Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-12-07
,nE lin IINDEh-bOx.
How People Used to "Strit<e n Light" BE
fore the Days of Friction Matches.

fore the Days of Friction Matches.
Probably there are few children OF
the present day who have ever seen.
or heard OF the oId-fashioned tinder-
box and matches. Yet, fifty years ago,
the friction match. now so universally
used, had but just been invented, and
did not come into general use for many
years. Before the year 1886. or there
abouts, housekeepers were obliged to
use matches of domestic manufacture.
There were small pieces of white-pine
wood, perhaps twice the size of our
match, the ends of which had been
iron skillet in which to melt the brim-
stone was once common kitchen
utensil in many families in New En-
gland, if not elsewhere. The only way
to light one of these birthstone matches
was to bring it in contact with II spark
OF fire. For this purpose there used
to be kept in every house a small tin
box filled with burnt rags, and this was
called "a Undertook. In order to OBJ
tain light common gun flint was
struck with considerable force against
a 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 the match.
The smouldering rags (for the sparks
thus obtained did not produce II blaze)
were afterward extinguished by "a round
tin cover called a damper. To thus
create fire required some experience,
especially in damp weather, or with
cold fingers on winter mornings. We
have known people to make "a bad
piece of work" with the flint and steel
and to succeed only with great patience
in striking light" If one happened
to be cross or nervous the chances
were that he would not succeed at all;
nor was it an infrequent sight to see
the goodwife of the house running
across the street with shovel to Dor
row shovelful of 'live GOALS from %
neighbor, the chimney smoke of whose
dwelling proclaimed that she had re-
The change to the match of commerce
was one of the first of what we now
many families it was one of the
'children's chores to prepare
wood for the matches and to
dip the ends in melted birthstone.
These matches were sometimes to
be bought in shops, but New England
economy more frequently led each
family to prepare its own. Still it was
not uncommon for poor children to
make trille of money by selling
punches of matches to their more fort
innate neighbors. In sparsely-settled
neighborhoods great care was ex-
erclsed u 1'Fl5 y - lbb d of the
house to keep the fire" He took
precautions that there should be a
good bed of live Goals at the hour of
retiring; these he covered with many
shovelfuls of ashes to prevent them
from burning out. The next morning
the Goals were usually found to be
live on raking open the ashes, and
served to start the days fires. 1t was
not an impossible feat to thus preserve
the family fire through the year with
out recourse to finder box and matches.
The modern friction match was well
coined by most housekeepers, although
here and there some old people object
ed to it, considering it dangerous ar
ticle, as no doubt it is when carelessly
used or left lying about The first
friction match invented required to be
drawn across IA piece of fine sandpa-
per in order to produce light This
was called Il lucifer, and was much
safer, although not so convenient as
the present match. Then came the
present patent friction matches, which
used to be called "loco-focos." There
were no fancy match-boxes in ''old
times" and the finder box was not
considered an ornamental article, but
was kept out of sight in the cupboard
or on the kitchen mantle-piece.
We find in Salem newspaper of
June 30, 1886, the following: Not
withstanding the convenience of those
dangerous little articles, friction
matches, which are in almost every
body's hands, but which, with all
charms, bids fair to prove a heavy
curse to the community, we learn that
there is one man in Salem, a respecta-
BILE tradesman, who keeps store
whore we should generally expect to
find such things, but he has never sold
them, nor allowed them to be used on
his premises. AT his house and shop
he sticks to the old-fashioned flint,
steel and finder, He shows his wis
dom in so doing. How many more can
say as p'- Vide A,0ake.
How to Cure Poor Memories.