Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1883-03-07

How They Wore slowly Evoived--E Extent Of
Their ManufHcturc.

Their Manufncturc.
from the Pail Nall Gaxettel
Few people who nxe half box OF
matches day are disposed to think
much ON the subject of their origin, and
rest content with the fact that tlIey ex-
ist. Fifty years have not yet passed
since the most elementary match in its
present form was invented, and in Yien-
nm, not long ago, they celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary Of their iriycntion
by three Austrians to whom, Of course,
that honor is assigned. In England, in
1882, matches had not reached their
present shape, but hpd only rcaSNcl
the stage Of "lrc;fers. " FAC modern
generation has lost sight OF all these
gradual evolutions, and they ara only
known TO those who have the misfortune
to be survivors Of those beniglted and
unenlightened days. In the time of
Fox and Burke, and up to the begin
ming OF the present century, the flint
and steel and tinder STAGE had not beon
passed, though it is probable that DIR.
johnson aud others were moro skilifui
than we moderns are at this intricate
operation. About the beginning OF the
century, however, matters began 10 inn
prove, aud long birthstone matches
came into use to supply tie place Of
the tinder. These we're pieces OF wood
about six inches long, tipped with sui
phur, and caught fire easily from the
! spark of the flint. 1t would be diff
cult to obtain specimen of them now
adays. No museum seems to inter st
itself in preserving these little social
cariosities; and it is only some fifty
years hence that they will be looked
upon such, and sought after in some
technical exhibition Of the match trade.
1t was not, however, till 1926 that mat
ters began to improve, when an elabo-
rate apparatus called "Eupyrion' came
into use. This consisted of an open
bottle containing sulphuric acid, soak
ed in fibrous asbestos, and the matches,
which we're about two inches long and
sold at one shilling box, were tipped
with chemical combination, OF whic!,
chlorate of potash was the ingredient
On putting the match into the bottle
and rapidly withdrawing it fame was
produced, but as the acid was incon-
venieut and the matches liable to bs
spoiled by damp, the Eupyrion being
shown not TO be the fttest did not sar-
| vive.
| Many inventions more ingenious than
! useful were successfully tried: the
"pyrophorous," the pneumatic tinder
I box, and the hydrogen lamp OF Dobe-
/ reimer; but il WAS not till 1882 that the
! first sign Of friction match was evolv-
ed-and it was called "a lucifer' by the
joking generation. Lucifers were sub
stantlally the present match pulled
through piece OF saud-paper. The
| remembrance of such contiTance is
calculated to make US think less than
We do Of that dull time. But the eoun-
try was waking up, and the congreve,
which il the match of to-day. soon fol-
lowed the Reform bill. Whether tho
congreve was called after the rocket OF
that name is a doubtful point. There
is a story Of its inventor which shows,
! il true, the value of attention on the
! part of schoolboys, and might be put
| in all board schools. The real invent
or, it is said--a village schoolmaster :
explained it to his boys at his school,
and one more intelligent talked of it to
his still more intelligent parent, who
was chemist, and who turned it to
material advantage. BE that as it mar.
this was the same as the match OF to-
day; and it has since undergone few inn
provements, except one changing it
from silent to noisy match The
silent match, which is so affected by
burglars, and is necessary accompani-
ment to list slippers, consists m the
omission Of chlorate Of potash in the
composition which tips it, and which is
the cause of the cracking noiss which
is liable To awake the intended victim.
The last great invention was the safety
match, which was patented by Bryant
and May in 1856.
1t would require, perhaps, the intel
lect of Rabbage to wrestle with tho
statistics of matches. That GO, 0,000, 600
are burned every day in Europe seems
below the mark. Some firms, such rs
Messrs. Dixon, at Manchester, turn ou.
100000 day, and many in London
100000 or 100000. The consump-
tion Of phosphorus for the purpose in
England and France shows that about
250,O00,000 year are turned out in
these two countries alone. In America,
where, as in France, there is tax on
matches, by which grist is thus brought
to the mill, the stamps show an out
turn of about 40, 100000, 80 at present
matchmaking is not o specially Of
America, though the tax yields about