The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-02-07
Making q fire.

-DHtttE o. I4@~5, 81. Ntch0tGS-J0T FebTudTy.
Making a rire.
We're we to ask the youthful readers
II our paper how they would
make fire, they would reply that they
would do SO ~ using o lucifer match.
But the lEcifer match is of but recent
date, previous to which time the peo-
pie mad to resort to various methods In
Producing fire. 1t would be difficult
to conceive of men without fire. or the
knowledge of the means of producing
1t. There are stories of fireless peo-
pie, but they are apoo1ryphal. Commo-
dore Wilkes. the explorer, states that
when he visited Fakaafof or Bowdish ISL
and, IN lS41, he found neither places fer
cooking nor signs of fire, and that the
natives evlnced alarm when they saw
sparks from flint sad steel, and smoke
from cigars But that is only negative
evidence Mr. Hale, the philologist
OF the expedition, gives us vocabulary
of the language OF these islanders, in
which We find that they had name for
tire-af-even if they did not possess
it IN fact
The question, how did man obtain
his knowledge of fire? is without en- ei,>
swer. Whether he obtained it from the
Hghtnlng's vivid flash, or from the vol
cano's fiery upheaval, or from some
other source, we lave no means of know
ing The Greeks attempted to solve the
problem II. the fable of Prometheus, who
stole tie fire from heaven, where It was
the special possession Of the gods.
1t matters but little, however, how the
first knowledge ct fire was obtained.
We only know that all races and tribes
Of men possessed, and possess. the
knowledge, although they have various
ways of kindling the genial fame. And
1t Is OF these various ways that We pro-
pose to speak.
Probably the friction of two pieces of
Wcod was The original means of fire.
making used by man. The Patagunians
emplo -ed this method. Two thorough
ly ury sticks were selected, and the bark
rem vedi one end OF one of them rested
upon the ground, Will the other end
rested against the stomach of the per
former. Holding the other stick firmly
at light angles against the first, fire was
produced by vigorously rubbing it up
and down it's length
One OF the simplest means of produc-
Ing fire is by What may be called the
tick and groove method.
A blunt stick Is run along, back and
forth, IN a groove of its own making, In
n piece OF wood lying on the ground.
Me. Darwin, the great naturalist. tells
us that this was at one time the common
method IN the Sandwich islands, where
very light wood is used for the pnr-
pose. This process is also common in
some OF the South Sea or Polypesisn
islands. A practiced native can, bv this
method, produce fire IL a few seconds.
although .dr. Darwin says that he found
1t rather hard work, and it took him
much longer.
Another, and more widely difused
process, is what may be called " fire.
drilling. This has been found. a little
more or less modified. IN eve,y Quarter
OF the globe. Capt. Cook found it in
both Alaska and Australia, and it was in
use IN Ceylon and Central America. In
the rude paintings of the Mexicans we
nnd some striking illustrations of this
process. Capt. Cook thus describes it.
as he found it in Australia
They produce fire with great facil-
lty, and spread it in wonderful man
ner. They take two sticks of dry. soft
wool, one eight or nine inches long, the
other five; the first they shape into an
obtuse point at one end, and pressing it
on the other turn it nimbly between
their hands, after moving them ND and
down, to increase the pressure. BY
this means they get fire in less than two
minutes, and from the smallest spark
they increase it with great speed and
dexterity"
An improvement was made on this
pro ,ess by a continuance devised on the
principle of the common carpenters
brace, with which he works his
eenter-bit This method is still in
use among the yauchos of the Pampas
or Buenos Ayres, and hence is called the
Gaucho method" One of them takes
an elastic stick, eighteen inches long.
against one end of which he presses
firmly with his breast, placing the other
end, which is pointed, in a hole in
piece of dry wood, and then rapidly
tWlris 1t as the carpenter does his brace.
Inc next advance on this process was
to wind thong or cord around the drill.
and then, by pulling the two ends alter.
nately, make it revolve much faster than
rolled within the hands. In some parts
of India butter churns are worked in
this way, instead of the up-and- down
dasher used IN other parts of the country
And the Brahmins, although they have
SIMPLER and easier processes, still employ
this method of producing fire upon sacred
occasions,
The Esquimaux, when first brought
in contact with the Europeans, employed
method like that last described, in pro-
ducing fire. Davis, the navigator.
after whom Davis straits were named.
describes how, in 1856, Greenlander
began TO kindle fire in this
manner: HE took a peice of a board,
wherein was hole halle throw; into
that hole he put the end of a round
stlcke, like unto bedde-staffe, dipping
the end thereof in traine-oil, and in
fashion of turner, with piece of
lether, by his violent motion, did speed
lily produce fire" This was only used
in making fire; but when the shaft was
pointed with stone, it was used for drilling
holes II stone and wood. The thong
being passed twice around the drill, the
upper end is steadied by a mouth-piece
of wood, having piece of the same
stone Undecided with q counter-suuk
cavity. This. firmly held between the
teeth, directs the tool
The next advance was the mere thong
or cord of bow, by which one hand can
be made to do the work of two IN driving
the spindle. The bow-drill thus formed
was used by the ancient Egyptians. and
is employed at the present day In our
own country by certain artisans.
There is another conrrlvance, used
equally for drilling and fire-making, and
which is termed the pump-drin That
which is used in Switzerland, and else
where for drilling, is armed with steel
point, weighted with wooden disk. As