Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-01-06
SAFETY MATCHES,
How They Are sIade-A Great Swedis
MauNfuctIrx.

uay ~ IS one OF The most important
markets in Sweden, and has grown NJ
with, and owes its success to, the
match-factory. which from q wooden
booth has developed into a gigantic
establishment occupying a whole quar-.
ter Of q town. and giving employment
to about 1000 workpeople. bes DIES q
perfect regiment of engineers, inspec.
tors, chemists and SO on,
1t is very d %flicult, indeed, to pass
into the works, and permission is only
granted when the directors are con
WINGED that the visitor as n Wis
itor only, and not TO spy into their Sc
crets or to examine the working OF
their machines with q too technical
eve. The outer gate, as heavy and
formidable looking as that Of Newgate
prison, is always kept locked, and one
is only admitted after ones credentials
have been scrupulously examined hy
the %ianitor.
The first room into which one is
shown is where the wood is cut. The
logs are first cut into pieces of about
six inches in length; these arc then
peeled and split up into strips by a
special machine. The strips are next
cut into matches by means of another
machine, which much resembles a
straw-cutter, and which cuts $4,000
matches in a minutes. From the
mouth of this engine the matches fall
into large boxes on wheels, which are
wheeled away as soon as full to the
drying room. In this room, where q
temperature Of 70 degree (Centigrade)
is maintained. the matches are left to
dry for about five hours. After this
they are shaken up in a kind of slant
ing-drum fer two hours, which blunts
the sharp edges of their corners and
rounds them of.
The next process is to sort them in
heaps, lengthwise. for they leave the
s!anting-drums in an irregular mass. A
special machine is used for this pur-
pose also. With wonderful velocity
the little sticks are packed into bun
dies of 1000, lengthwise. They are
then taken on trays to the paraffining
o The parafin is in a large
boiler and is kept in a fluid state by q
slow wood fire underneath. BY the
side of this boiler is an iron plate which
is kept very hot. On this plate are
placed the trays of matches, the beat
causing the pores of the little sticks to
expand, and make them thus more
ready to imbibe the parsffin into which
they are then dipped. The sticks thus
prepared are ready to receive the com.
hustible head which makes O Prone
theus of a worthless scrap of wood.
The intiammable matter is composed
of red potash combined with cromic
acid, powdered glass, chlorate OF potas.
sum, sulphur, and q solution of gum,
kept in a half-huid state.
The exact proportions OF the various
ingredients which compose this fiery
broth are kept strictly secret. Idoubt
also whether / have mentioned them
all. They are mixed together by q ma
chine which much resembles the one
used by manufacturers of chocolate for
grinding and rubbing the chocolate
mass INTO a proper consistency. The
combustible matter is spread over q
rol' er which much resembles the ink
ing rollerused in printing-presses, and
much In the same way rs the ink is
transferred to the hiking roller.
The sticks sets up on end in a case,
Just like type, are passed under the
roller and taken out on the other end
to make way for another c~aseful, and
carried away to dry for half an hour in
an air-drying room. After which they
are quite ready to be packed in boxes
and sent out to the world for use.
1t is curious to note, and it gives an
idea OF the importance of the opera
tons in this factory and the value at.
tached to time there. that no matches
or material which falls to the ground
during the various processes are picked
1t is calculated that the value OF
the time that would be lost thereby
would far outweigh the value of the
material, no matter how great its GUAM
titv. The floor is swept at intervals
during the day hy a large staff of
sweepers, and the sweepings used for
lighting and feeding the numberless
fires in the factory.
The match boxes arc entirely made
by machinery, by which the wood is
split, bent. joined, and the labels
on the boxes. The boxes are
further packed by machinery, which
fills each with the exact quantity of
matches, closes it and pushes it along
receive a coating of amorphous phos-
phorus on each side. When this is
dry the boxes are put up in paper
cases OF ten boxes, and dispatched to
all parts of the world in tin-lined
wooden boxes.
What strikes the visitor most in this
factory is the perfection of the ma
and the way in which steam
power and mechanical appliances have
entirely supplanted manua! power. In.
Iced, as one sees these powerful en-
gines at work, and notes their immense
production, their lightness of touch,
mathematical exactitude, one
feels much less proud of being q man,
and holds homo considerably an infe-
rior animal to machine. Indeed, all
the men seem to do is to wheel the
matches from one machine to another
not q very important task. And
to say. although their mechan-
lcal appliances seem perfect, the di-
go on improving them each
'ear, replacing old machines with new
perfect ones as soon as the slight
.st improvement has been found pos
'ible. The old machines. some of
which have barely served two months.
.re locked up in a special room and
'crupulously guarded.
The Jonkoping factory belongs to
i've partners, each one of whom pock-
its a yearly profit Of 100000 Swedish
The annual output of matches
the gigantic figure of Is, OOO,-
100000. The price of the matches,
price, is only ten ores per 500
matches, i. O.. fifty boxes for I'D, and
he large profits arise, Of course, from
he immense quantities sold annually.
The orders come in for matches by the
or by the hundred million. A
machine for counting and ledger-work
Tonld be the best improvement the di.
could invent. I wonder how
heir clerks can stand the work.-Cor.
London Tobacco.
A Millionaire Appetite.
"Plain meats and vegetables. good