The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-10

boxes" above described, containing 100
matches with the acid bottle, were origin
ally sold at 10 shillings-about S3.60-each,
but the Introduction of the lucifer match
sent the rate down to a penny. Com
greves" were first sold In boxes of fifty
at shillings and sixpence, or 60 cents
box; then the price fell so that elghty-four
could be purchased for a shilling--4 cents.
Most of the processes of match manufae-
ture are now effected by machinery, and
many ingenious inventions have been i'm
PRODUCED for making the wooden spints.
Readers old enough to recall the war
times" of the COS will doubtless remem-
Der that most domestic matches feW were
imported then because of the high tariff
were of a very poor quality. Each bunch
Ito which 1-cent internal revenue stamp
affixed was an oblong block of wood
about IL inches in length and three
fourths of an inch square, which was sup-
posed to have been split lengthwise by
two sets of knives acting at right angles
TO each other, into little sticks; but. the
operation was so imperfectly performed
that the matches could usually be separ-
ated only with great difficulty. and the
piece OF paper pasted on the end opposite
the birthstone was rarely called upon to
hold the matches together. Another va
riety much better In quality, which came
later, was In the form OF comb-shaped
cards" gang of small circular saws
being used to divide the matches. Saw
next employed as will be seen by exam
lining the Portland Matches" the card"
now containing twenty-four instead of a
dozen splints. But the use of card"
matches is limited. and the individual
matches in boxes form the bulk of those
now consumed In this country.
The splints are usually made of a soft
kind of white pine. though some aspen Is
used In Sweden. The square ones are cut
out very simply by knives, and the round
forations In steel plates, process invent
ed In 1912 by a Mr.. Partridge.
There are several kinds of machines for
producing the splints. BY one process a
log of fifteen inches length, stripped OF
its bark and soaked or steamed Is put
into machine, which unrols It, as It were,
In a continuous strip as wide as the log is
long and of the thickness of match.
This strip as 1t comes off Is divided into
seven each equal in width TO the length OF
a match. These narrower strips are brok-
en- into lengths of six or seven feet and
after the lSnotty and imperfect parts have
been removed, are fed into a second ma
chine, which cuts them into match sticks
at the rate of 15,000.000 a day. Another
spllnt-cutting machine invented by John
Jex Long of Glasgow in 1871, operates on
squared blocks of two match lengths and
is capable Of producing 17,000,000 daily.
The spllnts are dried In revolving drums
and slfted 10 free them from fragments
and splinters and arrange them in parallel
order, and then are put into 'flling ma
chine of American invention which sticks
them into the dipping frames These
frames are IS inches square, and each Is
made of A thin strips of wood like blind
Stats, lying side by side. and loosely held
together by iron rods passing through the
ends TWENTY-FIVE hundred splints are
placed by the machine in parallel rows
between the strips of each frame. so
separated that no one splint touches
another. Tightening the screws on the
rods draws the slips together and fastens
the sDlints into the frame, which is then
ready to go into the dipping room. The
splints In the frames are heated and their
protecting ends are dipped In parafine
which Is kept liquid by warmth in shall
low, fiat-bottomed pans. After this bath
has been absorbed the matches receive
their heads, the igniting substance being
In some cases kept In uniform thin stra-
tum in pan, and in others supplied by an
endless rubber belt A ski1ful workman
can dip $500 or 1900 frames, or about s.
100000 matches In a day. After dipping. the
frames are arranged In a heated apart
ment to dry.
Almost every manufacturer has his own
special mixture for tipping the matches
One published recipe gives the ingredients
as one-half part by weight of common
PHOSPHORUS, four of chlorate of potash.
two OF glue, one of whiting, and four of
finely powdered glass. AS il makes a less
noisy match, nitrate of potash Is some
times substituted for chlorate. Other oxi-
dizing agents used instead OF or In oonnac
ton with these salts of potash. are the
oxide of manganese and red oxide or di
oxide of lead. According to Gautier the ig-
hitting mixture for ordinary matches mada
in France Is composed of three parts OF
common phosphorus, two of lead dioxide
two of sand, and three of gum. The same
a
dipped In a composition of five parts az
chlorate OF potash, two of sulphide OF an
timony, and one of glue, and that the rub-
ping surface is a mixture of five parts or
anonymous phosphorus, four of sulphida
OF antimony, and two and one-half of glue.
Statlsticians whose opinions carry
weight estimote that the average dailv
consumption of matches in the United
States is $500 900 to 230, 100000 This conn
try has been large importer OF these
afueles, especially from England. Sweden
and Germany while producing great auan-
titles at home. The manufacture IN the
United States Is mainly controlled by one
combination of capitalists, the Diamond
Match Company, but a rival has lately
arisen. Probably @,5c0000 worth are an
nually produced in Great Britain There
the daily consumption is estimated at
2O0,OO0,OOD More than one firm in that
country produces 100000 a day, and one
Birmingham establishment turns out daily
eieht miles OF TINS wax paper and con-
verts 1t into "vestas." In Sweden and
Norway, where, of late years the trade
has developed with great rapidly, there
are some sixty factories, 5000 matchmak-
ers being employed in Joukoping alone.
Germany and Austria together have as
many as $50 factories. One firm In Schue-
tenhofer, in Bohemia, employs 200 per-
sons. The four principal manufacturers
in Vienna furnish employment to 5000
people. In France making matches. like
the trade In tobacco, is a government mo-
nopoy China, Japan, Brazil and other
countries now manufacture matches, ana
those of China compete with Swedish
goods IN the German markets.
The Oldest clergyman Of the Church Of
England is Rev. Edward Allen. who has
just completed his one hundredth year. He