The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-12-11
a!s:! y. :! . -; y ..' :: Match: :.5.z

THE yIn1 SkxxR WAS MApE IN
g. DUNGEON.
After Th4lE< ention the danufac-
tarc ~ 4tches Was Forbidden
for = Whiie-A Great Industry.
81 wonder does any one know the his
tory OF the h,cifsr .aid n- Zap
part the other day at the Southern. aI
tell you why ask. ] was once standing
here just where j am now anG I met an
Epglishmsp Tbe Englishman had a
whcle>beax- xwesr at things in gen.
eraJ. M nszen in the summer
he said, and spu are hcatedsiu the win
Ter till one might believe you were be-
ing toasted brtwn IN mistake for a
muffin for breakfast, and you cannot buy
wax vcsta.' / occurred to me that
| there was not 50 much calse for com
plant in respectto this last item at least,
for you know man has gone on for prob
| ably couple of Thousand years without
a match at all. ouch less the wax vesta.
"For the coAfort of such gentlemen
as have just meptioned will give you
the history OF TIM match. First of all,
what do you 'think is its value2 In the
United States the kaluc of u single match
would be the 3tOth part of cent,
and in Europe About half the price.
Think of it, 800 matches, the wood
chopped and all o.her things done, and
the lot neatly packed into little box for
lc., and yet there are large fortunes
made out Of matches. France has been
enabled to meet the terrible heavy liza
bility involved in the war with Germany
through making the match industry
monopolEr.s.As As / have said, the world
had to DO fhoIt The match for thou
sands Of years. You would find it diff
cult to find Q monument to the genius of
the inventor, and probably the majority
OF men do not even know his name.
cit is the old, old story. The man who
introduced an article by which millions
of dollars have been made, and arc still
made, an article which is considered in
dispensable to society, died poor, broken
hearted and forgotten In lunatic
asylum. The first phosphorus match
was .nade~by one John Frederic
Komerer, in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
He had been Imprisoned for some poll
tical offense in the penitentiary at
Hohenasperg. The Governor of the
prison treated the convicts with humanity
and allowed Komcrcr, who was
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 game rs ray Of hope to
tue man shut out from the rest Of the
world and from all that made life dear.
ga year later Komcrer was released.
At that time no patent law existed, and
the cx-prisoner being man with
out 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 Ger
man Government had Il notion that mat
chcs were dangerous because some chill.
dren playing with them caused conha-
grafton, and in a fit of incomprchensible
stupidity passed a law forbdding the
manufacture of all kinds of matches.
Thus was Komerer ruined. Other coun-
tries took the matter up, aud in 1912
the law of Germany was repealed. In
1858 millionaire match maker existed
in Vienna. His millions increased as
the years went by, and he retired after
$40, 200, ,O00.l
s!sH xifapa Ba!ssss RsastaStaSsSs 81 sHs
whole globe. They worked in the MOI.
impracticable way, without machinery.
There was u fixed idea that machinery
was useless, and that the work should be
done by hand. One particular event
caused the downfall of the Vienna mo-
nopoly. This was the invention of the
safety match. The principal material
in which the igniting composition is
dipped is phosphorus. One hundred
years ago it was nothing more than
chemical curiosity, produced in very
small quantities and an ounce of it was
sold for an ounce of gold. Now
pound can be bought for sixty cents.
"Thc extraordinary isniting powers of
phosphorus cannot be clualcd by any of
the chemical substances now in use, but
it is Il most poisonous article, and many
suicides were committed with an cmul.
sion of the heads of the matches Of which
1T formed part. 1t also caused a terri
bly, deadly disease among the poor opera
tors in the factories. Professor Shratcr
made discovery of something which re-
duced the deadly elements of the phos-
phorus. He offered his discovery to the
leading Vicnna manufacturers, but the
offer was rejected, by some wny tLo ais.
covcry found its way to Sweden, aud
there new industry sprung up, which
gave employment to thousands Of hands
and realized millions of dollars.
Sweden produces no other but safety
matches, and they are exported to all
parts of the world. In Germany, Austria,
Switzerland aud Holland phosphorus
match factories are under State control,
to prevent as much rs possible the spread
Of the disease to which 1 have referred.
The girls must wear special dresses; the
factories must possess special lavatcries
and dining g-rooms, and medical man
must examine the surroundings and send
in report once week to the factory
Inspector. The manufacturer must pay
for the medical treatment.
cit 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 Swe.