Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-08-16

stone. A small iron skillet in which to melt
the birthstone was once a common kitchen
utensil in many families in New England if
not elsewhere.
The only way to light one of these brim-
stone matches was to bring it in contact with
spark of fire. For this purpose there used
to be kept in every house o small tin box
filed with burnt rags, and this was called
finder box. In order to obtain light
common gun. flint was struck with considers
BILE force against piece of steel made OF
convenient size, which produced few
sparks; these, lodging upon the burnt rags,
made sufficient fire to enable one to readily
light tive match.
These smou1dering rags (for the sparks
thus obtained did not produce blaze) were
efterward extinguished by round tin cover
called . damper.
To thus create a fire required SEINE expe-
rience, especially in damp weather, or with
cold fingers on winter mornings. We have
known people to make ga bad piece of
work" with the flint and steel and to sue
coed only with great patience in Striking
a light" -
If one happened to be cross or nervous
the chances are that he would not succeed
at all; nor was it an infrequent sight to
see the good wife of the house running
across the street with a shovel to borrow q
shovelful of~ live ceals' from a neighbor,
bno cllIuu0y BuQOk0 OF whose OWell1uR pro-
claimed that she had a fire. The change to
the match of commerce was one of the first
of what we now consider modern convens
fences.
In many families It was one of the 'tchil-
dren's chores" to prepare wood for the
matches and to dip the ends in melted brim-
stone. These matches were sometimes to be
bought in shops, but New England economy
more frequently led each family to prepare
it's own. Still 1t was not uncommon for poor
children to make trife of money by selling
punches of matches to their more fortunate
neighbors.
In sparsely settled. neighborhoods great
care was exercised at night by the head of
the house to skeep the fire. He took pre-
caution that there should be a good bed of
'flive Goals" at the hour of retiring; these he
covered with many shovelstul of ashes TO
prevent them from burning out. The next
morning the Goals were usually found to be
"alive" on raking open the ashes and served
to start the days fire. It was not an impos-
sible feat to thus preserve the family fire
through the year, without recourse to the
finder box and matches.
The modern friction match was welcomed
by NEST housekeepers, although here and
there some old people objected to it, consid-
ering it a dangerous article, as no doubt 1t Is
when carelessly used or left lying about.
The first frictien match invented required
to be drawn ACROSS piece Of fine sand paper
in order to produce light This was called
lucifer and was much safer, although moi
so convenient as the present match.
Then came the present ent-frictioH
matches, which used to be called "locofo-
CO.'S" There were no fancy match boxes in
''old times" and the finder box was not con
sidered an ornamental article, but was kept
out of sight in the cupboard or on the kitch-
en- mantle piece.
We find in Salem Newspaper of june
Both, 1886, the following: "Notwithstand
ing the convenience of those dangerous lit
tie articles, friction matches, which are in
almost everybody's hands, but which with
all charms bid fair to prove heavy curse tt
the community, we learn that there is one
man in Salem, a respectable tradesman, who
keeps a store where we should generally ex
pect to find such things, but who has nevel
sold them nor allowed them to be used OF
the premises. At his house and shop ht
sticks to the old fashioned flint, steel anG
finder He shows his wisdom in 30 doing
How many more can say as rauchf'