Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-12-21
Getting Fire In Old Times.

In early ages, "when wild in woods
the noble savage ran" compliance with
the request, "Will you give me light.
nlease p involved. il the camp-iires had
gone ont. q spell Of unremittlng hard
work. considerable manual dexterity.
AMI an uustinteI application If elbow
grease" The primitive mode Of strik-
ing fire was by rubbing one piece Of
dry wood upon another until incandes.
ccnce was induced.
Probably label, the father Of dwell
ers in tents and hcrdsmen, and Jubal
liz, father of musicians, were indebted,
when they need light. to Tubal Cain.
their half-brother, the first ''artificer in
brass and iron, who doubtless gath
ered' his smithy fire so that it might
shoulder through the night and be
ready for blowing mp in the morning.
However this may be. care of those
who lived in very early stages Of the
worlds history would appear to have
been to keep their lamps or fires con.
stantly burning, rather than to depend
upon means of striking fire when their
clamps had gone out" (AIatthew XIV
S. 1t may be supposed that when
Abraham and Isaac proceeded to Moriah
for the te, 'ible sacrifice in prospect. it
was a lamp, and not 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 religious duty; Bring the
pure olive oil beaten for the light, to
cause the lamp to burn always" Exc.
dus xvii. 2O.) The extinguishel
lamp or candle, was evidence of the
divine displeasure: "Ths lamp of the
wicked shall be put out"
Returning to early methods OF strik-
ing fire. 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 GER
tain kind of pyritss upon ;,icso1s or
on quantity Of dry, readily inAam-
mable. fibrOus material obtained q
fame, with comparatively little trouble
beyond procuring and preparing ma
terials.
In the matter OF "striking light, "
the human family rc-'eineh in a state
of comparative burbu. ls.n ill u period
almost within the recollection of many
juniors of "the oldest inhabitant."
Our grand.mothers kept the kitchen
fire alieht all the night by placing q
block of coal upon it, and packing it
with small coal or ashes, 80 as to allow
Ito shoulder only till the morning.
The first triumph of"applied science"
in striking light" lay in the dis
covery of the combined capabilities of
burned linen, or finder, flint and steel.
and brimstone-tipped wood matches,
or "spunks," as they were called in
some parts of the country. The finder
was usually domestic production, the
finder boxes and steels, or Grizzlies,
we're made ct Birmingham and Wolver-
hampton. where considerable bust
ness were done in these articles. The
flint was had from where it could be
pickle 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 re-
versed, the narrower stalk being the
handle; the broader, which had SER
rated outer edge, was used for striking
the piece Of flint, and producing the
sparks that ignited the finder: which
in turn lighted the birthstone tipped
match. The lighted finder, when it had
served its purpose, was extinguished
by q close-ftting inner cover that was
pressed down upon it. The flint and
steel were also used for lighting match
paper-thick, porous paper that had
been dipped in solution of saltpetre
AMI afterward dried. The match pa
per was held close to the piece of flint,
with its edge ct the point of impact
with the steel. 1t ignited readily and
burned freely, but without flame.
Amadou, or German finder, and touch
WOOD" being woody tissue in certain
stage of decay, were sometimes 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 du-
ring the last half century that science
may he said to have been applied to
the manufacture of matches. One of
the earliest novelties was tn" instantln-
eous lighting-box," which contained a
bottle charged with sulphuric acid
match was let into the bottle and caught
fire in contact with the acid. The revo.
luton in matchmaking, and the origin
OF the match manufacture, as O large
and important industry, may he said
to date from the introduction of pbos-
phorous as an igniting agent applied
in various ways. The curious scientific
toys, the instantaneous lighting" and
phosphorus boxes" had limited
sale at guinea each, afterward reduc.
ed by degrees to shilling. There are
now matches in the market that sell at
the rate Of 600 for half.penny.
Me Inlxa n Gonnl Ia xrn..x esaaaoau