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Heating, Lighting, and Refrigeration: Adjust
Cautions to Observe. - Buy the best lamps and the best oil. Trim the wicks and fill the lamps daily. Adjust the wick neither too high nor too low.
After turning up the wick to the right height, set the screw by a slight turn backward, which will prevent the wick from crawling up as it expands with the increase of heat. Try this, and the sense of touch will tell you what is necessary. Do not leave lamps or carry them when turned too high or too low. Adjust the flame midway and set back the screw.
Night Lamps.-Do not use ordinary lamps as night lamps by turning them low. Instead obtain a small night lamp that will admit of burning a tiny flame turned on full. Or turn up the ordinary lamp until the flame is clear and bright and then shade it from the eyes. The flame of an ordinary lamp turned low throws off a large amount of unconsumed carbon and volatile gases, which impregnate the atmosphere and are taken into the lungs with many evil consequences, that are usually attributed to other sources.
Student Lamps. - These are provided with an oil tank at some little distance from the burner and at a 1 HEATING, LIGHTING, AND REFRIGERATION lower level. Great care must be observed to keep a student lamp exactly level. If the oil tank is raised above the level of the burner, the latter will be overflowed with dangerous results.
When filling the lamp, care must be taken not to leave air bubbles in the oil, otherwise the pipe conveying the oil to the burner will be clogged and the light will be made dim.
Lamps on Fire. - When a lamp overflows or for any reason gets on fire, seize it and throw it out of the window. A moment's delay may result in an explosion that will scatter burning kerosene all about and lead to a conflagration. Or seize as quickly as possible a heavy woolen rug, table cover, or couch cover, and wrap it tightly around the lamp. This prevents the oxygen of the air from reaching the flame, and it is quickly smothered. If a person's clothing takes fire from kerosene flames, do not throw water upon him or allow him to run about.
Wrap him quickly in a large rug or other woolen cloth, which will extinguish the flames. If, by the explosion of a lamp or otherwise, burning oil is scattered about a room, do not throw water upon it, as it will only spread it. Throw on milk or any dry, heavy substance, as flour, corn meal, sand. or earth.