Middletown transcript., 1878-03-09
How Matchea Are Mnds.

law "ASNSANs ~
A match is small thing. We sci
dom pause to think, after it has per.
formed its mission. and we have care
lessly thrown it away, that it has a
history of its own, and that, like some
more prctentious things, its journey
from the forest to the match-safe is
full of changes.
The match of to-day has story far
more interesting than that of the old
fashioned match. As we have said,
much of the timber used in the manu-
facture comes from the immense tracts
of forest in the Hudson Bay Territory.
1t is hoated down the water-courses to
the lakes, through which it is towed
in great log-rafts. These RATS are di-
vided; some parts are pulled through
the canals, and some by other means
are ia ken to market. When we'll
through the seasoning process, which
occupies from one to two years, the
pine is cut up into blocks twice as
long as match, and about eight inch
es wide by two inches thick. These
blocks are passed through a machine
which cuts them up into "splints,"
round or square, of just the thickness
of a match, but twice its length. This
machine is capable, as we are told, of
making about 100000 splints in
day. This number seems immense
when compared with the most that
could be made in the old way-by
hand. The splints are then taken to
the setting" machine, and this rolls
them into bundles about eighteen in
ches in diameter, every splint seperat-
ed from its neighbors by little spaces,
so that there may be no sticking TO-
gether after the dipping" In the
operation of setting" a ribbon of
coarse stuff about an inch and half
wide, and an eighth of an inch thick,
is rolled up, the splints being laid
across the ribbon between each two
courses, leaving about quarter of an
inch between adjoining splints. From
the setting" machine the bundles go
to the dipping room.
After the ends of the splints have
been pounded down to make them
even, the bundles are dipped-both
ends-into the molten sulphur and
then into the phosphorus solution,
which is spread over large iron plate.
Next they are hung in frame to dry.
When dried they are placed in a ma
chine which, as it unrolls the ribbon,
cuts the sticks in two across the mid
die, thus making two complete match
es of each splint.
The match is made. The towering
pine which listened to the whisper Of
the south wind and swayed in the cold
northern blast, has been so divided
that we can take it bit by bit and
lightly twirl it between two fingers.
But what it has lost in size it has
gained in use. The little fame it car
ries, and which looks so harmless,
flashing into brief existence, has
latent power more terrible than the
whirlwind which perhaps sent the tall
pine-tree crashing to the ground.
But the story is not yet closed. From
the machine which completed the
matches they are taken to the "boxers'
mostly girls and women-who place
them in little boxes. The speed with
which this is done is surprising. With
one hand they pick up an empty case
and remeve the cover, while with the
other they seize just a sufficient num-
Der of matches, and by a peculiar
shuff1ing motion arrange them evenly,
then-'tis done!
The little packages Of sleeping fire
are taken to another room, where on
each one is placed stamp certifying
the payment to the government of one
cent revenue tax. Equipped with
these passes the boxes are placed in
larger ones, and these again in wooden
cases, which are to be shipped to all
parts of the country, and over seas.
All this trouble over such little
things as matches! Yet on these fire
tipped bits of wood millions of people
depend for warmth, cooked food and
light. They have become necessity,
and the day of flint, steel and finder
seems almost as far away in the past
as are the bow and fre-stick of the In
dian
How apt to our subject is that al
most worn-out Latin prase, "muLtuna an
parvo,"- much in little! Much labor,
much skill, and much usefulness, all
in little piece of wood scarcely one
eighth of an inch through and about
two inches long e. G. 81. Mich
olas for March.
Marriages are not plenty enough.
The young ladies ought to get up
strike for their affairs. The strike for
the fires can csme in afterward, when
the question of building them comes