The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-14
 MAKING OF MATCHES.

l
 It was found a few years ago tha
 each of the inhabitants of Great Brit
 ain consumed on an average eigh
 matches a day. The consumption il
 this country per capita is considerabl,
 larger, though exact statistics canno 1 be given because treasury returns o
 the Imports of matches convey no idet
 of the number brought into the coun
 try. which is certainly large. The for
 eisn matches are not so cheap as ours but for one reason or another there i; a considerable demand for them. l If we figure on the British basis o1
 eight matches per capita day tht
 home consumption is 61O, ,427,o96 matche.
 day. This enormous figure may be
 accepted as approximately the home consumption of home made matches ir | addition to the foreign matches that 1 are found in all of our markets; but il | by no means represents our total out put, for a considera ble quantity of American matches are sold in Euro
 pean and other countries.
 Success In matchmaking at the pres
 ent time is largely a question of ma
 chinery Matches are sold at price so exceedingly small that the manufac- turers controlling the best machinery for eliminating hand labor and produc- ing excellent matches at a minimum
 cost have a great advantage in trade.
 It is next to impossible for one match
 factory to compete with another un-
 1e-cc tc v,,o oh ipo ic
 It cannot buy the ma achinery used in
 rival factories for 1t is almost invari-
 ably the case that a manufacturing
 concern absolutely controls the patents
 it has thought it advantageous to em-
 ploy. Tn order to compete successfully in the match industry nowadays, it is
 practically essential to own machinery
 that is at least as perfect as any used by rival establishments
 American matchmaking machines are the best in the world, which accounts for the success of the American con- cern in England the other day in ab- sorbing the plant and business of the largest British establishment. Tn the meeting held for the purpose of voting upon the proposal to amalgamate the two concerns the president of the American company addressing the shareholders of the British company, told them plainly that though the American enterprise had occupied the British field only q few years it was competing successfully with their own industry on their own ground, largely for the reason that American machin- cry was superior to that of British in- vention.
 Our public is paying for matches to- day less than half what 1t paid twenty years ago, though they were then re- garded as very cheap. Elderly persons can remember the time when matches were husbanded with considerable care, for it did not take very many of them to represent the value of cent. But now, thanks to machinery and in1- proved processes, nobody cares very much how many matches he wastes trying to light his pipe on windy day. Tn fact matches are SO cheap that the cost of supplying great country with all the matches 1t wants does not reach my impressive figure The total pro- 1uec oe all our match factories is sold for less than ten thousand dollars year, which cuts a very small figure when 1t is remembered that the value If the machines of all kinds that are produced in this country every year is ,one about forty million dollars. Match manufacturing is a small indus ny after all.
 Not many establishments are re- ,uired 10 turn out the matches this
 !,, ,nly a few miles from this city, there | Ire two factories with capacity to- | ,ether of ninety million matches q day. | The largest factory in the country, at | 3arberton, O., can turn out one hun | fred million matches a day, probably l eventh of the entire construction,
 This country has a great advantage | n the abundance of aspen, which tree l s superior to all other timber for matchmaking on account of it's natu- al qualities and the ease with which 1t 5 worked It Is light, spongy and pllnts easily, and though pine, linden, rich and other woods are also used in his and other countries. aspen is pre- erred to them all. European match have been engaged in a cramble for years to secure a suffi- tent quantity of aspen. Germany is nporting from Russia every year bout $500, 900 cubic feet of aspen to implement her own supplies.
 X while aso the German manufactur- rs petitioned the minister of agricul- Ire and forestry to cause the foresters , the districts where match factories re situated to give more attention to aising the aspen. A similar appeal as been made in their government by 1e mat ch- makers of France. Russian lanufacturers have been opposed to le wholesale depletion of their forests y foreign match makers and have not cen slow to appeal to their govern ent to stop the exportation of aspen. for our match makers, the ome supply as aspen is very large and ,e wood is little used for other manu- Lcturing purposes.--New York Sun.