Connecticut western news., 1874-03-27
The Matches We Use.
How, and of What They are Made.

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 The sticks of which matches are made are brought from Canada, where tine making of them is separate busi- ness. They are made by machinery which drives block of wood upon steel die that has numerous small holes in it. The wood is forced through these holes in the rounded form of the match sticks. They are twice the length of an ordinary match, and come packed in boxes. The first thing to be done with the sticks is to arrange them so that large numbers can be handled at once in dipping the ends in the mixtures that cause them to light readily. If the sticks were simply tied together in bun dies, they would be too close together, and the composition would be all in one mass upon their ends, so machine had to be invented which should make them into rolls and still keep the sticks lit tie distance apart. This machine did it's work with wonderful rapidity and accuracy the sticks were applied to the machine which made them into large rolls, and with belt of cloth be- tween the layers of sticks this cloth keeps the sticks just little distance apart. When the bundle is large enough, some two feet across, it is bound securely and then taken to anoth- CT room. The composition upon the ends of matches does not burn long enough to set fire to the stick, and before that is applied it is necessary to prepare the wood with something that will take fire readily and burn long enough to set fire to it. For the cheaper matches sulphur is used, but for what are called parlor matches they use parafine, which burns without any unpleasant odor. The ma terial is melted in large vessel, and the roll of sticks so suspended that the in the melted sulphur. Both ends are ceive the composition that takes fire cipal thing in the composition is phos- with dissolved glue, and whiting or and coloring stuff IS added. The whole, into machine where it is more thor that the composition be we'll mixed, as and some less phosporous than they OuSAo oO A"'OS ohN WAAA SO oAA oOO OeSoAAJS or with more difficulty than they should. After it is we'll mixed the sticks that have had their ends covered with sul- phur or parafine are dipped in it in the same manner as at the first dipping, only care is required to have but small quantity of the mixture just at the very tips. The next step is to dry the matches, and they are. taken to Q room where they are placed upon racks; here there is fan apidly revolving, so as to constantly change the ar and gradually dry the composition upon the ends of the matches. They are not al- lowed to become so dry that they will readily take fire, as they have still to go through another machine, and if they were perfectly dry, disagreeable acci- dents might happen. Thus far the matches are in pairs, or "double-head- ers"-twice the length of one-and they have to be cut apart. For this they are put into cutting machine, which un- rolls the bundle and carries the sticks over 8 knife which rapidly cuts them in equal parts, and the now complete matches slide into boxes on each side of the machine. All that remains to be done is to pack them in the proper hoxoa