Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-16
and I met an Englishman. The English

and met an Englishman. The English
man had whole-hearted swear at things
in general. you are frozen in the SUMNER
he said, and you are heated in the winter
till one might believe you were being
toasted brownuin a mistake for muffin for
breakfast, and you cannot buy wax Yesta
1t occurred to me that there was not so
much cause for complaint in regard to this
last item at least, for you know man has
gone on for probably couple Of thousand
years without match at all, much less the
wax yesta For the comfort OF such
gentlemen as l have just mentioned Will
give you the history of the match.
First OF all, what do you think is its
value2 In the United States the value of
single match would be the 3G0th part of
cent, and in Europe about half the price.
Think of it, $50 matches, the wood chopped
and all other things done, and the lot neatly
packed into little box for l cent, and yet
there are large fortunes made out of
matches. France has been enabled to meet
the terribly heavy liability involved in the
war with Germany through making the
match industry a monopoly. AS l have
said the world had to do without the
match for thousands of years. You would
find it difficult TO find monument to the
genius of the inventor, and probably the
majority of men DO not even know his name.
1t is the old, old story. The man who intro
duced an article by which millions of dol
lars have been made, and are still made, an
article which is now considered indispensa-
bic to society, died poor, heart-broken, and
forgotten in lunatic asylum.
THE first PHOSPHORUS match was made
by one John Frederick Komerer, in
Ludwigsburg, Germany. He had been
imprisoned for some political offense in the
penitentiary at Hohenasperg. The gov
~, cd rtc
humanity, and allowed Komerer, who was
a chemist by profession, to make scientific
experiments. In the cell of gloomy
dungeon the first lucifer was struck to the
great delight of the unhappy prisoner. 1t
came as ray of hope to the man Shut out
from the rest of the world and from all that
made life dear. A year later Komerer was
released. At that time no patent law eX-
listed, and the eX-prisoner being man
without capital had to fight three companies
in Vienna His opponents had means,
while he had none.
But a still harder blow was in store for
him. The German government had no.
ton that matches were dangerous because
some children playing with them caused
confagration, and in fit of incomprehensi-
bic stupidity passed law forbidding the
manufacture of all kinds of matches.
Thus was komerer ruined. Other coun-
tries took the matter up and in 1912 the law
of Germany was repealed. In iS4S mill
iOnaire matchmaker existed in Vienna.
His millions increased as the years went by,
and he retired after twenty years work
with 4 fortune of Sl0,000,000.
up to 1862 the Vienna manufacturers con-
trolled the match business of the whole
globe They worked in the most imprac-
ticable way, without machinery. There
was fixed idea that machinery was useless
and that the work should be done by hand.
n,,n ,N.,1. +i.rr1la cal N
of the Vienna monopoly. This was the in
vention of the safety match. The principal
material in which the igniting composition
is dipped in phosphorus. One hundred
years ago it was nothing more than chem
zeal curiosity, produced in very small guam
titles, and an ounce of II was sold for an
ounce OF gold. Now pound can be bought
for 60 cents.
The extraordinary igniting powers of
phosphorus cannot be equaled BY any of the
che uiical substances now in use, but it is
most poisonous article, and many suicides
were committed with an emulsion of the
heads of the matches of which it formed a
part. 1t also caused terribly deadly dis
ease among the poor operators in the fac
tories. Prof. Shrater made a discovery Of
something which reduced the deadly ele-
ments IL the phOrphoruS. He offered his
discovery to the leading Vienna manufact-
urers, but the offer was rejected. By some
way the discovery found its way to Sweden
ana there new industry sprung up, which
gave employment to thousands of hands and
realized millions of dollars.
The reputation of the Swedish match has
been established. II is the best and cheap
est in existence, and is neither poisonous
nor inflammable. Sweden produces no other
but safety matches, and they are exported
to all parts of the world. In Germany,
Austria, Switzerland and Holland phos-
r,hpHl1S ms oh Factories Under state
troll, TO prevent as much as possible the
spread of the disease to which l have re-
ferred The girls must wear special
dresses; the factories must possess special
lavat0ries and dining-rooms, and 4 medical
man must examine the surroundings and
send in report once a week to the factory
inspector. The manufacturers must pay
for the medical treatment.
at is strange that the safety match has
not found favor in the United States, the
most progressive country in the world.
Only few are used in Eastern cities, and
these are mostly imported from Sweden.
Vet in the interest of the operators IL the
factories, as well as in the interest of the
public, il is desirable that they should take
the place of the evil-smelling, poisonous
and dangerous phosphorus matches, and
they can be manufactured just as cheaply
''The number OF, factories in the states of
the Union is very small, as compared with
Europe, as the following statistics will
show: Germany, with population of 49,
600, 900, has 40 factories; Sweden and Nor
way, with population of 5000, 600, have
forty; Switzerland, with 3,000.000, twenty
two; Russia, with 90,00O,000, 200; United
States, with $4,000, 00O thirty. Lumber is
more plentiful in the United States than
anywhere else. therefore there is every
prospect OF chance for development of the
trade"
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