The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-01-01
History Of the Match.
from an Ad:rcs. by President P.ayfai-, a
the Hr'Nsh AssocinAior L

lFr'm 40 AL 'fcss ny ffe.ident Payfai-, Al
the rr.t,sh Aesociatton.l
''Lct me take single example OF
how oven a pctty manufacture, i'm.
proved by tho teachings of science,
Affects the comforts and cnlargcs tho
resources of mankind. When was
y boy, tho only way of obtaining g
light was BY tho tinderbOx, with It's
quaGruplc materials, flint and stool
burnt rags or finder, and a sulphur
match. II everything went well, il
the box could be found and tho mir was
dry, q light could 10 obtained in two
minutes. but very often the timc occu.
pied was much longer. and the pro
cess became u great trial to tho scrcn.
ity Of temper. Tho consequence Of
this was that n fire or burning lamp
was kept light through tho day. Old
Gerard. in his herbal, tells us how
certain fungi were used to carry fire
from one part of tho country to tina
other. Tho Undertook long hold its
position rs u great discovery in the
arts. Tho pyruicmlG iguiaria of tho
Romans appears to have been much
ruder than the flint and steel which
Phil the Good put into the collar OF
the golden Fleece in 1929 rs the repre-.
scntat:on Of high knowledge in the
progress of tho arts. 1t continued to
prevail till 1888, when phosphorus
matches were introduced. though /
have becn amused to find that there
are IL fcw venerable ancients in London
who still stick to tho Undertook, and
for whom few shops keep u small
supply. Phosphorus was no now dis.
covcry. for it had been obtained by an
Arabian called Bechtcl in tho eighth
century. However. it was forgotten,
ana was rediscovcrcd by Brandt, who
made it out Of very sinking materials,
in 1869. Other discoveries had, now
ever, to DO m.do before it could be
used for luci!cr matches. Tho science
of combustion was only developed on
the discovery Of oxygen century later.
Time had to clapsc before chemical
analysis showed tho kind OF bodies
which could be added to phosphorus
to make it ignite readily. So it was
not till 1888 that matches became a
partial success. IntOlerable they then
wore, dangerously inilammablc. hnrri-
bly, poisonous to tho makers, and
AuJuAiOUS " tuC lungs VI tuC COuSUuu-
ers. 1t required another is.ovcry
by Schrottcr in 1915 to change poi
sonous waXy into innOcuous red brick
phosphorus in order that these defects
night DO rcmelicd, and to give us the
safety match otthe present day. Now.
what have these successive discoveries
in science done for the nation in this
single manufacture, by an economy of
time? Ii before 1883 we had made tho
Same demands for light that we do
now. when we consume eight matches
per head of the population, the finder.
box could have supplied the demand
under tho most favorable conditions
by an expenditure of one. quarter OF
an hour. The lucifor match suppl cs
a light in fifteen seconds on cacl, o.
cas- on, or in two minutes for the
whole day. Putting these differences
into Il year, the venerable ancient who
still sticks to his Undertook would rc-
quire to spend ninety hours yearly in
tho production Of light, while the user
of lucifer matches spends twelve
hours, so that tho latter has an econ
omy of scvcnty-cight hours yearly. or
about ten working days. Measured
10y cost of production at Is. Gil. daily,
the economy of time represented in
money to our population is EGG, OOO,-
600 annually. This is q curious IN
stance of the manner in which science
leads to economy of .ime and wealth
even in q small manufacture"