Great Caution, and the Lack of It.
Almost everybody has heard of the woman who, when her bed took fire, refrained from throwing upon it the milk in a pitcher which stood near by, because, as she explained, the milk would grease the bedroom floor. So she lost her house and its contents, but she didn't grease the floor.
A farmer living in West Virginia had a hog afflicted with fleas. Some one told him that kerosene oil would drive them away. It was night when he returned home, but he resolved to put the prescription to the test at once. Taking a torch out to the pen, he stuck it in the ground while he poured the oil over the pig. The animal did not relish the treatment. He ran squealing away, and of course ran near the torch. The oil took fire and the pig ran to the barn. That ignited, and the pig, crazed with pain, rushed toward the house, pushed the wood-shed door open, and brought up in the kitchen. Pig, barn, and house were ashes before daylight.