THE COTTON FIRES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 11992, 1 June 1914, Page 4

THE COTTON FIRES.

Tho series of cotton fires which have occurred at Bombay recently were at first thought to have been the work of natives in connection with tho propaganda which is being preached by a certain section of. Hindus against British rule. But one or two incidents havo occurred since to cast doubt on the theory of arson. One fire, which was discovered in its early stages, originated in the very middle of a stack of cotton that had not been disturbed for throe months, and it has been agreed that the only possible explanation in this case was spontaneous combustion. The cotton had been very wet when stacked, and it is known that wet cotton tends to become heated. There Avero extensive cotton fires in 1906 and 1912, when the Bombay insurance companies conducted an investigation that led to no very definite conclusion. The presence of oil in cotton, it was found, encouraged spontaneous combustion in bales stored in warm places, and a chemical expert stated that the lamp-black used for marking would take fire readily when a bale became heated. A Government commission is now conducting an inquiry into tho whole matter, aud as it is has engaged the services of high authorities, the results should be of a valuable character .