Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-06-15

cakes, winch are dlppeQ INTO Dutter anu
fried. It is surprising that SO excellent
q vegetable should he so little known.
How Matches are Made.
A match is . small thing. We seldom
pause to think, after 1t has performed its
mission and we have carelesaly thrown it
away, that it has o history Of its own, and
that, like some more pretentious things, its
journey from the forest to the match-safe
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 jammed
and tossed IN it's long course through rivers,
over cataracts and rapids. and across great
lakes. g
We read that near the middle of the sev-
enteenth century it was discovered that
phosphorus would ignite splint Of wood
dipped in sulphur, but this means of obtain
ing fire was not in common use until nearly
$50 years later. This then appears to have
been the beginning Of match making. 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 ssstrike-fire found
in every 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 ssparlor'' and sssafety''
matches of to-day; but they were great
improvements upon the first in use. Those
small sticks dipped in melted sulphur and
sold in q tin box with small bottle of
oxide of phosphorus, were regarded by our
forefathers as signs of q ''ten-leagued pro-
gress." Later compound made of ch]or-
ate of potash and sulphur was used on the
splints. This ignited upon being dipped
IN suIphuric acid. In 1929 an English
chemist discovered that matches on which
had been placed chlorate of potash could be
ignited by friction. Afterward, at the sug-
gestion of Prof. Faraday, saltpetre was sub
stituted for the chlorate, and then the era
of friction matches lighted by rubbing was
fairly begun.
But the match of to-day has story more
interesting than that of the old -fashioned
match. AS we have said, much of the tim
Der used in the manufacture comes from the
immense tracts of forests in the Hudson
bay territory. It ia foated down the water
courses to the lakes, through which it is
towed in great long RATS. These RATS are
divided; some parts are pulled through the
canals, and some by other means are taken
to the 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
inches wide by two inches thick. These
blocks were passed through machine which
| cuts them into ssplints," round or square, OF
just the thickness of match, but twice its
1onnth Tho rooohSuo So -
| told, of making about 100000 splints 8
day. This number seems immense 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 sticking to-
gether after the dipping In the opera.
ton of setting ribbon of coarse stuff,
about an inch and half wide and an eighth
of.an inch thick, is rolled up, the splints be-
| ing 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 TIE
splints have been pounded down to make
them even, the bundles are dipped, both
ends, into the molten sulphur, and then in
to the phosphorus solution, which is spread
| over large iron plate. Next they are hung
IN frame to dry. When dried they are
placed in q machine, which, as it unrolls 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 10 the whisper
| IF the on,1fh ind Sc I,o
northern blast, has been so divided that
we can take it bit by bit and lightly
| twirl it between two fingers. But what ii
has lost in size it has gained in use. The
| little flame it carries, and which looks &c
harmless, flashing into brief existence, hat
q latent power more terrible than the whirl
wind which perhaps sent the tall pine trek
crashing to the ground. But the story il
not yet closed. From the machine which
completed the matches they are, taken.to thu
"bsxers," mostly girls and women, wht
place them in little boxes. The speed will
which this is done is surprising. With on,
hand they pick up an empty case and remov,
the cover, while with the other they seiz.
just q sufficient number of matches and b,
peculiar schuf1ing motion arrange then
evenly; then It's done The little packages
of sleeping fire are taken to another room
where on each one is placed stamp certify
ing the payment to the government of on,
cent revenue tax. Equipped with thes
passes, the boxes are placed in large
ones, and these again in wooden case
which are to be shipped to all parts o
the country and over seas All this trouble
over such little things as matches! Yet OF
these fire-tipped bits of wood. millions o
people depend for warmth, cooked food ant
light. They have become q necessity, an,
the day of flint and steel and finder seem
almost as far away in the past as are tn
bow and fro-stick of the Indian.
Some idea of the number of matches use<
in North America during year may b.
gained from the fact that it is estimated b,
competent judges that on an average 81,
matches are used every day by each inhab
liant; this gives grand total of 81, 400, 900,
600 matches, without counting those ex
| ported. Now, this would make single line
were the matches end to end, more tina
2,750, OOO miles in length! It would take
railroad train almost eight years to go fror
one end to the other, running forty mile
an hour all the time. How apt to OUT sub
iect is that almost WORKOUT Latin phrase
''anultuna IN pGrUo''- in little! Muc
labor, much skill and much usefulness, all i
q little piece of wood scarcely one-eighth Q
an inch through and about two inches long
I-.St. Louis Times.
Prisoners at Libby.
During the winter Of 1864 there wer
above one thousand federal officers confine
in Libby prison. at Richmond, Va. In De
cember, 1868, Col. Rose, of the Tooth Penn
sylvania, conceived the idea of escapin
by means of tunnel. He communicate
his plans to some of his comrades, VIII
promised their cooperation in the matter
The great difficulty they found was in gel