Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-06-11
Making Eirccrnckcrr.


Consul General Goodnow at Shang-
hal has made a report to the state de-
partment In regard to the hrecracker
industry which contains muct inter-
esting information. During the past
year 26,705,7 53 pounds of ~firecrackers,
valued at $1,5S4,15 in gold, were OK
ported from China, mainly from the
province of Kwangtung. Most of the
merchandise was shipped to New York,
only q small portion going to England
and other countries.
The exports represent, however, only
a small fraction of the amount manu-
,actured and used in China. There are
40 large manufactures. The crackers
are made in small house and in the
Ihops where they are sold. In the lat
.er places the proprietor OF the shop,
ais wife Tor wives) and children do the
work. The consul general says no rec
ord is kept of the number made and
sold, and no estimate is possible of
heir cost.
"The use of crackers" says the con-
sui general, "is universal in China, and
has beer as far back as history re-
cords. 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 make a jour-
ncy, and, in fact, or all occasions out
of the ordinary routine.
In making crackers only the cheap
est kind Of straw paper which a be
produced in the immediate locality
where the crackers are made is used
for the body of the cracker. A little
finer paper is used for the wrapper.
The powder is also of the cheapest
grade and is made in the locality
where used. For the fuse a paper
Called leather" in Shanghai) is used,
which is imported from Japan and is
made from the inner lining of 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 in
fl~amrnbility.
at Canton the ordinary size cracker
Zone and one-half inches long by one
fourth Of an inch i'm diameter) costs
one tael (62 ccnts) for 10000 for ex-
port. At Shanghai one tael will pur-
chase 5000 Of the ordinary size, while
the largest sell foT s. per thousand.
These prices are probably only a shade
above the actual cost of manufacture.
The small manufacturers sell to Chi
nese co~mpradOres, who buy as agents
of foreign firms and ship the crackers
in bundles to the seacoast, where they
are packed in boxes which cost about
four taels $3.50 per hundred and hold
100000 frecrackers.
aside from the fact that all the ma
terial used is native and produced
where the crackers are manufactured,
and that transportation does not enter
into the cost, the wonderful cheapness
of manufacture is accounted for by the
kind of labor used and the wages paid.
The items Of cost of plant and interest
on it are eliminated by the fact that
the crackers are made i'm the homes Of
the workmen and in the shops where
they are sold. The hours of labor are
from 6 n. m. to II p. m, and there are
seven working days in each week.
Four-iifths of the crackers consumed
in China are made by the families of
those who sell them, these people, of
course, receiving no wages. OF the
paid work, a very large proportion is
done by women and children, who are
paid by the piece. 1t is estimated that
thirty women and ten men can make
100000 crackers per day, for which
work the women will receive ) cents
each and the men about Z cents each.
An apprentice is bound for -four years,
and during that time receives only his
board. At the end of that period he
will receive, if he is a fairly good work
man, $50 cash per day, or I cents in
United States money. An expert at
the trade receives 200 cash per day, or
10 cents gold.
"Workmen at this trade receive
about the average rate of wages paid
here for common labor. The trade is
considered unhealthy and dangerous,
and therefore not desirable"