Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02
Firecrackers Are Manufactured In
China by the Million.
HARD WORK AND VERY POOR PAY
Largest Part of Exports Come to
This Country.
FOR USE NEXT MONDAY

Il
| Goodnow Of Shanghai on the subject of fire.
crackers in China. He says that during the
year ended June 30. 1897, there were
ported from China &c. TO5. 733 pounds OF fire.
| crackers, valued by the Chinese imperial
| customs at 1888. oS2 haikwan taels, equal
ing at an average rate Of exchange during
that time. sl,5ea.15 gold. OF the total
Shipment by far the largest part were sent
py sailing vessels to New York. A small
quantity went TO England. Other countries
buy only infinitesimal amounts
The exports represent only a small frac-
ton of the amount manufactured and used
| in China There are no large manufactsr-
les; the crackers are made in small houses.
and in the shops where they are sold In
| the latter places the proprietor of the shop.
his wife Tor wives) and the children do the
work. No record is kept of the number
| made and sold, and no estimate is possible
OF their cost The use of crackers is uni
versal In China, and has been as far back
as history records 1t is most probable
that in the beginning they were used to
brighten away evil spirits. Now they are
most frequently an expression of good feel
Ing or of ceremonious compliment. They
are used at weddings, births and funerals;
at festivals, religious, civil and military
ceremonies; at New Year, TO salute persons
about TO flake a journey and in fact on
all occasions out of the ordinary routine.
Use Cheap Paper.
In making crackers only the cheapest
kind of straw paper which can be produced
in the immediate locality where the crack
ers are made is used for the body of the
cracker A little finer paper is used for
the wrapper. A piece of straw paper ex3o
inches Will make twenty-one crackers Que
and one-half inches long and one-fourth OF
an inch in diameter. The powder Is also
OF the cheapest grade and is made in the To-
canty where used. 1t costs lJO TO us cash
per petty. or to Z cents gold per pound.
FOR the fuse a paper tcalled leather in
SnanghaiD is used, which is imported from
japan and is made from the inner lining
or the bamboo. In other places a fine rice
paper is used, generally stiffened slightly
with buckwheat flour paste, which, the
Chinese say. adds to its inhammability A
strip OF this paper one-third of an inch wide
by fourteen inches Ia Chinese foot) long is
laid on a table and very little powder
put down the middle of IL with a hollow
bamboo stick. A quick twist OF the paper
makes the fuse ready for use.
IL Is not easy to persuade the Chinese to
cAhiplt thelr modes OF manufacture to a.
foreigner; but Mr.. Williams, vice consul at
Shanghai, thus describes the work as h,,
mas seen it:
Chinese Methods.
The straw paper is first rolled by hand
around an iron rod, which varies In size ac-
cording to the size of cracker to be made. To
complete the rolling rude machine is used.
This consists OF two uprights supporting
an axis, from which is suspended by two
arms heavy piece OF wood, slightly con-
vex on the lower side. There is just room
between this swinging block ana The ton of
the table TO place the cracker As each
layer OF paper is put on by hand, the crack
er is placed on the table and the suspended
weight Is drawn over the roll thus Tight
ening II until no more can be passed under
Inc weight. For the smallest whip crack
81 tne workman uses for compression, in
S.ea9 OF thls machine, heavy piece OF
WOOD htted with handle like that of a
carpenters plane. In filling crackers two
hundred or three hundred are tied together
tishtly IN bunch. Red clay is spread over
the end of the bunch and forced into the
end OF each cracker with a punch While
the clay is being tamped In a little water
Is sprayed on IL, which makes IL pack clos
er. me powder is poured in at the other
END OF the cracker. With the aid OF an awl
the edge of the paper is turned in al the
upper end or the cracker, and the fuse is
inserted through this"
Double Firecrackcrs
The long ends of the fuses are braided to-
gether in such a way that the crackers lie
in two parallel rows. The braid is doubled
on Itself, and a large quick-fring fuse in
serted and the whole is bound with fine
thread. The bundle is wrapped in paper
and in this shape sent to the seacoast A
variety of cracker which is popular here
is the Understanding" called double
headed Dutchman in the United States
1t has two chambers separated by a plug
or clay, through which runs a connecting
fuse. There is also fuse extending from
the powder in the lower chamber through
the side of the cracker.
When the cracker is TO be fired II is SET
on END and fire set TO the fuse The powder
exploding in the chamber throws the crack
er high In the air, where the second charge
Is exploded by fire from the fuse extending
through the plug between the two cham
a 10 ct ~ rla
Is first tamped in with a punch to form the
separating plug. The lower chamber is then
loaded with powder and closed by turning
over the paper at the end Tho ,,nn,sr
chamber is loaded and closed with CLAW
hole Is punched in the side of the lower
with an awl, and the fuse insert-
ed through this opening.
Cheap In China.
At Canton the ordinary size cracker Zone
and one-half inches long by one.fourth Of
an inch in diameter) costs l tael C62 cents)
Tor 10000 for export. At Hankow the best
quality of this size costs / tael for 5000;
while of the second quality 20ooO can he
bought for tael. AT Chungk king l5Ooo OF
me ordinary crackers can be bought for l
ael AT Shanghai 1 tael will purchase
1000 OF the ordinary size. while the largest
sell for 8 per thousand. These prices ara
probably only shade above the actual
5ost OF manufacture The small manu-
acturers sell to Chinese compradores. who
,es as agents u foreign nrmS and shin
he crackers in bundles to the seacoasf
where they are packed in boxes which cost
.bout taels G2.5o) per hundred and hold
$4,000 firecrackers.
Aside from the fact that all the material
'sed Is native and produced where the
hackers are manufactured and that trans
'ortation does not enter into the cost the
cheapness of manufacture Is ac-
counted for by the kind of labor used and
he wages paid. The items of cost OF plant
ND interest on Ii are eliminated by the
act that the crackers are made In tho
ZONES OF the workmen, and in the shous .
where they are sold. The hours of labor
re from am. to IL pm, and there are
even working days in each week Four
lfths OF the crackers consumed IN China
re made by the families of those who sell
hem. these people, of course, receiving no
wages OF the paid work a very large pro-
'ortion Is done by women and children.
Who are paid by the piece 1t Is estimated
hat thirty women and ten men can make
10000 crackers per day: for which the
Vomen will receive cents each and the
zen about cents each. An apprentice is
ound for four years. and during that time
eceives only his board. At the end of that
erfod he will receive. II he is a fairly good
gorhman. $50 cash per day. or cents In