WARNS OF DUST
PERIL IN MILLS
Department of Agriculture Tells
of Tragedies Which Carry
Own Lesson.
LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY
Men in Flour Mills, Cereal Mills and
Elevators Under Government Urge
Are Using More Care—Pre
ventive Devices Installed.
Washington.—Hero is a remarkable
contrast:
Between March, 1010, and October,
1017—twenty months- (lust explosions
destroyed four of the largest, grain and
cereal plants In the United States and
Canada, killing 24 people, injuring 3(5
and destroying $0,000,000 worth of food
stuffs and buildings.
From October, 1917, to August, 1010
—twenty-one months—there has been
only one disastrous dust explosion in
n flour mill, cereal mill nr grain eleva
tor in this country. This explosion
occurred in May, 1010, in an elevator
In the Northwest. Three men were
killed, four injured and property dam
aged to the extent of $150,000.
Did not the elevators and mills
handle more grain and flour in the lat
ter period than In the earlier one?
And did they not have trouble with
the changing of help and have to use
inexperienced men? More explosions,
in the natural course (if events, were
to be expected in the later period. The
♦secret of it is that all the men in the
flour mills, cereal mills and elevators
have been careful and preventive de
vices have been Installed.
Carry Their Lesson.
The following accounts of tragedies
and near-tragedies supplied by the bu
reau of chemistry of the United States j
department of agriculture convey their j
own lesson.
A feed-grinding plant in Canada
met with a $2,000,000 loss from an ex
plosion and fire caused by foreign ma
terial entering the grinding machine.
The sparks created by this foreign ma
terial, passing through the grinding
plates ignited the dust in and around
the machine. A small explosion fol
lowed. Dust-laden air propagated the
flame to a large bin, where the dust
had been stirred Into suspension. This
produced a second and violent explo- |
slon and the fire that resulted com
pletely destroyed the plant, killing 17
inen and injuring 10.
Friction between any two dissimilar
(todies will produce static electricity.
A spark of this type started a fire In
an elevator head of a southern export
house. Since the elevator heads and
legs were completely boxed in and the
machinery was operating properly
there was absolutely no possibility of
any cause for this fire except static
electricity. The discharge ignited the
dust iii the (‘levator head, the flames
hurst out and caused a fire on the top
floor. Fortunately the plant was
Nose Sewed on After
Being Off One Hour
London.—An unusual story
was related at the King Ed
ward VII hospital at Windsor.
A stable boy, named William
Robertson, was preparing a
horse to run in a race when a
skylight fell and cut bis nose
clean off. He was taken to the
King Kdward Yll hospital with
out his nose.
The arteries were tied and
the surgeon then asked for the
nose. It was stated that it was
left behind in the stable at tin*
race course.
A messenger immediately was
dispatched to the stables and
the nose was found In the straw.
It was taken to the hospital
where an operation was per
formed and the nose was put on
again. It had then been off
about an hour.
A few days later Robertson
was discharged from the hos
pital. He said it was a miracle.
i
i equipped with an automatic sprinkler
system and the fire was extinguished
before much damage was done. By
grounding every elevator head in the
building this danger was eliminated,
and since that time no fire or explo
sion has occurred In the plant.
Care Prevents Disaster.
It was the custom at a certain cereal
grinding mill in the middle West to
keep the plant as free as possible from
all (lust. This practice, no doubt,
saved the plant from a disastrous ex
plosion and fire. Some hits of foreign
material got past the magnetic sepa
rator. and upon entering the grinding
| machine caused sparks to fly. The
sparks ignited the dust in suspension,
blew open the doors of the grinding
machines, and flames shot out to a
distance of several feet; but because
of the hick of (lust to propagate the
flame the fire went out. Had there
been accumulations of dust near by it
no doubt would have been thrown into
suspension and another and very vio
lent explosion would have resulted.
At an elevator in the East three
men were transferring grain from a
storage bin to a shipping bin when
j one of them smelled the odor of hurn
I ing rubber.
“I guess we had better see what is
' ;h(' trouble," said one.
