Kerosene lamp

“ A kerosene lamp is very effective, if placed with the narrow side of the flame toward the screen, the object being to concentrate the light, and cause it to come from as small and yet as brilliant a point as possible. Set the lamp in a box of some kind; a wooden soap box would do, with one side open toward the screen. The box should be painted a dull black inside, or old black cloth may be tacked in as a lining. If the inside of the box is not black, it will reflect the light, and cause the shadows to appear blurred. On no account use a reflector, as this would have the [Pg 123] same effect. ”

“ Notwithstanding there are some points in favor of the old reliable kerosene lamp, even when put in the scale with other illuminants, few people of the younger generation regard it as other than something to be endured. In view of the facts that an oil lamp requires a great deal of attention, usually leaves its trail of oil and smoke, is ill-smelling, disagreeably hot in summer, and always somewhat dangerous, it is strange that those who cling to it as to a fetich are usually the ones who have longest struggled with its imperfections. ”

“ Even the poor who cannot have electricity or gas hardly need economize here with kerosene at its present rates. A kerosene lamp, to be sure, is not often a beautiful or poetical object, but with the right kind of care the vile odor may be suppressed, and though this involves an additional burden for the housekeeper, light is too essential for the work to be grudged. A sufficient number of clean kerosene lamps will make a house cheerful from one end to the other. Now I have often noticed that women who are compelled to economize in little things are inclined to economize in all things. ”

“ It is securely fastened to the table, which in its turn is fastened to the floor, and the light is supplied by a small incandescent lamp within the chimney, but concealed by the shade. The visitor never imagines that it is an electric lamp, and naturally thinks that it would be impossible for a kerosene lamp to be inverted without disaster, so that this adds to the deception materially. ”

“ Within a few years illuminating gas has greatly diminished in price. It costs a little more than kerosene, but it is more convenient in many ways. The danger of carrying lamps from room to room is avoided, as well as the disagreeable task of filling them. Still the gas flame is less steady than that of the kerosene lamp, and is therefore less serviceable for reading. For the poor man the kerosene light is a great blessing, while for all who can afford the extra cost the gaslight is a greater convenience. ”

“ The kerosene or mineral-oil lamp was a boon to lighting in the nineteenth century and even to-day it is a blessing in many homes, especially in villages, in the country, and in the remote districts of civilization. Its extensive use at the present time is shown by the fact that about eight million lamp-chimneys are now being manufactured yearly in this country. It is convenient and safe when carelessness is avoided, and is fairly free from odor. ”

“ Kerosene lamps are usually of 10 to 20 candle-power, although they are made up to 100 candle-power. These luminous intensities refer to the maximum horizontal candle-power. The best practice now deals with the total light output, which is expressed in lumens, and on this basis a consumption of one gallon of kerosene per hour would yield about 8000 lumens.
Oil-lamps have been devised in which the oil is burned as a spray ejected by air-pressure. These burn with a large flame; however, a serious feature is the escape of considerable oil which is not burned. ”

“ We often read in the paper of explosions from this new kerosene by which people were instantly killed and houses wrapped in an unquenchable fire. Aunt Susan had stood out against the strange invention, long after most of the other homes of Juno Mills were familiar with the idea of the lamp. Even after she had yielded, and I went to the grocery for more oil and fresh chimneys and wicks, like other boys, she refused to believe that this inflammable fluid was really squeezed out of hard coal, as they said. And for years we lived in momentary belief that our lamp was about to explode. ”

“ Never fill a lamp, lantern, or oil-stove when it is lighted. Never use kerosene to start the fire in the kitchen range. Never leave a lamp burning when you go out of the room, as it may explode or fill the house with smoke. Keep your lamps clean and see that the wick fits the burner. A clean, well-kept lamp will not explode. ”

“ Already before the discovery of petroleum and its multifarious uses the invention by chemical methods of illuminating materials had begun. Many kinds of burning fluid had been introduced. The reign of these was short-lived; coal oil came in at the door and they flew out at the window. Great was the advantage which seemed to come to mankind from the use of kerosene lamps. Those very forms of illumination which are now regarded as crude in character and odious in use were only a generation ago hailed with delight because of their superiority to the former agents of illumination. ”

“ Fill the lamp through a funnel, and do not let the kerosene run over. Wipe off the charred wick with paper, and wipe the burner. Wash off the lamp in warm soap suds, wash and polish the chimney and shade, and replace. If you cannot get rid of odor, take the burner apart, boil it in a solution of washing soda, and put in a new wick. Cleaning a lamp is not nearly so disagreeable as many people think it, when it is done with good will. To shirk it means an unpleasant odor in the room and a poor light. Always fill the lamp in the daytime and keep it away from the fire. ”

“ Keep an old pan and some cloths exclusively for this purpose, and be very careful not to allow the dirty hands or a drop of kerosene to come near any food.
Have a regular time in the day for cleaning the lamps, preferably immediately after all the morning work has been done after breakfast. Do not fill the lamps near the kitchen stove. Do not light a match while the oil-can is near, and never fill a lamp while it is lighted or while near another one which is lighted. If a fire is caused by kerosene, smother it with a heavy rug or a woollen garment, and do not attempt to put it out with water. ”

“ Cross lights are the artist’s abhorrence.
In city houses a conservatory built out on one side gives a pleasant suggestion of the woods and out-of-doors, and at the same time gives the right effect of light and shade to the room. Kerosene lamps are not ornaments to the dining or tea table. They are cumbersome, malodorous, and their room is better than their company. A chandelier over the table, burning gas or holding lamps, is the easiest and cheapest arrangement, but not the most picturesque. ”

