The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1883-01-19
IL LuCIFER lIArcH

was invented in 1929 by SIR. John Walker. a
chemist, of StOckton-upou- Tees, who found
tuat chlOrate Of potash could be instantly ig-
nited by friction and ia rapidly drawing a
stick coated with il and phosphorus, by the
means or mucilage or glue, through folded
Sahupaper. lie manufactured Il few of
them Tor use in his ueighborhood, and Fara-
oay, procuring some, brought them into
public notice 1t IS interesting to reflect
tnaJ II was some years before it occurred to
the acute mind of the nineteenth century
inat more convenient mode OF ignition
could be devised tban drawing the match
through folded piece Of Sandpaper, Two
pence was the price of small square box of
fifty matches and the bit Of sandpaper, the
match being known for some time as the
Congreye, probably by way OF a reminder of
tile famous rocket which figures so frequent
~ in the literature OF half a century ago.
j he safety match dates from about 1886 its
principle is tlJ division Of tho cOmbustibIe
elements, some being placed on the box and
some on the match-Jp.
The AustraHs cllj,a to have become the
pioneers of match manufacturing I'm 1882
For many years Sweden was able to beat
down all competition IN the manufacture Of
cheap matches, and in spite of numerous inn
Itatlons the 'Utau svafyei ok fosfor" still
hold tneir ewn. The original mauuiactory
az JCnkcpiEg z Is still IL existence, and dstri-
butes among It's shareholders the enormous
dividend OF so per cent According to the
report of the British consul a Stockholm, the
oWeuls % match trade IS even gaining ground
WIN great rdpldtty, the Sx portation last wear
to Great Britain and her colonies, China, Ja-
pam South American, Africa, and India
amounting to $500 tons, an increase over the
preceding ear of "A per cent. One factory
established in 1915 employees $40 hands, and
adopts so many aud such excellent precau-
HOns against Ere JnaJ it is insured at very
low rate The boxes in which the matches
are packed are made by the prisoners in the
Swedish jaiis. Matchmaking in France is a
monopoly, but 10 is gratifying to know that
il is nota paying monopoly. The company's
contract cOmpels it TO pay percentage on a
miliimum quantity Of 10000, coo, 600, and
the annual consumption is only 20, 600, ,O0O
OO0 Though last year the deficit in the pro-
it, and loss account was reduced from IL
631, ,376 francs to 613, ,SS9, most, if not all Of
the gain of S60O,OO0 j s due to a new method
Of estimating the assets. The company has
never yet paid a dividend. The French
matches are about 40 atrOciously bad as a
French cigar, but the badness of both at
least served the purpose Of furnishing the
PaTiSia n chrOniqUers with subjects Of mum
eraOle jokes. In England such drms as the
DIX0ns, Of Manchester, turn out about nine
million matches day, to say nothing Of the
smaller manufacturers, whose daily output
Is two million or three million. The eStima-
ted daily consumption per head Of the pOpu-
iation in Europe and North America is from
fve to six matches 1t may be said that the
German Government IS about to forbid the
use OF white phosphorus in the manufacture
Of matches. The acid fumes thrown off in
manufacturing process produce a fearful
rottening OF the teeth and iaws.-NelC York
World