“Let's finish running this bin first,"
Red Ink. Not Blood,
Scared Injured Man.
San Francisco. OH. ""-v
arm is bleeding. doctor sen the
blond all over It." cried Albert
Fisinio, ns he burst into the
Harbor Fmorgenry hospital. h,s
riprtit arm stained with Kul>
streaks.
I>r. A. Friedman "five one
look at the arm. He l>"t bis
nose to one of the streaks of
red. and then he hurst out in :l
roar of iaughter.
“That's not blood, my good
man; that's nothing but red
ink" said the doctor, as Hs
imo explained that he had
s.-rateln-d his arm "idle load
ing boxes on a wagon and bad
pone to the first aid box for
what he thought to he iodine,
hut, instead, he had taken red
ink.
n modern mill in the South still be
lieves in smoking- hut not »t» a noth
mill or grain elevator.
While inspecting an elevator in the j
Kust an insurance man found an ex- j
tension light with a flimsy wire gnard j
lying on the floor ami remarked. “1 his j
light should not be lying on the floor. ,
"All right,” said one of the men,
[ind picked np the light, intending to j
throw it over a lieam overhead. I he
inlh struck the beam and broke. This
listurhed and ignited the dust which
ay thick on the beam. Flames hurst
1
What a Grain Dust Explosion Followed by a Fire Did to a Grain Elevator.
said another. “We can finish in about
ten minutes."
“All right," said the first, and they
continued working.
A few minutes later—an explosion, j
and then n lire. Flames spread rap- '
idly and the heat was so intense that j
the firemen could not get the fire un
der control. The plant was completely
destroyed, with a loss of SI,500,000.
Enough grain was destroyed to fur
nish Chicago with bread for a month.
Seven Men Killed.
A choke-up occurred recently in an
export elevator in the East. One of
the men hurried to investigate and
found it to he in leg No. 1. lie sig
naled in for leg No. 1 to be shut down,
but because of some mistake leg No. 2
was shut down instead. The belt in
No. 1 continued to slip until tin- heat
■ produced was so great that the belt
began to burn, thus igniting the dust
in the leg and producing a sharp local
explosion, which blew tin1 leg apart.
| This explosion stirred up the dust
about the plant, ignited it, and pro
duced a very violent explosion. The
, tire which resulted completely de
stroyed the plant. Seven men were
killed, 22 injured and the property
damage amounted to $1,500,000.
The miller in a modern mill In the
South believed in having his plant
dean, in having efficient fire-fighting
apparatus, and in using a flashlight if
ho must inspect a bin by artificial
light. Occasionally, however he
would go through tfie plant smoking
his pipe.
No Place to Smoke.
One afternoon lie wished to deter
mine tlie amount of flour in a bin, so
lie took a flashlight, lifted the trap
door of the bin, and was about to flash
the light when lie found a mass of
flames in front of him. lie was smok
ing his pipe af the time. His hands
and face were badly burned, and the
trapdoor sill was scorched. Fortu
nately. because of the lack of dust in
the plant, the blaze vanished almost
as quickly as it came. The miller in
out for ton foot or more in every di
rection. Fortunately there was little
dust in the nir, so a disastrous explo
sion did not follow.
YANK WEDS ESCAPE PLOTTER
Bride Convicted of Treason by Ger- j
mans for Helping Prisoners Flee I
From Military Prison.
Minneapolis!.—.Tames \V. Shea of
Gram] Forks, N. D., n United States
soldier, and Mrs. Margaret Gentzke
! who was eonvieted of I reason in Ger
! many for aitlintr Shea and other nt
lied fighters to escape Hun military
prisons, obtained a license to marry
in the city clerk’s office.
Mrs. Gentzke is 81 years of age and
Shea is 2K.
Mrs. Gentzke reached the United
States a few weeks after completing
the sentence Imposed on her for help
ing Shea escape. Her husband in Ger
I many secured a divorce after her con
viction for treason.
KAISER'S KITCHEN LIKE HIM
Shows No Sign of Ever Having Been
Under Fire—Comes to
Washington.
