CARBIDE LAMP, improvised

This is a home made night light which may have been used indoors during power cuts or at a bush camp. There is no protection for the flame so it is most suited to indoor use although the flame would burn strongly and not be affected too much by wind. May have been used during the Second World War when there were a lot of power cuts.
Outer tin is cylindrical in shape with a lip around the inside tree quarters of the way up. There are 2 slots in the lip. The inner is a cylindrical tin with a conical top pointing up to the pipe which extends from the top of the cone to the gas jet. It has another tin inside it, wedged tightly, which slides out at the bottom. At the top of the in, where it meets the cone there are two lugs which fit into the slots of the outer tin.
To use the light, water is placed in the outer tin then the bottom of the inner is removed and carbide lumps are placed in it, the quantity depending on how long the light is to be used, but approximately 2 inches high. In the base of the tin is a pinhole and when the inner is placed inside the outer, water seeps into the carbide through the pinhole.This produces acetylane gas which moves up the pipe and is burnt at the top. The pinhole provides a safety valve if the presure in the carbide tin should build too high. The burner has a fishtail frame and is marked 'BRAY LUTA' on one side and '21 Ä?Ü[sic] LITRES' on the other. It would burn with a white light. It is a 2 inch carbine.

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