The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-07-31
HERE AND THERE.
The Cheapest Matches in the United
 States,


 l States.
 I In view of the extensive use of elec- l tricity for lighting purposes one might I imagine that the demand for matches | would have fallen off of late years. But 1 the product grows steadily from year | to year. Gas is yet burned to a consid- | erable extent, fires in stoves must be | lighted, and the smoker alone con- sumes enormous quantities. By far the greater number of matches are made of wood, tipped with compost | tion which ignites by friction. But fastidious smokers, especially in for 1 eign countries, much prefer the wax l match. And it is a curious fact that while Americans have been able to pro- duce wooden matches in the cheapest possible manner, they have never been particularly successful in the manufac-
 ture of high grade wax matches. The famous English house of Bryant & May, recently absorbed by the Dia- mond Match company of the United States (popularly known as the ''trust'D, has long enjoyed a high rep utation for it's wax matches. Probably the best wax matches used in this country are imported, and come from England No other manufacturer in the world, it is asserted, has mastered the art of making wax match that will remain stiff in the warmest cli- mates. Moreover, the English wax match has an ivory finish which others have never been able successfully to initiate.
 In Europe a number of matches are T e.. NY~ will blow them out when once lit. A man, whether afoot or on horseback. need not stop moving nor seek the shelter of building while he lights his cigar or pipe. These matches usually have a short wax stem, but are tipped with a particularly inflammable com pound. One particular variety of these matches, the "Vesuvlan," has globu- lar mass on the end which becomes in- candescent when it ignites, but does not produce a flame. These are exceed ingly convenient for smokers with heavy mustaches, inasmuch as the common match is liable to singe the mustache in high wind.
 The Diamond Match company em- rloys so great variety of machinery, and this has undergone so many inn provements, that the Englishmen could not keep pace with the Americans. The splitting of the wood, the mixing of the infammable composition and the dipping are all done mechanically. Some attempt has even been made to pack matches by machinery, although the success in this direction Is dubious. A well known manufacturer said one day last week that there was a fortune in store for the man who would invent a perfectly satisfactory machine for box ing matches.
 At the present time Europe probably turns out about 5OO0OO0Oo matches day and the United States twice that quantity Fifty million feet of lumber are consumed annually in this country alone by the matchmakers, and yet not over 15,0OO people are employed in the industry.
 Sweden, to which country the world is indebted for several other ,innova tions in this line of business, originat- ed what is called the safety match" which will light only when scratched upn It's own box. This result is at tained by putting one important in- gredient of the friction compound, the phosphorus on the box rather than on the match.
 The most serious drawback to the l of matches is that com mon yellow phosphorus, used in the | art, is liable to affect the health of the | operatives wEo handle it. A painful disease. known as ''phossy jaw" often those who work in match fac tories. It has been found that when, by special treatment this substance is into red phosphorous," it becomes innocuous. But it is hard to persuade the manufacturers to use the latter, possibly because it Is more cost ly It is said that Sweden has already enacted a law forbidding the further use of yellow phosphorous in this in- York Tribune.