Washington.— To the collection of
war trophies which the Smithsonian
institution is now gathering will lie
added shortly the field kitchen of Wil- j
Ham llolienzoilern, late kaiser of Ger
many.
The kitchen followed the kaiser to
all the lighting fronts he visited, hut j
shows no signs of damage, which is j
taken to indicate that It was kept far
j to the rear, as did its imperial owner. |
German prisoners of war loaded the
kitchen—which is said to be the most j
elaborate affair of its kind—aboard
a transport at St. Nuzaire, France, and
it is on its way to Washington, with a i
large collection of war material ot
different kinds.
HOW THE TORNADO LEFT CORPUS CHRiSTI, TEX.
» , •■:W - •:-." v‘:>w^«''--v>.':
First photograph from Corpus Christi. Tex. shoetn;; some of the destruetion wrought l>y the tornado vvlik-U kith- '
hundreds of persons and did untneuse property damage.
PURE-BRED POULTRY 13 BEST
Growers Everywhere Are Coming
Realize That There Is Mere
Money in Standard Brceas.
(Prepared by the Unite d States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
Tho story of Keub n Lowe of North
Shapleljrb-.’il**.. illustrates the possible
profits from poultry keeping where j
careful management is practiced. Inir
in,. 1918 this poultry man, who do- ,
votes only part of bis lime to chicken ;
raising, kept 1250 birds, which pari
him a profit over feed cost of more •
than $1,000, equivalent to $4 a Mrd. ,
Included in this amount are the sales
nf a few eggs for hatching, about :!j>
cockerels sold for breeding purposes j
at $8.50 to $5 each, as well as the
market eggs, which were disposed of j
in large quantity. Mr. Lowe keeps
Maine Poultryman Realizes $4 a Bird
From His White WyancloUes.
White Wyandottes of a strain that
wins in the show ring when judged
according to either the standard of
perfection or a utility standard.
One pen of —0 pullets owned by this 1
Maine poultry raiser produced eggs
as follows: November, 1918, 413; De
cember, 1918, 418; January. 1919, 380;
February, 1919, 318',; March, 1919. 456;
a total of 1,993 eggs, averaging 99.83
eggs per bird in five months.
It pays to keep poultry of this kind,
and growers everviehere are coming
to realize that there Is more money
in keeping better fowl and feeding
them properly balanced rations than
in wasting time with inferior birds.
OHIO LICE POWDER FORMULA
Mixture of Gasoline, Carbolic Acid
and Plaster of Paris Is Inex
pensive and Efficient.
One of the cheapest home-made lice
powders for poultry is made by mix
ing three parts of gasoline and one
part of crude carbolic acid w'th as
much planter of paris as the liqu'd
will moisten, as determined by the
Ohio experiment station. The pow
der is allowed to dry before using; it
may be kept in an air-tight container
where it retains its strength for a long
period. The powder is inflammable
and must be kept away from fire.
Infested fowls when thoroughly
dusted are soon relieved from the at
tacks of lice; about 125 birds may be
dusted in one hour, one pound of the
mixture being needed to dust ten ma
i turn fowls.
For head lice on chickens the use
of blue ointment or mercurial oint
i rnent has been found effective. One
part of the ointment is mixed with
i two parts of vaseline and a lump of
the mixture about the size of a pea is
nibbed thoroughly at the base of the
feathers about the head.
WHEN FOWLS BEGIN TO MOLT
Plenty o' Good ^ood in Considerable
Variety Is Essential to Main
tain Good Health.
When the fowls begin to shod their
feathers be sure that they have plenty
of good food, in considerable variety,
so they can maintain their health and
strength and at the same time grow
a perfect new set of feathers.
liran is a good regulator for poul
try of all ages.
* * *
Purchase well-matured pullets rath
er than hens.
• * *
Having movable, separate nest boxes
makes it easier to clean them as well
as the house.
* * #
Don’t expect great success in hatch
ing and raising chltks unless you havo
had some experience.
• • •
There is no better place for turkeys
to roost than in the trees, in the open
air, during the summer and fall.
