FIRES ON WOOL SHIPS.

Mataura Ensign, 16 August 1906, Page 4

FIRES ON WOOL SHIPS.

JVr United I'rcss Association. AVEI.LIXOTOX, August 15. J'roicssor MucLuiiriii considered thai these iires wore due (1) to oxidisation Caused by the action of oxygen idonc, as in the ease of wool and oil. A good many oils oxidised very rapidly, linseed being the extreme ; and (-) heating by the action of bacteria, though this, of course, would only he an initial action in the ease of wool containing dirt and animal matter and winch contained bnctvriu. These, under favorable conditions, would sot up n certain amount of fermentation which might grow to n sulliciont extent to cause combustion. The presence of moisture would undoubtedly add to the risk.—3l r Foster: lVrhnps you could net together information for us, following the wool from the packing at lhe station to the harbor shod*: the method of dealing with il in the sheds and placing il in the hold, and go into the question generally so that we may ha've more material to no on. —I will bo very willing to do so.—Do you think that damp llnx, not containing any oil, would cause lire ?—I think it might. Captain l)avid (s.s. Corinlhiel said that judging from the period which secmod to have elapsed between the ships leaving New Zealand and the outbreak of the lires, it appears 1o have been due to an unusual cause ; something that had not occurred in the usual run of steamers. ]!e had been in the trade for seven or eight years anil lind no recollection of a previous epidemic of fires. A reasonable deduction from the experience would be that in these particular instances lhe lire wos due to some abnormal eiieumstnnoi>s, either in tiewool itself or in the handling of it.