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Show 0,S, L GIsBlIE TO AUT0M0B!I USERS Urges Precaution in Care of Cars and Engines Using Gasoline for Fuel. The safety first department of the Oregon Short Line railroad has sent letters to all its employees, containing an article clipped front The Travelers' Standard, urging automobile users to exercise care in genera ting power lor their cars and pointing mil many dangers dan-gers which may be averted by a little precaution. The advice, while directed 1o tho employees of the. railroad, js of interest to all uutomobilists. It is as follows: For some time reports have been received of fires originating during the handling of gasoline whom there was apparently no means of starting start-ing a fire. No persons near tho gasoline were either smoking or carrying car-rying matches, and there were no open lights of any kind in tho vicinity.- To all rtppearatif es the iircs "just happened, ' ' without any cause whatever. This, of course, contrary to all experience, and, aft-- ' er considerable in vest i gat ioiij the fires have been found to be !no to ignition of gasoline vapor by sparks of static electricity. in the interest of safety, so far as concerns accidents from theoiee-tric. theoiee-tric. ignition of gasoline, ofrlcinl instructions in-structions to the following effect have been issued to the various police po-lice and fire departments in the state of Massachusetts: 1. In drawing gnsoline from a pump into a can the metal of the can should always be in electrical contact witli the metal of t he pump, so that any electricity that may be generated can pass off quietly through the pump to tho ground. Wooden handles or other insulating substances on the bails of cans should be removed at once, so that when a can is hung by the bail on the pump hook all parts of the can will be in electrical contact con-tact with the pump. We know of two fires that have been caused by neglect of this precaution. 2. In filling the tank of a motor vehicle with gasoline from a can through a metal funnel containing a chamois-skin strainer care should be taken to have the metal of the funnel in electrical contact with the metal of the tank, and also to Ihave the can from which the gasoline gas-oline is poured kept in electrical contact with either the tank or the funnel. 1 f it is inconvenient to rest the mouth of the can directly upon the edge of the funnel during the act of pouring, a piece of clean copper chain should be soldered to the mouth of the can used for this purpose, and the end of the chain should, be allowed to rest in electrical elec-trical contact with the tank or the funnel, and preferably with both of them. Blocks of wood or other insulating substances should never be placed around the filling liole of the tank to make the funnel stand upright during the process of filling, because they insulate the funnel from the tank and allow electricity to accumulate in the metal of" the funnel, when it would otherwise pass off harmlessly as fast as formed to the metal of" the vehicle. ve-hicle. It has been observed that when a man stands on the rubber covering of the running board of a motor vehicle and fills the tank with gasoline from a can which he holds in the air sufficient electricity may be generated by the friction of the gasoline passing out of the mouth of the can to cause a spark and resultant fire, when the can is brought near any motnl substance. Hence the necessity of the copper chain and of electrical contact with the funnel and the tank during filling. Xegleet of these precautions precau-tions has resulted, in at least five files. ;. In filling the tank of a motor mo-tor vehicle with gasoline from a pump with a hose having a metal nozzle fires have been Known to occur from f rictional electricity generated" by the passage of the gasoline through the rubber hose and collecting in dangerous intensity inten-sity in the metal nozzle, from which it is discharged bv means of a spark when the nozzle is brought near to any metal substance. During Dur-ing the process of filling in this manner t lie metal nozzle should be kept in electrical contact with the car tank', or a hose with a metal lining should be used. A bare copper cop-per wire passed through the inside of the hose and soldered to the metal of the nozzle at one' end and to the metal of the pump connection connec-tion at the other end prevents tho . accumulation of electricity in the ' gasolineinside 'of the hoso by con-, con-, ducting it oil' to the pump and the ' ground. At least two fires liavo been caused by neglecting these .precautious. 1-Jecent tests prove that as high as .1(10 volts can easily be generated generat-ed by the forced passage of gasoline gaso-line over non -conducting substances. sub-stances. Automobilists should also protect against accumulation of deadly gas ' (carbon monoxide) in garages from running engines, as it has produced fatal results, due to asphyxiation. I f an engine is run indoors care , should be taken to provide ample : ventilation to expel the gas. |