* » *
Chicks ihat get too warm in coops
do not grow well and therefore do not
make the best use of their feed and
opportunities.
• * *
If the wing feathers of little chicks
crow too rapidly and make the wings
hang 4-./ i they should be cut off so
•hat f .< will not sap the vitality of
he chicks.
TENNESSEE LAMB AND WOOL MARKETING
CLUBS NOW IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATION
*
>
*
9
*'t
Sheep Are Prize Mortgage Lifters When Well Managed.
(Prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
Lamb and wool marketing clubs have
been in successful operation in Ten
nessee for more than 2u years. They
were the outcome of unsatisfactory
marketing conditions In the lamb-pro
ducing sections of Tennessee. T he
plan originates! at Goodletsvllle, where
there is a club with a membership of
f>0 persons living within a radius of
three miles from the shipping stations,
and its success has prompted farmers
in other sections to organize in a sim
ilar manner.
The organization of these clubs is
comparatively simple. The officers
consist of a president and a secretary
treasurer, who, with three other mem
bers, form an executive committee,
the chairman of which is the secretary
treasurer. The annual meeting for the
election of officers i* held early in tin*
spring, that each member may report
the number of lambs and the amount
of wool that he will have to sell.
Sold to Highest Bidder.
The secretary-treasurer advertises
for sealed bids on the lambs owned
by the club. The advertisement indi
eu! s the number, grade, and quality
of the lambs and the date shipment
will he made. The lambs are then
sold at the shipping point to the high
est bidder, the executive committee re
serving the privilege of rejecting .il
bids in case they seem too low. On
the shipping date the executive com
mittee is on hand to grade the lambs
brought in l>y each farmer. All larahjipSj
not up to the advertised star. ’.an! an
returned to tin* fan,tor. who wth«
holds them over for some future ship
m.-Hi or sells i! <*m at a saoriti Tb»B
has the beneficial influence of traini^ I
the owners to deliver only those lambs
which will come within the grades a4
vertised by the committee.
The day for the wool sale is a;ke
tised, that bidders may be on hand
see the 11.■■•ci s which are graded intt |
No. 1, clear; No. 2, slightly burry: N«,
it, burry; and No. -4. hard hurry, ban
grade is weighed, and sealed bids aaj
rei elved l»y the committee, which a1
reserves the privilege of rejecting ai
bids.
AH Share Equally.
The farmer who owns a small fiodj
of owes has the same advantage
marketing his lambs as the largo pi
ducer. Expenses are made proport
ate and all receive the benefit oi t »
pot it i ve tods. The results are «e«2
principally in the hotter price- ..l.a
o.i. It is -<■ ••••] fro, iy that r chM
members receive from SI to ?2 a - US’
dr.-d weight in..re for lambs of the sag
grade and 2 eei ts per pound more fur
who have not the benefit of coojtffl
i
couraged to follow uniform m
)■ breeding and handling their t >cfal
. h tin- r< ait that the clubs h ■ a*T
.' • ’dish d reputation in many of ti
large markets for the uniformity
high quality of ttndr lambs and w
COMPLAIN AT PRICE
OF ACID PHOSPHATE
Figures Quoted by Manufacturers
Are Too High.
Strikes and Car Shortage in Florida
and Tennessee Fields Have Com
bined to Reduce Production
and Shipments.
(Prepared by the I'nite.i States Depart
ment of Agri' jlture.)
The United States department of
agriculture has received numerous
complaints regarding the price of acid
phosphate as compared with the prices
of mixed fertilizers. The price quoted
by manufacturers during the spring of
lf»1P to dealers or individuals ordering
,'Mi tons or more was $‘24 a ton f. o. b.
Haltimore, Philadelphia and Carteret.
The price asked for the fall trade is
$22.50 a tort.
It will he recalled that the depart
ment on June 7 issued a statement to
the effect that farmers should be able
to obtain mixed fertilizer in the fall
of 1010 at prices approximately 20 per
cent lower than those which prevailed
in the spring. This statement was
based upon information that had been
obtained from manufacturers, but M
was expressly stated that the price of
add phosphate was being further in
vestigated. Obviously, tlm price of tills
material has not decreased by fit) per
cent, and the department, in letters
to manufacturers, has expressed the
view that the prices quoted above are
too high.
