The semi-weekly miner., 1882-04-19
STALKING A LIGHT.
How Il was Done Before the Friction
Match Was Invented.

People who light their pipes. cigars or
lamps, or klndle their fires by the in
stantaneous ignition Offricti0n matches.
nave, unless they are old people, very
little conception of the labor and tribu-
1atton attendant upon the same process
my years ago. Every well-regulated
family at that time was provided with u
tin pox Of tinder, produced by the COM
busti0n Of rags. and a flint and steel, and
matches which had been dipped in
birthstone. when fire was wanted the
flint and steel and tindey were produced.
And the tinder being ignited. spark
were precipitated from the steel by
means of the flint, a match was tOuchc,!
to the burning mass, AID being lighted,
was applied to some prepared kindling,
and fire thus produced, the whole N:-
c'pying from five to fifteen minutes. ac-
cOrsling 70 the skill Or luck of the opera
tor. This was attended with so much
labor, and productive at times OF the
;se Of 50 many naughty words on the
person operating, that fires were gencr-
ally kept all night. This was done
there were few stoves. and hard coal had
not come into very general use then
by covering tho huge and blazing; back
log in the fireplace with ashes, and in
place bed Of live Goals, which, by the
application Of fresh wood and with the
aid Oi the then universal bellows, usual
~ produced blazing fire in from fif-
teen minutes to half an hour. Some
times, however, from some cause, the
backlog would Ike wholly consumed,
leaving nothing but u bed of ashes. IN
this Ease, particularly ifthcre was an ai-
scncc Of dry kin'liiny in the house, some
nTe,,'.er Of the family must take sl,Ov-
Il, and o!tentinle@ through slow knee
dee, ,r,ldge to the nearest neighhOr's
''af: fire" And sometimes, indeed.
th,' 'i::,rtSt neiyllbor'S lire would le out
too, III which cast. TIE walk would have
t" IL. extended unit! the lire was pro-
cured. The live Goals were borne home
up1N. shovel, often carefully guarded
will; the hand to prevent blowing Oft,
placed between two brands, the ;.c!l~ws
set vigorously 1T work. and the fire thus
be set a-blazing. In lighting Il candle, a
live coal was taken up with y pair Of
tOnges and blown upon with the mouth
until blaze was produced. Pipes were
lighted by placing u live coal on top Of
the tobacco, and cigars by !,nl.iiny the
coal to the end and putting with al ones
might.
The first improvement on this in New
England wHs the substitution o., lpt:c
OF phosphorus, into which, the cork be-
ing removed, Il birthstone match was
thrust, and being thus gnitetl tine hottie.
was quickly closed, in order IL r,strain
the strength of the liquid. This was
such al emancipation from tn" ;.ir.;l-
dem of the tin;er-hnx and flint and
steel and the other inconvenicnce- "t
the old ,ncth"d :!,a: Moi'lc r..ioice'l
greatly, and believed: the ne l'!'', ultra
in this direction .':.l :'rti rs:;c!,.'!, "n.!
e;erv wc;i-ycs.ulai...I aii;!!y WAS i':"v:h-
rl with its bottle of Di.S':,'!,,r,l;, while
the lin. and steel ::nI t.i,l.r-'nx were
emergency. The invent :":l w. En"wn
!yy the name Of '.'MU:C.O lna,c.t*.'
Directly. however, there w::$ ann';i"r
invention t:n: :v,t the ;:!:o> ,.t!or.r. h",!!"
as much i'll the >!;::.!. us the other had
tie flint and steel. T!iS was the a,'pl!-
,.atiOn of Il preparation nt ,,hc~: l0r;'s
and birthstone t" the iiv: 81: nntcht'S.
w!,;cl, only Tc::;,ir>r; ~ - .!:.:wa !iv-
tW ZEN :i.v iuI.s:d leaves g.. 4 piece ni
Il piece. vi sali.!-;,ar;r 20 ;'r t;::rc i:.::;t.
30 l;,at The snl;,kr: ls.'i 'H:. .'",,":.; -;
matches. in enc v:~. ;,,:i. ;: E: - his .'h-
r,t S;.n,:;.,pvr IN t:.e Cii.cr IL l-.l, his
,.;," ut am nln,,u IA: Ihco'' ';:i..T w.'I>
k,Inwn a. "L;,.itcr r.at.!,rs.' as r.''-
taking. il i r:.~u;,:!, &. IL" ;''!"i;.c:s.r
ui :!,r S:.ri;,'!!r:i! "."i 1" III, :n"IH:u.."
i;,i; t!.. swirl: ui invcE'i:', va. N", :a;-
i~fiu' 10 stop here, Hn:. lie !<'.u!; was,
t::c present wnr!sl u-.S :"i;':ira .'A'tf'.:t~
that alike serve all l,.'s,''. ;,:": !ltv max
ing at which 1t ~. rr,>l'n; s;:.i". in al
uruirahili;! CONSUMES a!'l0-, a in.:.':l
wmnt ~ there :. a> burned b: tie w'.':t
United :>,a!t> ;"r Ill purposes ~ Wa:',-
ing and cooking a'tnt;.': .::-o. o.--'''"'':-
I.,u". .N:!!..