Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1895-09-06
FIREWORKS.
a GREAT INDUSTRY IN THE
UNITED STATES.
Wo Now Excel tho Chinese In This
Lno-Ho,Y FlroworlSs Arc NIado
Pieces Worth $1,000
lin Factory.

NE OF the lar Jest fireworks os-
4 Establishments in the country
~ is right in the heart of New
York City. Tho place is only
headquarters for fireworks. No ex-
plosives are made in tho oity limits,
MS the law forbids that, but tho big
factory is down ON Staten Island. Tho
four-story building from collar to gar
ret is filled with fireworks of all kinds
Roman candles, sky rockets, flower
pots, bombsholls, etc. Ono tiny spark
would set off tho whole lot But it is
to avoid just such catastrophe that
the fireworks company has tho build
ing guarded day and night. like tho
tower of London.
When tho writer, visited this powder
magazine he was surprised to learn
that tho Fourth of July trado was
over back in January and February.
The manufacturer is now getting out
orders for fireworks to DO used next
fall and winter, principally in tho
South.
"Most poop,e think" said tho man.
agor of the conoorn, "that nil we have
to do is to supply tho Fourth of July
trade, and then loaf around during
the next ten or twelve months of the
year. Tint is n mistake. Ii wo do
pended solely upon tho trade for ono
day in the yoar, orr factories would
DO idle half the time.
''Thero is demand for fireworks
oil through the year. Political cam.
paigns, picnics, private and public
celebrations aro taking place almost
every month, and they all uso quanti-
ties of fireworks.
Eyes; there have been some i'm
provements in the art of making fire.
works, and with few exceptions Amer
leans now mako their own firecrackers
and fireworks. The Chinese no long
er excel in this line, as they did in
years gone by. We now mako many
kinds of explosives that the Chinese
know nothing about. 1t is only in
one or two novelties that tho Chinese
have any advantage of us.
"Thero are changes every season in
tho display of Roman candles and sky.
rockets. Ono of the newest things in
slty-rockets is tho hanging chain
rocket. Tho largest sizo cost $3.50
dozen. When the rocket oxplodcs,
balls OF magnesium drop, ono after tho
other, until say eight or ten of them
are in tho mir, suspended from para.
chute. Tho 'festoon rocket, when it
bursts, sets free two silk parachutes,
between which lines of colorod fro
hang, thus making n brilliant cirect
''Of course, the chief glory of mod
orn pyrotechnics is tho big set
piece, which requires tho greatest
skill and ingenuity. Tho design is
first skotchcd out, and then the franc
work is made in sections. The out
lines are represented on thin laths,
which arc colorcd to show tho fro
that will be displayed on each part of
the design. The piece is set of by
flash fuse, SO that. no matter how
large it mny be, tho whole is lighted
ut tho same moment Few SGT pieces
cost less thnn 500, and some OF tho
elaborate ones, such rs General Grnnt
on horseback, or steamships, are worth
$1,000.
"The manner of making fireworks
is, IN tho general way, rather simple
and essentially the snmo for oil kinds.
The operation consists in filling casos
or tubes with certain compositions, of
which certain principal ingredients
are we'll known, although tho combin-
ations are somewhat of II secret. The
principal items arc gunpowder, char.
coal, snltpeter and meal powder, and
these nre mixed with chemicals in or
der to obtain tho dosired color. Thus,
q compound of sodium is used for vol
low, calcium compounds for red,
strontium salts for crimson, nitrate OF
barium for green, and so on. Tho
stars which add SO much to tho
beauty of fireworks ut night arc made
of saltpeter, gunpow(ler ard sulphur,
with gum and spirits OF wine, rolled
into balls, and thon dried after tho
composition which gives then, color
has been added.
'For example, Roman candle or
rocket is made MS follows: First, tho
paper is cut into strips by machine,
and these strips are rolled into tubes
by girls and boys, who do tho work
with great rapidity. They can turn
out fiom fifteen to twenty gross of
tubes day. They spread tho atrips
out on II table, and put paste over tho
edges, and then turn them over and
paste the other side.
ga round former or roller, is
rolled along each strip. which becomes
IL tube of certain diameter. The
tubes, when thoroughly driod, AFRO
filed with the Ingredients which make
them Roman candles. or slsy-rockets,
and SO on. Some two dozen are put
into IL frame, and filed by hand, or by
y machine. Only tho large-sized rock
cts are now filled by hand.
"First some sand is put in, and then
plato with rs many ramrods MS there
are tubes is brought down. The sand
is pressed tightly after that, the stars
or balls are packed in; again moro
gunpowder, and SO on until tho tubo
is filled. Finally, the case is finished
by FASTING colored paper over tho out
side, and, if it is intended for sky
rocket, long stick is attached.
Perhaps the most ingenious ma
chimes in tho fireworks factory aro
those used for MAKING tornedoes