“ If in a modern lamp of proper construction a close-fitting wick is used and the lamp is extinguished by turning down and blowing across the chimney, there is little danger in its use excepting accidental breakage or overturning.
In oil-lamps at the present time mineral oils are used which possess flashing-points above 75°F. The highly volatile components of petroleum are dangerous because they form very explosive mixtures with air at ordinary temperatures. A mineral oil like kerosene, to be used with safety in lamps, should not be too volatile. ”

“ The manufactories of kerosene from cannel or other coal, therefore, went out of existence, and new ones, larger in size and greater in number, sprung up for the manufacture of kerosene or, popularly speaking, coal oil, from petroleum.41 This illuminant came into almost universal favor for lamp use, owing to its cheapness and brilliancy. It is not free from danger when improperly distilled, but under the operation of stringent laws governing its preparation and testing, danger from its use has been reduced to a minimum. ”

“ Provide small lamps with handles for carrying about, and broad-bottomed lamps for the kitchen, as these are not easily upset. Hand and kitchen lamps are best made of metal, unless they are to be used by very careful persons.
Sperm-oil, lard, tallow, etc., have been superseded to such an extent by kerosene that it is scarcely worth while to give any special directions in regard to them. In the choice of kerosene, attention should be paid to two points: its safety and its light-giving qualities. Kerosene is not a simple fluid, like water ”

“ Why electric lamps are usually vacuums. Electric lamps usually have vacuums inside because the filament gets so hot that it would burn up if there were any oxygen to combine with it. But in a globe containing no oxygen the filament may be made ever so hot and it cannot possibly burn.
High-power electric lamps are not made with vacuums but are "gas-filled." The gas that is oftenest put into lamps is nitrogen,—the same gas that is mixed with the oxygen in air. By taking all the oxygen out of a quantity of air, the lamp manufacturers can use in perfect safety the nitrogen that is left. ”

“ An ingenious device has lately been added to the system for facilitating the lighting of the lamp. At the base of the lamp-post a small hermetically-closed can containing petroleum ether is placed, and connected by very fine copper-tubing with a burner under the vaporising tube. When the lamp is to be lit a small rubber bulb is squeezed, forcing a quantity of the ether vapour into the burner, where it is ignited by a platinum wire rendered incandescent by a current passing from a small accumulator also placed in the lamp-post. ”

“ While the copper and platinum wires readily conduct the current, the carbon filament offers a great deal of resistance to its passage, and for this reason becomes very hot, in fact is raised to white heat or incandescence, which gives its name to the lamp. ”

“ None, it is stated, have broken, even when forced much beyond the incandescence they are intended to bear, and, owing to the compensating action of the gasoline, it is anticipated that the lamps will be permanent. The platinum wires supporting the carbon strip are not fused into the glass of the bulb, as has been the case in previous incandescent lamps, but are surrounded by a slightly elastic cement, which it is averred preserves a good joint. The light given by the lamp is but slightly yellow, is quite pleasing to the eye, and is fairly steady. ”

“ Acetylene is a very useful and powerful illuminant when all else fails. It is the nearest artificial approach to sunlight. Petrol gas with an incandescent mantle will be found just as good as ordinary coal gas, while there are many cheap lamps well adapted for its use. If all these alternatives are lacking there is the electric flash lamp working with the dry battery. A tiny metallic filament incandescent bulb mounted within a parabolic reflector will give a light of intense brilliancy. ”

“ From an artistic point of view, one of the worst methods of lighting a room is by pendant lamps, collected in single centres in large numbers. The lights ought to be distributed in different portions of the room, and so shaded that the light is received only by reflection from surrounding objects. Ornamental effects are frequently produced by means of candle lamps in which a small incandescent lamp, imitating the flame of a candle, is placed upon a white porcelain tube as a holder, and these small units are distributed and arranged in electroliers and brackets. ”

“ It must be remembered that electric lighting is comparatively a new science, and not yet fully understood. There is very little doubt that, by practice, it will before long approach more nearly to perfection, and sooner or later entirely supersede gas, the arc form of lamp being employed for the illumination of streets and large areas, while the incandescent pattern meets domestic requirements.—Good Words. ”

“ But it was a scarce and expensive material, and so long as it was heated to incandescence in the open air, that is, so long as its heat was fed as other heat is, by oxygen, it was slowly consumed. Platinum is no longer in the field of electric lighting, and the substitute which takes its place in the present incandescent lamp, and which is known as a "filament," is not heated in contact with the air. The experiments and endeavors that brought this result constitute the story of the incandescent lamp. ”

“ It has been found by experience that the ordinary type of open arc lamp with vertical carbons included in an opalescent globe cannot compete in point of cost with modern improvements in gas lighting as a means of street illumination. The violet colour of the light and the sharp shadows, and particularly the non-illuminated area just beneath the lamp, are grave disadvantages. ”

“ All forms of incandescent or glow lamps are found to deteriorate in light-giving power with use. In the case of carbon filaments this is due to two causes. As already explained, carbon is scattered from the filament and deposited upon the glass, and changes also take place in the Ageing of lamps. filament which cause it to become reduced in temperature, even when subjected to the same terminal voltage. In many lamps it is found that the first effect of running the lamp is slightly to increase its candle-power, even although the voltage be kept constant ”

“ Thus, after a period of lighting by electricity 2.33 times as long as by gas, the temperature at the ceiling was increased by only 1-19th of the amount due to gas.
Another great advantage consequent to the employment of incandescent lighting, is the greater immunity from accidental fire; for as the carbon filament is instantly entirely consumed, the moment the glass envelope is broken it is impossible for the lamp to ignite anything in its vicinity however inflammable. ”