Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-11-16

oxymariate matches" in which strip
OF wood, tipped with mixture O
chlorate of potash. sugar and gun
were ignited by contact, with sulphu
acid. About this time also there wer,
various non-phospheric light producer1
more or less in vogue. One OF these
was known as pyrophorus." 1t wa:
prepared by roasting alum with fioul
and honey or sugar, and iniiamed by
exposure to the air.
AS early as 1850 there were " electro.
pneumatic fire producers" in use in
which jet OF hydrogen was infiamed
by an electric spark. The Dobereiner
platinum lamp" belonged to latter
date, 1882. In this hydrogen gas was
ignited by contact with spongy plati.
mum. About this time also there were
in use in parts of Prussia small glass
tubes containing equal parts of phos-
phorus and sulphur carefully fused
together. Into this splinters of wood
were thrust and then ignited by fric-
ton.
1t was not until 1927 that the real
precursor of our present day match
appeared. In April of that year John
Walker, OF Stockton -on-Tees, invented
luciier matches, or congreves, as they
were called, after Sir William Con-
greve, inventor of the rocket. These
congreves consisted OF wooden splints
or strips of cardboard tipped with a
mixture of sulphide OF antimony, chic.
rate OF potash, gum and starch. No
phosphorus was used. They were
ignfted by rubbing on glass or sand
paper.
From this time on incessant at
tempts were made in different places
to produce really practicable and
satisfactory friction match. In 1884
wooden friction matches containing
phosphorus were made in Vienna.
Darmstadt and other places in Europe.
The first patent in the United States
for phosphorus friction matches was
granted October "a. 1886. to A. ID.
Phillips. whose igniting composition
was a mixture of phosphorus, sulphur,
chalk and gum.
From time to time loud outcrics
were made about the dangers attend
ing the use of phosphorus in match
making. 1t was not only poisonous
and too inflammable, but the work
men employed were subject to curl.
GUS disease of the Jaw bones which was
loathsome and distressing. Between
the years 1910 and 1865 there was
much warm discussion on these points.
1t is by this time pretty well estab-
lished that the danger of phosphorus
disease" is reduced to q minimum by
the employment OF such preventive
means as good ventilation impregna-
ton OF the air of the factory with the
vapor OF turpentine and the enforce
ment of absolute cleanliness ON the
part of the work people. In 1884
stringent regulations were put in
force in German factories. In Dem
mark and Switzerland the use OF
matches containing the ordinary phos-
phorus was forbidden by law in 1875
and 1879, and in Denmark since 1875
the use Of "Swedish safety matches"
only has been allowed. In 1882 the
Swiss government forbade the use of
any but safety matches. 1t was in
1855 that Lundstrom, OF Jonkoping,
Sweden, made the first true " safety"
matches. He put his oxidizing mix
ture "a safe form of phosphorus) on
the box. This process was patented
the same year in England. Since
then there has been no very important
departures in the art of match making,
though curious machines have been
invented and various igniting mixtures
tried with greater or less success.