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Show BLAZES. IN COTTON GINS PREVENTABLE Static Electricity, Chief Cause, Combated by Grounding. , Conclusively Shown in Recent Investigations Investi-gations by United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture Sparks Easy to Prevent. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Tlie main .cause of the frequent nnd destructive tires in the cotton gins of the South is static or frictional electricity- an element easily controlled by simple methods. That was shown conclusively in recent investigations by the United States department of agriculture, through Its bureau of chemistry, which now has issued u circular telling how to prevent blazes from static electricity, and also giving suggestions for the prevention of tires from matches or other foreign material in cotton, from friction, from cot Ion hanging to ribs In the gin, or from other possible causes of less importance. impor-tance. So frequent were the mysterious gin fires in 19I7 the losses In Texas alone that year being estimated at a million dollars that rumors of alien enemy activity spread through the country, and Uncle Stun sent several experts to Texas to determine the cause and the preventive. The experts found that most of the fires were caused by sparks of static eieel rlcil y, bill Ibitt It was easy enough to prevent Ihe sparks from doing damage by the simple expedient ex-pedient of running wires from the gin machinery to the ground. How to "ground" gin iriaehinery is the chief thing that the expcrls have t.) tell in the new circular, "Cotton Gin Fires," numbered 28, which may be obtained free by applioaf inn to the bureau of chemistry of the department. |
