The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-09-26
WOOD FOR MATCHES.
SCARCE ~ EUROPE DUr rIEN-
TiFUL IN AMERICA.
The Bcs, stun for the Purpose Is the
Aspen. Because 1t Is FLAX
able-Uut and bundled
by Machinery.
THE Department of State will

/ III department ot ot1te VIII
soon issue n report sug Iest.
ing that the United States
{. might furnish wood for fric.
| ton matches to factories in Europe
In Germany and elsewhere on the
/ Continent supplies of the raw mate
/ rial are running out, and manufactur-
ers will be obliged TO look elsewhere.
The best stun for the purpose is the
aspen. The tree, which is getting to
be rare abroad, is plentiful enough in
many parts of this country, and large
/ profit is likely to be obtained by ship.
ping the logs across the water.
/ Aspen has number of advantages
ds II material for matches. It il free
/ from knots. OF uniform substance and
easy 10 work. Being porous and
! spougy, it readily absorhs the paraline
that Is used in the manufacture OF
Swedish matches. Most important OF
/ all, 1t is very combustiblc Obviously,
/ 1t Is desirable that n match shall burn
readily aud quickly. In this last re.
spect aspen far surpasses pine, poplar,
| linden and birch, all Of which are EN-.
| ployed for making matches to a large
extent. At present prices cubic
meter OF aspen wood is worth from
! Si.Oj to S6.lj, according TO quality.
Manufacturers require that the AS
| pen wood shall be free of rotten pith,
| and as fur rs possible from knots. The
latter point is Importance, because the
wood Immediately around the knots
| is decayod. Logs eight inches in di.
nmeter are available, but the demand
is greatest for ten.inch and twenty
inch trunks. To produce trees OF
such size requires from twenty-five
to sixty years. OF late the match
making industry has grown to great
Importance in Germany. Factories
are scattered all OF over Silesin. Pom.
cranin, Schleswig- Holstein, Bavaria,
Alsace- -Lorrnine and the Du u;hy Of
Auhnlt. Tho German concerns use
about 1000, 900 cubic feet of aspen
wood annually, and o. this three
tourthS is imported from Russia
One notable advantage of the aspen
wood is that it is haiablc. Tho tim.
ber for the purpose Is cut ont in
blocks fifteen inches long-loug
enough to make seven matches. AZ
ter being freed from the bark the
blocks are put into machine resem-
bling turning lathe, with a fixe |
cutting tool, by which continuous
strip of veneer is turned OF precisely
the thickness of u match. While this
is baing done small knives neparatc
the sheets Of veneer into seven btnds,
so that seven long ribbons aro pro-
ducel, the width OF each just the
length ot the match that il to be.
Next, these ribbuns-tsre fed, more
than 100 Mt i time, into another ma
chine, though first they are cut into
siy.ioot lengths, and the knotty parts
are removed. This contriyancG chops
them Mt the rate OF thousands min.
uto into match.stichs, which are after.
warl dried in heated drums that re.
volve. The sticks thus prepared are
then siftel TO remove nll splinters,
aud the same apparatus that accom-
plishes this purpose arranges them
parallel, SO NJ to be conveniently bun
died. Finally, they are dlppel in
combustib,e mixture. From the
fclled tree to the finished "lucifers'
all is douc by machinery.
The uniform annual grpwth.rinSg OF
the aspen give homo .cncous ribbons
-ush "a ARE 40. oqualei by fir and
other woods. The absence Of gram
renders il practicable to utilize the
shayings 10: match boxes. According
to the latest and mos improved meth.
ols, the ribbons and match. boxes are
produced by one machiuo from the
same material. Efforts have been
made TO employ tho always.plentiIul
pine, but it cannot be helel to alydu'
tage, because the ANITA, layers are toe
thick and vary in their thickness.
Thus tho ribbons are unequal. \ sin
gle machine Will tura ont 1900, ,00l
matches in ten hours. Matches are
manufactured on very large scale il
the United States. 1t il reckoned tha
every man, woman aud child IN Europe
aud America, taking the average, uses
eight matches every day in the year
st. Louis Globe.Domocrat.