As I had suspected, the fire extinguishment answer was too early for the
problem. The first post in this thread referred to clear glass found at an
eighteenth-century site.  While lamp chimney is a good possibility, don't
forget urinals. They were very clear and not as uncommon as some might
think.
 
Pam is right about the big grenades, but individual carbon tet bombs were
hung all over the place during my youth because carbon tet was less
damaging to machines and less dangerous around electric machines than foam
or water.
 
Regards,
 
Ned Heite
 
P O Box 53
Camden, Delaware 19934 USA