—are un¬ 
doubtedly dangerous things to convey as ordinary goods by railways, steamers, or ordi¬ 
nary sailing vessels, but I contend that it is a grievous hardship to the commerce of the 
country that, because these things are dangerous to carry as ordinary goods, they should 
not be" carried at all, or only under such circumstances as to render their transit almost 
prohibitory. . 
“ The fact is, that if their nature is properly understood, and they are treated in a 
proper way, there is no valid reason why they should not be carried as freely as may be 
required. 
“The celebrated Abergele accident was undoubtedly a sad aftair, but 1 can quite con¬ 
ceive that it might have been just as disastrous had the barrels contained strong Irish 
whisky instead of petroleum. 
“ The popular notion as to the explosiveness of petroleum or naphtha is quite erroneous, 
and the same applies to spirits of turpentine, wood, and coal naphtha, or any other 
similar substance. In order to be explosive in the true sense of the term, they must 
contain within themselves the complete elements of combustion, and this they do not. 
A lighted match may be dropped with impunity into the bunghole of a cask of petro¬ 
leum or any other of the inflammable liquids mentioned above, so long as the air is 
excluded • but, on the other hand, if the vapour of any such liquids becomes mixed with 
the proper quantity of air required to produce an explosive mixture, then explosion will 
occur, and precisely the same with coal-gas. Any one might, without the slightest 
danger drop a lighted candle into one of the largest London gas-holders through a small 
orifice.’ It would simply set fire to the gas issuing from such an opening, but the candle 
itself would undoubtedly be put out, simply because coal-gas has no power of support¬ 
ing combustion without atmospheric air. .. , 
“ Gunpowder, gun-cotton, or nitro-glycerine, are, on the other hand, explosive m the 
strict sense of the term, because they contain within themselves the necessary oxygen to 
support their combustion. . . a 
“ Bearing these facts in mind, there ought to be no great difficulty in carrying inflam¬ 
mable liquids by rail, if they are only stored in the proper way; three things are espe¬ 
cially necessary—no leakage, as little access of air as possible, no lamp or fire must ever 
be allowed inside the trucks in which the material is to be carried; the Brighton acci¬ 
dent arose from a lamp being carried into a truck where petroleum had been leaking, 
and its vapour had become mixed with sufficient air to make an explosive gas. 
“I would suggest that a special truck should be used for carrying all such materials 
as are here mentioned, very strongly made and lined with lead over the bottom and two 
or three feet up the sides in such a way as to make it a cistern or pan, through which 
no leakage could occur even though a cask or two were to come to pieces ; the lead being 
soft and yielding would not be in danger of breaking, except by a thorough smash of 
the carriage. The opening to the truck would have to be a tightly-fitting falling door 
at the point where the lead terminates, and a short ladder would bad down to the floor 
of the truck, with ropjs attached for rolling casks up and down. The carriage, when 
