"DANGEROUS GOODS ACT 1869."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 49, 28 February 1870, Page 2

"DANGEROUS GOODS ACT 1869."

0 The majority of our readers are probably unaware that in the last session of the Assembly an Act was passed entitled "The Dangerous Goods Act, 1869," whereby certain regulations are imposed under which aloue kerosine and all oils of a similar nature are to be exposed for sale. In accordance with the provisions of this Act the Inspector of Weights and Measures is- about to test the oils in the various stores in the town of Nelson, and, for the information of the public, we now publish an epitome of the more important sections of the Act. The Interpretation Clause states that for the purposes of the Act " Petroleum " shall include all such Rock Oil, Rangoon Oil, Burmah Oil, or any product of them, or any oil made from petroleum, coal, schist, shale, peat, or other bituminous substance, and any such product of them as gives off an inflammable vapour at a temperature of less than 110°. Section 6 provides that on and after the Ist October, 1869, no Nitro-G-lycerine or Petroleum, except petroleum to the extent of ten gallons kept for private use and not for sale, shall be kept within fifty yards of a dwellinghouse or of a buildiog in which goods are stored, except in pursuance of a license issued by authorities constituted under the Act. Persons acting in contravention of this section are liable to certain penalties. Section 11 states that no person shall deliver Nitro-Glycerine or any other goods which shall, by the Governor in Council, be named " specially dangerous " to any warehouse owner or carrier, unless the names of the goods with the words " specially dangerous " be marked on the outside of the package. Any person committing a breach of this enactment shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £500, or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years. Section 15 enacts that no person shall expose for sale any petroleum, as in this Act defined, unless the vessel containing such petroleum have attached thereto a label in legible characters, stating as follows : — " Dangerous — no light to be brought near." Section 16 provides for the testing by the Inspector of Weights and Measures of all petroleum offered for sale. The contrivance for testing the oil is somewhat similar to a glue-pot made of thin sheet iron, the oil being placed in the inner vessel which is 2 inches in diameter and the same in depth. The water in which this vessel is immersed is heated by a spirit lamp, and when the thermometer which is placed in the oil has risen to about 90° a lighted match is quickly passed across the surface. If no pale blue flicker or flash is produced, the application of the flame is to be repeated for every rise of two or three degrees in the thermometer, until the flashing point has been arrived at. Should this occur at a lower temperature than 110° the oil will be considered dangerous.