The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-13

| IL down in the tube upon the pin. This
l plugs that end OF the tube and fastens
the fuse in the center as well.
! The tubes with the clay plug and fuse
are next turned over 20 girl. who loads
I the nrecracker with its explosive. She
I handles 100 al a time also, and the loading
/ device Is as simple as IL Is ingenious.
I IL Is made OF two boards. in each Of which
/ Is bored leo holes. The holes are a trihe
I larger than the firecrackers hut those
/ IN the bottom board do not pass quite
/ through. The hrecrackers are placed fuse
END down in the bottom board and the
| top board with its holes exactly over the
| open end OF the tubes is placed on top of
I the crackers. The girl scoops a quantity
/ OF the explosive mixture from a box upon
/ the top board and with brush sweeps
\ the powder into the holes. filling the FIRE
I crackers. The top board is then taken OF
Z and "a piece Of cork. or whatever material
/ IS used 10 plug the iirecracker. is rammed
/ down to the powder OF each firecracker.
! The nrecrackers are then coated with
red paper by girls, who arrange
number of sheets OF the thin,
| tough paper upon a slanting mar
| bic slab, brush paste upon the ends
| Of the sheets and with the palm OF the
hand roll the hrecrackers one at time.
over the paper thus coating them. The
hrecrackers are dried for some time. then
packed, and are ready for the Fourth OF
| July.
The Chinese or the Hindoos were the first
makers of fireworks, and probably gun
powder or something like it was burned on
festival days several thousands OF years
ago in China. The plains of China and
India have large deposits OF saltpeter,
which is one of the chief ingredients of
gunpowder. 1t is supposed that the first
man who made gunpowder was an East
Indian or Chinese. and that the discovery
was accidental Wood fires leave char
coal and nrphqhlW hnrE in the time hafnra
the Christian era, a Chinaman built fire
on saltpeter plain where a fire had been
built before. The charcoal of the old fire
and the saltpeter had become mixed and
his fire flashed the powder. Or he may
have dropped some saltpeter into a fire
and noticed how it made the blaze spring
up furiously For years saltpeter was
called Chinese snow" and the records
of the early travellers through China
show that the Chinese used their snow
to make earth thunder" and "devouring
fire. The accidental discovery that a
mixture of charred wood and saltpeter
would make a flashing material easily led
TO mixing sulphur with IL, and gunpowder
was the result
Now nitrate Of potash and chlorate of
potash are two of the most important con-
stituents of fireworks They SUPPLY the
oxygen which is required in an explosive,
for an explosion is nothing but quick COM
bustion, and combustion cannot take place
without oxygen. Few people stop to con-
slider how 1t is that in cartridge, shot
gun, cannon. or skyrocket, where
wads, packing, and all sorts of alright
plugs are used, a tremendous heat
rapid combustion, quick hot fire can take
place. No air can enter, there Is no air
in the gun or cannon to speak of, for the
powder and shot or bullet take up all
the space. The combustion-suppo
oxygen comes from the saltpeter or chic
rate of potash, which are what might be
called solid oxidizing agents. Heat, of
course, must be applied to start the oxy-
gen, and this is done either by percus-
sion, as in a cartridge, or by a burning
fuse, as in a skyrocket.
In fireworks the colored effects are given
| by the burning Of sulphur, sulphi1es of
arsenic, iron and steel filings and other
metals, such as sodium, which gives
a yellow fire, calcium, red; strontium
crimson; barium, green, and copper, green
and blue, when reduced to powder and
mixed with the oxidizing agents
But whatever the mixture is Il must
have something to supply the oxygen
and IL is said that the Chinese found that
out nearly 1000 years before Columbus
discovered America. Now they make
they gunpowder according to the white
mans method, by immense guam
titles of roman candles, skyrockets and
pin-wheels of English and American man
ufacturers, and in a few years may have
to come to America for their nrecrackers