The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1890-08-06
WONDERS OF FIREWORKS.
JAPANESE LEAD THE WORLD IN
MAKING PYRoTECHNICa
Families That Have Done Nothing
Else for Hundred Years-Bal-
looms of Many Kinds.

families That Have Done Nothing
Else for a Hundred Years-Bal-
looms of Many Kinds.
The use of fireworks of all kinds be-
comes more universal every year in this
country. Exhibitions are common at tho
winter resorts in the South, while in the
North fireworks are used at toboggan
and snowshoe carniyals and by summer
excursionists. All the frecrackers used
in this country come from China. They
are shipped in sailing vessels that land
at New York.
Although VIC surprise the Oriental
races in our knowledge Of chemistry and
mechanics we have never been able to
compete with them in practical pyro-
technics. In this field they have de-
veloped skill that is we'll nigh mir
aculous, and are as much our masters to-
day as they were at the time of the in
vcntion or introduction Of gunpowder in
Europe. Long before that event the
Chinese were enjoying firecrackers, from
those no larger than a match to the mon
strous ones which weigh five prunds
apiece-bombs, Roman candles and
Bengal lights. At the same time the
japanese were developing their wonder
full system of day fireworks into a fine
art.
OF the two races the Chinese were by
long odds the first In point of time.
Their annals show that the familiar fire
cracker was known to the people of the
Flowery Kingdom at least 1850 b. c.
On the other hand there is no direct proof
that the japanese were able to manu-
facture fireworks of any sort prior to
1040 A. D., some twenty-one centuries
afterwar1.
But the Chinese seemed satisfied with
what little progress they made in the
early age, aud have never gone beyond
what they then accomplished. The Jap.
anese, on the contrary, have kept up ex-
pertinent and research to the present
moment.
In discussing the remarkable success
of his countrymen in this industrial act
a member of the japanese Embassy at
! Washington SAID recently: "The Sc
cret Of our prosperity is not as simple as
might be supposed. In the first place
! VIC idNt u blaiC nlolCah lihI
the guilds of Europe A good fireworks
maker brings up one or more of hic sons
to follow him in his profession, and
teaches them every little trick or discov-
cry he has made or that has been handed
down to him by his ancestors. There
are many families at home that have been
firework makers for more than a CEN
tury."
The balloons are always of moderate
size, the great majority being about six
and but few exceeding ten fee n length.
They are made of a strong and durable
tissue paper, are printed in colors and
usually retouched with the brush by the
artisans of the East before they are al
lowed to leave the workshop. So far rs
shapes are concerned there is almost end
less variety. The commonest kinds are
those which initiate the domestic animals
Next to these in popularity are the shapes
of birds, fish, fruits, reptiles and dragons.
Beyond these and much less economical,
if not less popular, are human figures.
These are OF all sorts. ranging from a
daimio TO a grotesque head.
1t is difficult to estimate the number of
shapes turned out by japanese pyrotech-
nists. One concern in Yeddo keeps over
twelve hundred different kinds on hand
while another house in Yokohama has a
stock of two thousand varieties. These
balloons are so weighted as to always
keep natural position. In some cases
they are specially weighted with fine
pieces of metal held by a slow burning
fuse. As the latter IS consumed it re-
leases from time to time a weight. As
this is liberated the balloon will spring
upward as if alive. With two loaded
fuses the movements of fish are beauti-
fully initiated.
Corresponding to these five trails are
what may be called smoke trails. The
trail is charged with some infammable
substance like pitch, which is so treated
as to give out great volumes of heavy
dense black smoke, which fall slowly
away from the balloon and leave long,
wavy line in the air TO indicate the vary
ing currents and eddies in the atmos,
phere. Some very expensive balloons
have trails so arranged as to give lines OF
smoke in two, three, and even four colors.
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