How does a fuel fired iron work?
My great-grandmother had one of those irons, and she was using it into the mid-1930s; she got it as a wedding gift in 1912ish....
You add kerosene (or White Gas) in the fuel chamber. It works very much like a gas cook stove. There is a pump/diaphram at the top where you "pump" to create pressurized fuel. You light the iron with a match thru the bottom slits in the iron. The later irons of this type, had a lever that also regulated the amount of fuel being dispersed (the earlier ones didn't regulate the amount of fuel).
She stopped using it cuz it exploded! She wasn't hurt, but fortuantely, she lite it, and walked away for a moment.... then BAM!!
When the fire was put out, there was nothing left of the back porch.
My advise is that you don't lite it, as now, the integrity (thru time and what-not) has probably compromised the valves and fuel lines.
Nice iron, however.