The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-10-07
MATCH MANUFACTURE,
THE PROCESSES WHICH THE Luci-
FER OF TO-DAY GOES THROUGH.

FER OF TO-DAY GOES THROUGH.
The Cutting of the spiints-FiIIins the
Frames-Tipping With the Inaammabie
Mixturc-Nature of the Composition.
MISUNDERSTANDING.
The lucifer of to-day goes through almost
as many processes in its manufacture the
proverbial pin We have first the cutting Of
the splnts These, in this country, are
usually of Quebec deal, and many OF them
are cut by water power in Canada On the
continent white or gray poplar is frequently
used, while the Swedish matches are generally
made of aspen. In Austria the splints are
usually round; with us and in Sweden they
are square in section. A great variety of
splint-cutting machines III use, and the
rapidity of their production Is something
enormous The splints in England are almost
invariably twice the length of an ordinary
match, which is about two and n quarter
inches long and one-ninth of an inch thick.
The splints at the larger works are received
III large cases, and are transferred in patches
Of u, 900 or so on to trays, technically known
as monkeys" The dexterity with which a
clever filler" will gather up her huge armful
Of splints wherewith to feed her monkey" is
admirable.
The splints are next fitted either into
frames" or clamps" or into "coils," and are
so placed that each splint is separated from
its neighbor by space sufficiently large TO
prevent the tipping composition cementing
the whole together at the ends. The mode of
filling the frames varies in different works.
Occasionally the splints are slightly charred
at the end by being pressed upon a heated
iron plate. They are next dipped into a thin
layer of melted paraffine wax or crude paraf-
fine scales, when they are ready to be tipped
with the inflammable mixture. The parafiine
Is necessary to insure the ignition of tho
wood, as probably not one match in fifty
would take fire without its intervention For
merly sulphur was exclusively employed for
this purpose, but to-day the birthstone
matches are only preferred by sailors, lamp
lighters and cabmen, as, from the low ignit-
ing point of sulphur, they are not so readily
extinguished by the wind as the ordinary
.lucifcr.
The exact nature of the "eompo," as the
isniting mixture is termed in the language of
the factory, is among the special arcana of n
modern match manufacturer. Each maker
considers that he has his particular blend
but at bottom they consist, at all events III
this country, of varying proportions of phos-
phorus, chlorate of potash, powdered glass,
sand, chalk or whiting, coiored with ma
genta paste, red lead, small, or prussian
blue, the whole being suspended or dis
solved in emulsion of glue. On the con-
tinent, nitro is almost exclusively used in place
of chlorate of potash; hence the continental
matches lack the sharp defamation which ac-
companies the ignition of the British lucifer.
and which seems to be SO dear to the ears of
the British workman but so very distasteful
to the more sensitive organs of the British
burglar. \ proper order must be observed
in the commingling of materials of this
nature, otherwise the "compo mixer" becomes
a terror TO the neighborhood in which he
works The chief risk which the mixer runs
to-day, and which he shares with the dippers
and the boxers, arises from the action of the
fumes of phosphorus upon the teeth and
bones, and especially upon the Jawbone.
Phosphorus, more particularly among the
scrofulous and unclean, tends to set up ne
crosis of the bone until, in some cases, the
lower jaw entirely disappears. This evil may
be greatly minimized by attention To cleanli-
ness and ventilation, and in the larger works,
where proper precautions are taken, cases
of "lucifer disease" are now comparatively
rare.
The composition, III paste state, Is poured,
a ladleful or so at time, on horizontal slab
of stone or metal kept at a regulated tenn
perature by means of a steam or water jacket
and is spread out to a layer of uniform depth
by a gauge or doctor" The dipper then
lfufllefSeS Tue Oh tlc Oh one sue
of the frame in the viscid mass and imme
diately transfers the clamp to an iron frame,
arranged something like wine bin, with the
dipped ends downward that the compost
ton gradually sets forming n well rounded
head. He then dips a second clamp and
transfers it i'm like manner to the frame until
he has in this way dipped the whole batch
on one side only. By the time he has finished,
the heads first dipped are usually hard enough
% l.air,
other ends dipped; each splint, it being re-
membered, forming two matches The dipped
clamps are allowed to remain in the drying
chamber for some hours, the time varying
with tho humidity and temperature of the
air. until the heads sufficiently set to
allow OF the splints being cut and the matches
boxed. \ clever dipper has been known to
dip 1000 frames in a day, that Is, in round
numbers, some 8, O0O,O 900 matches.
The next operation consists in dividing the
splints and boxing the matches When suf-
ficiently dry the dipped splints are released
from the clamps and taken to benches at
which stand n number of girls, each provided
with hinged lever knife and a supply Of
empty boxes The boxer throws back the
knife, Seizes a number of the splints lying be-
side her-her sense of touch tells her to a
match or two whether she has the required
municipalities them on the wooden sup
port carrying the knife, sings a weighted
cord across them to keep them in position,
and with a downward stroke of the knife cuts
through the 30, so 100 splints. AS she
again throws back the knife she seizes one Of
rhe halfopened boxes before her and drives
into it, with a single stroke of the hand, its
complement of matches. very consider
able number of matches are necessarily lost
in this operation; if the matches are at all
quick or tender the friction of the
heads against each other in the cut
ting and boxing not unfrequently causes
the ignition of the whole batch. As the
girls are paid by the number boxed, their
tempers are occasionally sorely tried, particu-
larry on n hot summer afternoon; boxers"
as a class, being especially sensitive on the
S,,li.... Of ,barynal atrnoSnherie disturbance