Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-02-22

we mean friction matches, for it i
presumable that our enterprising sis
ter city is not much behind other com
munities in arranging those matche,
which are said to be made in heaven
II is - ugstser Of rongf1yuiGtipn, n
we'll rs wonder, that we have. right n
our very doors first-class factory fol
the production of an article of such
prime necessity in immense quaint.
ties.
The News lately contained write
up OF this industry from which we ex.
tract as follows:
On top of large two-story building
at the head of the bay is sign about
100 feet long with letters about u feet
high. 1t reads: Pacific Match Fac.
tory" This factory is one OF the busi-
est and employs more hands than any
other in the manufacturing district.
1t employs from 80 to l25 men, boys
and girls the year round. Good wages
are paid. The girls make from so
cents to $l.5O per day, their pay de-
pending largely on the rapidity with
which they work.
Five million matches, or about $50
gross, are manufactured there every
working day of 10 hours. 1t is the
only parlor match factory in the
United States west of Akron, O., and
1t does not belong to the match trust.
The Pacific Match Factory makes
about all the matches that are con-
sumed in Tacoma, and the Pacific
coast, and has begun to cut severely
into the Eastern match trade, where
the low cost of it's material enables it
to compete. Several carloads were
shipped to Chicago, Detroit and other
Eastern cities during the last ten days.
George w. Boggs is the lessee of the
factory, g. c. Mcdonald manager, and
M. H. A. Whitaker superintendent.
All the raw material used is bought in
Pierce county with the exception OF
the black sand which is put on the
boxes to excite the business end OF a
match. That is found up at the
Green river in the Cascade mountains.
The Pacific Match Factory is q
thorough home institution.
It. is able to cut into the Eastern
trade owing to its ability to under-bid
the other fellows who make matches.
The splints Of the matches are made of
cottonwood and the match boxes of
alder. The wood is cut on the Puyal-
lup Indian Reservation, \ few miles
away from the factory. Three men
are kept in the woods all the time cut
ting the timber.
A News reporter, accompanied by
Manager Mcdonald, followed a match
from birth to early manhood when it
is prepared to 60 out into the world
and begin business in it's inflammatory
way.
A round block of wet cottonwood
four or five feet long is put on large
lathe called the peeler. There it is
cut off into strips Of the same length.
These strips are put into the splint
machine, which cuts the strips into
splints, several hundred at single
descent of the rapidly working knife.
The splints are carried by the bushel
and put into another machine called
the separator, which has Q vibrating
motion. This machine does its own
work and pays attention to nobody. 1t
gets right down to business all the
time and keeps At it. The machine
shakes out the splints that are short of
the proper length and collects the
others on trays. Another machine
takes the splints and shakes and
straightens them out, ends up, in
frames.
The splints next 60 into very noisy
machines called the filing machine,
where they are banged and Topped
around into little frames with $3.50 in
each frame. Then the frames holding
the splints are wheeled in racks into
the dipping room where one end Of
the splints is dipped in parafine.
Parafine is q white, translucent,
chrystalline substance which looks
clean and inviting enough to chew.
After the paraffine treatment an
employe takes each frame of $3.50
matches and slaps tho ends of the
splints into q thin bed Of red
composition" which makes the red
head of the match. This compost.
ton" ie the secret of Superintendent
Whitaker. Nobody else knows how
to make it. He declined to tell the
News man what it was composed of
II he told, his usefulness TO the match
factory would not be 80 much of 9
necessity. The red top ignites the
paraffine which in turn ignites thu
wood Of the match.
The matches still in the frame
next 60 into the drying room where
they stay about IL hours.
Then they 60 into the packing
room-a room full of pretty girls VIII
pack them into boxes of 60, 200 an,
500 each. A peculiarly about th'
Tacoma match trade, says Manage
Mcdonald, is that the people here vii
not use matches in any but the g
boxes. He has tried to sell the 20
and 500 boxes TO the local trade bu
they will not have them.
The match boxes are composed q
alder aud are made ON the secon