A Backyard Chemistry Disaster
An attempt to follow official advice for killing aphids leads to a dangerous explosion in a Tacoma garden.
The assistant county horticultural inspector for Tacoma, Thomas A. Warnock, reports that fully a thousand Tacomans have availed themselves of the instructions given by this office for the cleaning up of gardens. The basis of the solution is tobacco and kerosene. Take four pounds of the stems and boil in five gallons of water for twenty minutes. Remove from the fire and add half a pound of lye and a quarter of a pint of kerosene. The inspector reports an accident where these simple directions were not understood. A gentleman at the south end of the city boiled the stems in the kerosene, and there followed an explosion which very nearly cost him his home and all its contents.
“A gentleman at the south end of the city boiled the stems in the kerosene, and there followed an explosion which very nearly cost him his home.”
This story serves as a reminder of the dangers of DIY pest control in the early 20th century, when home chemistry was often hazardous. It highlights the unintended consequences of government-issued 'how-to' guides in an era before standardized consumer safety warnings.
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