Comments on: Inflating Toy Balloons With Gas From the City Mains

By: Nomadic View

Nomadic View — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:53:44 +0000

Watching TV the other day, and I saw a documentary about a disaster in Texas during the 1930s, I think.. A school blew up, killing many many children. The cause was a leak in the furnace and it was one of the motivating factors for a law to mandate gas odorant in the natural gas supplies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N....._explosion

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:39:49 +0000

I mean… what could go wrong!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:47:04 +0000

They still use this technique in Turkey for balloons sold off the street. One night while sitting at a bar, we saw some idiot toss a cigarette butt near some happy couple holding a pair of these bombs and the explosion had us all about to dash under the table!

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:27:38 +0000

If that’s not crazy enough, I recommend methane bubbles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh-1wOSTiP0

By: mykeyfinn

mykeyfinn — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:22:38 +0000

ahhh for the good old days when stupidity killed and the intelligent could have fun with explosives

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:14:55 +0000

This was crazy, even considering that it’s from 1930.

By: nlpnt

nlpnt — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:57:21 +0000

OK, that was supposed to be;

“You’ll shoot your ~~eye out~~ entire face off!”

By: Al Bear

Al Bear — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:03:18 +0000

And stuff like this started the shyster lawyer business/

By: nlpnt

nlpnt — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:38:22 +0000

“You’ll shoot your <~~> entire face off!”~~

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:50:30 +0000

I think the “couple of pounds” phrase is a typo or technical error.

By: Robert Oshel

Robert Oshel — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:58:26 +0000

Natural gas now is generally regulated down to a couple of ounces of pressure at the meter for use in appliances, not a couple of pounds. Was higher pressure standard in the 1930s?

By: David Brodbeck

David Brodbeck — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:14:14 +0000

Back then, in most cases city gas would not have been natural gas as we know it today. It would have been producer gas, a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. While natural gas is lighter than air, too, I don’t think you’d get as much buoyancy from it as is shown in this article.

By: hwertz

hwertz — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:50:29 +0000

“This must have been before the addition of odorant to natural gas, otherwise – P.U.!”
They still don’t use it in Morocco! My sister singed off her eyebrows one day when she was lighting the stove, the neighbors came by and they all just kind of had a laugh.

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:24:22 +0000

Jason, it appears you’re correct. According to WikiPedia, under Natural Gas:

“Adding odorant to natural gas began in the United States after the 1937 New London School explosion. The buildup of gas in the school went unnoticed, killing three hundred students and faculty when it ignited.”

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:30:37 +0000

This must have been before the addition of odorant to natural gas, otherwise – P.U.!

By: Dr Bob

Dr Bob — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:45:35 +0000

Reminds me when I visited my uncle’s farm.

1) Fill a balloon with acetylene gas from the welder.

2) Attach to a fence post about 100 feet away.

3) Shoot balloon with pellet rifle from a safe distance.

KABOOM!

By: Charlene

Charlene — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:11:45 +0000

Dumbest idea of 1930.

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:35:25 +0000

Perfect for small kiddies. Yeesh.