[SEL] RE. O.T. Please identify this "lamp"

[Jerry Evans]

>Hi All,
         Thanks for the many replies. I think it has been positively 
identified as a carbide lamp (which was what I suspected but I'd never seen 
one before).

         On Jims list Ken Christison replied with this link to an old 
advert for a similar lamp:
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/christison/ephemera/carbide-lamp.jpg>

and Dave Croft sent this link:
<http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/images/culture_heritage/minera_lead_mines/gallery/large/carbidelamp.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/heritage/minera_lead_mines/gallery/carbide_lamp.htm&h=400&w=300&sz=36&hl=en&start=31&um=1&tbnid=ue6Zl2C7Ixxg3M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcarbide%2Blamp%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN>

         A Google image search for "carbide lamps" brings up many pictures 
of similar lamps as well as some info on how they work (cutaway drawings).

         I'm not going to answer each post from the SEL individually as 
there were many helpful replies. To answer a few questions from the SEL 
will be easier.

         1)I think it is a bit small to be a generator - from pics and 
descriptions I've subsequently found on the net this one could almost be 
called a "Miniature Carbide Lamp" very similar in size to this one:
<http://www.minerox.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1578>
         2) The tank is approx. 6" high (excluding the handle) and 3 3/4" 
diameter. Apologies for not including this on the page I put up.
         3) The "gas pipe" (I referred to this as a nozzle) that sticks out 
the front is indeed missing a jet and I believe this was made of ceramic 
(although the link to the "Miniature" above mentions a "soapstone burner").
         4) The bracket seen above this gas pipe would have been for 
attaching a dished aluminium reflector,
         5) I could not distinguish any smell.
         6) There is no makers name on it but I did find the letters 
"SAS-SAR" stamped onto the handle which shows it belonged to our railways. 
(In Afrikaans "Suid Afrikanse Spoorwee" in English "South African Railways").

         A friend of mine called past today and also identified it as a 
miners lamp similar to what had been used by his father. He had an 
interesting story to tell about them.
         When a "shift" ended the workers would empty their lamps out 
before handing them back to the store to be refilled for the next day.
         My friend tells that he had to go to the mine about every 2 weeks 
and gather up this grey sludge that they poured out and then use this stuff 
to paint his Dad's poultry and pigeon cages. It evidently was a very good 
method of preventing mites and lice from infesting the birds.
         Anyway, thanks for all the replies. When I saw it in the 
"junkshop" I just knew that I had to have it although I did not know 
exactly what it was. The shop owner said it was an oilcan but I knew it was 
not. Also got it for a bargain - less than US$ 4.00
         I'm busy cleaning it up now and it's coming up pretty nicely.


Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Etched Brass Engine Plates made to order:
See:
www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm
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