Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-11-16
MAKING OF MATCHES.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LITTLE
uUClEER.
The Money Spent on Them-What
Our Ancestors Did without Them
1nvcnttOn-A Big Industry the
World Over.

flttsburS Post
Few people waste thought about a
match. Merely a little, commonplace
everyday trifle of thing, made OF
wood or wax, tipped with latent flame,
wherewith they kindle fires and light
the soothing pipe or comforting cigar.
1t does its humble work and is con-
temptuOUsly cast aside. And yet the
match is An evolution representative
OF much human patience, ingenuity
and skill, and is one of the best gifts
sought out and elaborated by human
genius for the benefaction of the race.
When Prometheus stole the sacred
fire from Olympus it wasn't in the
form of lucifer match that he did so,
or his punishment from Jove might
have been even more terrible than it
was, because its usefulness to upstart
man would have been so much more
formidable. Long ages had to pass
and the nineteenth century after
Christ be well on its way before the
match, As We see it to-day, was even
thought of. Trife as it is, few things
have had more thought and ingenuity
expended on their production. In
Great Britain alone, during the first
80 years of this century, considerably
more than hundred patents have
been applied for, having reference,
wholly or in part, to improvements or
novelties in machinery for the manu-
facture of matches, and during the
same period at least as many more
patents were applied for with refer
ence to the composition of the inham-
matory part of the matches, the ma
terial composing the stem, etc.
As an industry the manufacture of
matches has very imposing proper
tions. There is something impressive
about figures to the average mind, and
a few statistics will carry weight.
Just to take one OF the largest Eng
lisk factories for example. Ordinary
wooden matches are turned out of
that establishment yearly to the rate
of $500, 900 gross OF boxes. Each box
contains 80 to 100 individuals. If
anyone has the curiosity to figure out
what this amounts to he will find that
it means grand total of $4,000, ,OOO,-
600 of these wooden splinters, each
one Of which is tiny magazine of fire,
and potential agent of mighty mis-
chief. The same factory produces
"safety" matches to the amount of
about one-seventh of the ordinary
matches-i. e., about 5000, 100000 in
the year. 1t also produces about 52,-
600 gross boxes of vesuvians, while
wax vestals are poured out at the rate
of 35,OOO,OOO q day, or 10,5OO.OOO,O 600
annually. This is all very imposing
and is calculated to inspire increased
respect for the match. For the vestas
produced by that one factory three
tons of wax are used every working
day, meaning a total OF some $50 tons
in the year. Cotton to the amount OF
25O tons is also annually required to
produce these little effects. The same
factory's annual consumption of viter-
GUS phosphorus is 80 tons or more.
while the number OF persons employed
is in the neighborhood of 1900. Now
in the neighborhood of London alone
there are about q dozen factories of
varying size, so that from facts like
these one can begin to have a faint
conception of what the match making
of the world really means. The total
annual value of English match manu-
facture has been estimated At from
s1.5OO,OOO to s2,OOO,OOO, and England
is not the greatest producer OF
matches.
The man who grumbles because he