The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-10-17
Primitive Modes OF Striking Fire.

In the early ages, "when wild in
ance with the request, 'Will you give
me light, please?'' involved, if the
camp-fires had gone out, spell of un-
renting hard work, considerable man.
ual dexterity anu an unstinted applica-
ton of clbow-grease.' The primi-
tive mode of striking fire was by rub
bling one piece of dry wood upon an
other until incandescence was induced.
Probably Jabal. the father of dwellers
in tents and herdsmen, and Jubal, the
father of musicians, were indebted,
when they needed light, to Tubal-
Cain, their half brother, the first "arti-
fcer in brass and iron," who doubtless
"gathered'' his smithy-fire, so that it
might smolder through the night and
be ready for blowing-uP in the morn
ing. However this may be, care of
those who lived in the very early stages
of the worlds history would appear to
have been to keep their lamps or fires
constantly burning, rather than to de-
pend upon means of striking fire when
their clamps had gone OUT (Matthew
xxv:9. 1t may be supposed that when
Abraham and Isaac proceeded to Mo-
riah for the terrible sacrifice in pros
pect, it was lamp, and not a lucifer,
that the patriarch had when he "took
the fire in his hand" The maintenance
of a continuous light was imposed upon
the children of Israel as q religious
duty: g Bring thee pure oil olive beaten
for the light, to cause the lamp to burn
always Exodus, xxvii:2O. The ex-
tinguished lamp or candle was evidence
of the Divine displeasure-"The lamp
of the wicked shall be put out.'
A tribe of South American savages
improved upon the dry wood friction
process. They discovered that they
could generate showers of sparks by
the sharp abrasive contact of certain
kind of pyrites upon siliceous or hinty
stones. The sparks, directed upon a
quantity of dry, readily-inhammable
tibrous material, obtained a flame,
with comparatively little trouble be-
yond procuring and preparing mate
rails. In the matter of "striking a
light" the human family remained in
state of comparative barbarism till
period almost within the recollection
of many juniors of .the oldest inhabi-
tant.' Our grandmothers kept the
kitchen fire alight all night by placing
block of coal upon it, and packing it
with small coal or ashes, so as to allow
it to smolder only till morning. The
first triumph of ''applied science" in
striking light lay in the discovery
of the combined capabilities of burned
linen, or finder, flint and steel, and
brimstone.tipped wood matches, or
"spunks," as they were sometimes
called. The finder was usually do
nestle production, the tinder-boxes
and steels, or "frizzies,'' were made at
Birmingham and Northampton.
Eng, where a considerable business
was done in these articles. The flint
was had from where it could be picked
up, and the manufacturers and vendors
of the matches were chiefly poor old
women. The steel was of the form of
the letter U elongated and reversed.
the narrower stalk being the handle;
the broader, which had a serrated outer
edge, was used for striking the piece Of
flint, and producing the sparks that ig-
nited the finder, which in turn lighted
the brimstone-tipped match. The
lighted finder, when it had served its
purpose, was extinguished by close
fitting inner cover that was pressed
down upon it. The flint and steel
were also used for lighting match-pa-
per-thick porous paper that had
been dipped in a solution of saltpeter
and afterward dried. The match
paper was held close to the piece of
flint, with its edge at the point of inn
pact with the steel. 1t ignited readily
and burned freely, but without flame.
Amadou, or German finder, and
"touch-wook, being woody tissue in
a certain stage of decay, we've some
times used in the same way as match
paper.
The methods of initiating fire, as has
been seen, were, up to this point, by
rude mechanical expedients. 1t is only
during the last half century that sci
ence may be said to have been applied
to the manufacture of matches. One
of the earliest novelties was the i'm
Simultaneous lighting-box," which con-
tanned bottle charged with sulphuric
acid and fibrous asbestos. The tipped
match was let into the bottle, and caught
fire in contact with the acid.
The revolution in matchmaking,
and the origin of the match manufact-
ure, as large and important indus
try, may be said to date from the in
PRODUCTION of phosphorus as an igniting
agent applied in various ways. The
curious scientific toys, the " instanta-
neous lighting and "phosporous box
es," had a limited sale at guinea each,
afterward reduced by degrees to shill-
ing. There are now matches in the
market that sell at the rate of 600 for
half-penny!
The Eupyrion, the Promethean, the
oxymuriate or chlorate, and other
matches, led up to the dry-friction
matches or "lucifers." These match
es were fired by being drawn smartly
between folded glass-paper; requiring,
however, so much pressure as sometimes
to drag off the igniting composition
Harper's Weekly.