Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-07-04
HOW MATCHES ARE MADE.

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 pretentious things, its journey
from the forest to the match-ssfe is full
of changes. This little bit of white
pine lying before me, came from the
North, in the Hudson Bay Territory, or
perhaps from the great silent forests
about Lake Superior, and has been
rushed and iammed and tossed in its
long course through rivers, over cata-
raets and rapids, and across great
lakes. We read that near the middle
OF the seventeenth century it was dis
covered that phosphorus would ignite
a splint of wood dipped in sulphur, but
this means of obtaining fire was not in
common use until nearly $50 years
later. This then appears to have been
the beginning of matchmaking. Not
that kind which some old gOssips are
said to indulge in, for that must have
had its origin much farther back, but
the business Of making those little
s. strike-fres" found in every country
store, in their familiar boxes, with red
and blue and yellow labels. The
matches of fifty years ago were very
clumsy affairs compared with the
"parlor'' and "safety" matches of
to-day; but they were great improve
ments upon the first in use. Those
small sticks dipped in melted sulphur,
and sold in tin box with a small bot
tie Of oxide of phosphorus, were re-
garded by our forefathers as signs of a
'ten-leagued progress" Later COM
pound made of chlorate of potash and
sulphur was used on the splints. This
ignited upon being dipped in sulphUric
acid. In 1929 an English chemist dis
covered that matches on which had
been placed chlOrate of potash could be
ignited by friction. Afterward, at the
suggestion of Prof. Faraday, saltpeter
was substituted for the chlorate, and
then the era of friction matches lighted
by rubbing was fairly begun. But the
match of to-day has a story more inter-
esting than that of the old-fashioned
match. AS we have said, much of the
timber used in the manufacture comes
from the immense forests in the Hud-
son Bay Territory. 1t is aoated down
the water courses to the lakes, through
which it is tOwed in great log RATS.
These RATS are divided; some parts
are pulled through the canals, and
some, by other means, are taken to
market. When well through the sea-
soning process, which occupies from
one to two years, the pine is cut up into
blocks twice as long as a match and
about eight inches wide by two inches
thick. These blocks are passed through
machine which cuts them into
''splints," round or square of just the
thickness of a match, but twice its
length. The machine is capable, as
we are told, of making about 1000, 900
splints day. This number seems i'm
mense when compared with the most
that could be made in the old Way-by
hand. These splints are then taken to
the setting" machine, and this rolls
them into bundles about eighteen
inches in diameter, every splint
separated from its neighbOr by little
spaces so that there may be no stick
ing together after the dipping" In
the operation of " setting" 3 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 a quarter Of an inch be-
tween adjoining splints. From the
" settingi machine the bundles 90 to
the Z" 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 sui
phur. and then into the phosphorus
solution, which is spread over a large
iron plate. Next they are hung in
frame To dry. When dried they are
placed in a machine which, as it un-
rolls the ribbon, cuts the sticks in two
across the middle, thus making two
complete matches 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 flame it carries, and which
looks so harmless, flashing into brief
existence, has g latent power more
terrible than the whirlwind which per-
haps sent the tall pine tree crashing to
the ground. But the story is not closed.
From the machine which completed the
matches they are taken to the box
ers," mostly girls and women, who
place them in little boxes. The speed
with which this is done is surpris-
ing. With one hand they pick
up an empty case and remove
the cover, while with the other they
seize Just sufficient number of
matches and by a peculiar shutting
motion arrange them evenly; then tbs
done! The little packages of sleeping
fire are taken to another room, where
on each one is placed q stamp certify
ing 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 wood
en- cases which are to be shipped to all
parts of the country and over seas.
All this trouble over such little things
as matchesl Yet on these fre-hpped
bits of wood, millions Of people depend
for warmth, cooked food and light.
They have become a necessity, and
the day of flint and steel and tin
der seems almost as far away in the
past as are the bow and fre-stick of the
Indian.
Some idea of the number Of matches
used in North America during q year
may be gained from the fact that it is
estimated by competent judges that on
an average six matches are used every
day by each inhabitant; this gives
grand total Of 81, 400, 600, 900 matches,
without counting those exported. Now,
this would make a single line, were the
matches end to end, more than $780,
900 miles in lengthi 1t would take a
railroad train almost eight years to 60
from one end to the other, running
forty miles an hour all the time. How
apt to our subject is that almost worm
out Latin phrase usiIltUng iB pGrUo-
much in littlel Much labor, much
skill and much usefulness all in q little
piece of wood scarcely one-eighth OF
an inch through and about two inches
long!-St. Louis Times.
"A writer on household adornment
SAYS: lone can easily transform q
long and u1interesting parlor into a
e ,-...11 N..T II