I looked for these on Amazon and came up with a bunch of brass Genie type brass things. Are you talking about what we used to call hurricane lamps with wicks that run on oil? I don't remember them being that hot.
Even your regular Coleman lanterns throw a lot of heat-I used to heat my tent up in the mornings during hunting season with one.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to Fight, he'll just kill you.