"A" Mill Explosion

Title: Article Describing Causes of Explosion
Type: Newspaper
Date: 1878
Source: North Western Miller

Description: Many writers debated the cause of the mill explosion in the newspapers. This writer is attempting to prove that many of the theories about the explosion are false.
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Activities:

1. What possible cause of the explosion does the author disagree with?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: It's been suggested that the explosion was caused by a new process of purifying the middlings.
2. How does the author manage to disprove that theory?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The reporter suggests that there was a similar mill explosion in Glasgow, where the middlings purifiers were not being used.
3. What does the author suggest could be the actual cause of the explosion?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Sparks from the milling process and grind-stones could ignite the flour dust in the mill and cause an explosion.
4. The writer describes how fires can be started if the "feed" goes off, meaning if the grain stops feeding into the grinders. How might fire result from this?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The millstones would have no wheat between them. This could cause sparks to fly. Even simple sparks could be enough to cause an explosion if the air is full of flour dust.
5. From this article, can you tell if the "A" mill explosion was the first of its kind?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: You can tell that it was not the first. The article states that these explosions have been happening in Europe, but that they were less frequent in the United States.