The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-02-05

| apply the 'pOftlands' TO their cigars
and begin to pun Immediately the tip
is ignited, they generally inhale a sui
| phurous Whit that nearly chokes them.
| Whereat the Bostonian laughs con-
/ sumedly.
TRADE CONDITIONS.
Cntil the Introduction of amorphous
| phosphorus (Which was made by Prof.
Anton Won Scroethe of Vienna in 1Si5)
the trade Of matchmaking was very
| unhealthy. The emanation of phos-
phoric acid, when common phosphorus
was used gave rise to necrosis. a dis
| ease which destroys the bones, and
fatal effects often follow. Amorphous
| phosphorus, being entirely fixed at or
dinary temperatures, Workmen now en-
| Joy absolute immunity. 1t is only in
flammable when rubbed in contact with
chlorate of potash or black oxide of
manganese. and safety from accidental
fire is insured by separating these ma
terials, the chlorate being placed on
the match and the phosphorus on the
friction tablet.
| "Nesuvians," or "fusees" for smok-
ers use. which no wind short of q tor
nado can blow out and which will light
in a rainstorm as we'll as in dry wealth.
cr. have bulbous heads, made of some
burning compound. such as mix
ture of charcoal, saltpetrc sand, and
gum, tipped with the igniting compo-
sition Of ordinary matches. Amadou
or German tinder is considerably used
i'm this kind of lighters. Sometimes
NesuviGns and fusecs are mounted on
n thick, round, woven braid instead
of splint of wood "F lamers,' for
the same purpose, have thick heads of
flaming mixture, on either a wax taper
or a wooden stick.
AS a contrast to present prices, it
may he mentioned that instantaneous
lrht boxes above described. ccntain-
ing 100 matches with the acid bottle,
were originally sold at IL shillings-
about $3.50-each, but the introduction
of the lucifcr match sent the rate
down to penny. "COngreves' were
first sold in boxes of fifty at shillings
and sixpence, or 60 cents a box; then
the price fell SO that eighty-four could
be purchased for a shiling-2i cents.
MACHINERY.
Most of the processes of match
! manufacture are now effected by ma
| Chinery, and many ingenious inven-
tions have been introduced for making
the wooden splints. Readers old enough
to recall the war times" of the SOS
| will doubtless remember that most do
mestic matches (few were imported
then, because of the high tariff were
of very poor quality. Each bunch UO
which 1-cent internal revenue stamp
was afFiXed) was an oblong block of
wood about 11a inches in length and
three -fourths of an inch square, which
! was supposed to have been split length
I
| right angles to each other. into little
| sticks; but the operation was so inn
perfectly performed that the matches
| could usually be separated only with
great difficulty. and the piece of paper
| pasted on the end opposite the brim-
stone was rarely called upon to hold
the matches together. Another variety
much better in quality, which came
later. was in the form of comb-shaped
cards" a gang" of small circular
| saws being used to divide the matches.
Saving wasted too much wood, and
knives were next employed, as will be
seen by examining the Portland
matches" the card" now containing
twenty-four instead of dozen splints.
But the use of card" matches is linn
tied, and the individual matches in
boxes form the bulk of those now con-
Sumed in this country.
The splints are usually made of
soft kind of white pine, though some
aspen is used i'm Sweden. The square
ones are cut out very simply by knives.
and the round ones are shaped by pass
ing through perfora tiOns in steel plates
a process invented in 1912 by a Mr.
| Partridge.
There are several kinds of machines
for producing the splints. BY one pro-
cess Il log Of fifteen inches length
stripped of its bark and soaked or
steamed, is put into a machine, which
unrOlls it, as it We're, in a continuous
strip as wide as the log is long and Of
the thickness of a match This strip
as it comes off is divided into seven,
each equal in width TO the length Of
a match. These narrower strips are
broken into lengths of six or seven feet
and after the knOtty and imperfect
parts have been removed, are fed into
a second machine, which cuts them in
to match sticks at the rate of $1,000 900
a day. Another splnt-cutting machine
invented by John JeX Long. of Glas-
gov in 1871 operates on squared blocks
of two match lengths and is capable
of producing 1900, 900 daily.
DIPPING.
The splints are dried in revolving
drums and sifted to free them from
fragments and spinters and arrange