It tuts also advised nil acid plios
phate manufacturers that in the fu
ture It will require them to base the
price of straight add pin sphatc, as
j a separate commodity, on the actual
cost of the materials of manufacture
and sale, plus a reasonable profit, and
that the cost of manufacturing mixed
goods must not he prorated ori that
\ portion of the acid phosphate which
is sold as such.
Since the prices o* neld phosphate
were indicated to the department by
the fertilizer manufacturers, the prices
of crude acid phosphate have advanced
to sueh tt point that the dry mixers,
who buy ihe crude material, crush
mill, screen, and hag it. complain that
i they can not handle it with a profit
I at the price they had agreed to sell
! it for. Strikes in Florida and car short
ages in both the Florida and Tennessee
fields have combined to reduce produc
tion and shipments. The department
J has laid the situation fully before the
: railroad administration and lias urged
that sufitalent ears be made avail
able for fertilizer deliveries in the in
terest of crop production.
It 1ms also notified the phosphate
miners and the acid phosphate maim
facturors that the present prices of
rock phosphate, or of add phosphate,
must not be advanced without submit
ting the proposed increases to the do
pnrtment, accompanied by specs
d:va showing any real and unavoM
ulile increase tliui may have occurrd!
in ilio coi n of production. Hud U
crease In costs, in the opinion of tl
department, would be the only po;
justification for any advance in tMl
; rices tlint prevailed in Juno, fiie <J**I
partment holds tint a mere shortap1!
of supply ill tin existing circumstan-j
ees is not Ir, its if a sufficient JusUftoj
lion for inereased prices.
GOOD COVER FOR HAYSTACKS
<
Ample Protection Afforded by Layer
of Coarse Grass, Such as Millet,
Sudan or Sorghum.
' Sta.li rt |
merit of i, ulture.) ]
High pi i
tint that farti r> top off ttieir hay
stacks with proper cover- for prr•*«***
tion of the dry forage against > atb
\ ■ e and - : ,; : ■ < ■ ;,‘r
ny stack or t ' ■
I ■ spreading a lever, about b'lir
inch: s ttiidc, of some c arst ,:i
• uoh t.s millet, -udsn gra:--. !in*
i ridimn, or si.Hu- mar e wild C"a‘s
le stack or !
ng Ion- jm.‘(- over the hay. '! ,’n
nhidin- tl.- e poll s pern,. ' ' ’ :U
1 •!. '■ iiy th- it:-- of wires v. * '‘(I
* iwn ; t 1 ill ends \\ hero •
is ms ! i ! out of doors in ohh- ; -
a ra'ls.: -t ry cover may <•' • ,lt’
made hy using 1- inch hoard-- ! l«> : ’*
inch: s in thickness, cut as lone ns , ::l'
rick, which nn:y ho wired together
and hipped like shingles to form a
satisfactory cover ov r ti e hay. Some
farmers have been successful in u-mu
erimia'd gaivar.tned r- ting or corrti*
gated roofing with the edge bent to In- ,
terlocl; in the same manner as a pro
tection for hay-ricks.
Live- Stock
■CTWC3 Notes
Old sows farrow
yrung sows do.
heavier pigs than
Alfalfa is n great food for tlie brood
sow iii summer and winter.
Alfalfa provides a large amount of
nutriment for every kind of stork.
* * *
Morse kindness: Load lightly and .
drive slowly. Slop in the .shade it
possible.
(live the roll plenty of room
which to stretch his legs, hut bet*
not let him follow into the Held.
* 9 *
I'rekh air and sunlight combat dis
ease In the stable. Ikdry barns should
he airy barns. Ventilation is conser J
ration.
Hogs should he supplied with
able green forage and so munag; d
to consume ns much of it without*
waste us possible, since foicnge is by
far the cheapest feed that ca n he |
used.