In case anyone still cares, I promised to forward any information I could
get from the Friendship Firehouse Museum (Alexandria, Virginia).
So here is what I call "Don't Yell Fire Grenade in a Crowded Theater," or
"$500 Toilet Seats and $.50 Saltwater: Military Appropriations, 1904-1984."
From John R. Freeman, "On the Safeguarding of Life in Theaters," 1906:
"[Fire hand grenades] are glass bottles, commonly of roughly
spherical shape, and holding about a quart each of a liquid that is claimed
possesses marvellous fire extinguishing properties....
As showing what people will pay good money for in the effort to
get fire protection, I was interested in the story that one of my agents,
a chemist, in collecting samples, brought in about hand grenades. We had
purchased examples of some of the different kinds of hand grenade, and
had brought home a few samples that we found hanging in theaters and had
their contents analyzed. In the case of particular interest, the
salesman offered, as proof of the superior merits of his compound, the
statement that a quantity of his particular make and stlye of hand
grenade had just been purchased by the United States Government for the
protection of one of the battleships. Our analysis shows the contents to
be simply water and common salt. I myself saw a hand grende of the same
appearance...in the model of the battleship at the St. Louis exposition,
so perhaps it is true that the United States government purchased salt
water at fifty cents per quart bottle....
The chemists reported the following analyses in certain smaples
of hand grenades....[basically sodium chlorid and/or ammonium chloride,
calcium chloride in solution].
These materials are inert, and their only advantage over plain
water is that they do not freeze at ordinary winter temperatures. The
hand grenades contain about one quart of water, while a 30-cent fire-pail
holds ten quarts and costs less....
A favorite line of some of the patentees [of these items] has
been to devise a compound apparently on the theory of finding something
that would burn quicker than the surrounding fuel and thus by exhausting
the oxygen smother the first fire. Other patentees propose mixtures that
generate sulphurous acid and ammonia gas because of their non-support of
combustion, in sublime disregard of their poisonous non-breathable
quality."
From Thomas H. Norton, "Address...," 1894
"Hand grenades, consisting of glass bottles, usually of a
spherical form, charged with aqueous solutions of various chemicals, have
found their way of late years into somewhat extended use. They are
conveniently arranged in the corridors of large buildings, and are
intended for use in extinguishing incipient outbreaks of fire. The
grenade is to be thrown with such force into the center of combustion
that it breaks and scatters its contents upon the burning material. The
salts present are supposed to act by either giving off incombustible
gases or by incrusting the burning articles, thereby excluding air. In
practice, however, it is found that these grenades render but slight
service, as they are frequently unbroken when thrown, especially against
non-resistant substances. They are supposed to be charged with strongly
carbonated water, or with a saturated solution of ammonium chlorid[e],
sodium chlorid[e], sulfite or thiosulfite. Analysis, however, shows
quite a variety of composition in the contents....[calcium chloride and
magnesium chloride, sodium chloride and ammonium chloride, sodium
chloride and sodium carbonate].
It may be noted in passing that the salts in these grenades cost
about 1% of their selling price."
From misc. other sources:
Fire grenades generally came in sizes of a pint, a pint and a
half, or a quart. They were purchased in twos or threes and held in a
wire basket. Some extinguishers contained baking soda and an acid which
were intended to combine and smother the flames. These, however, were
not contained in glass bottle-like grenades.
The End
Tim Dennee
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