The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-25
NOW EASY
70 GET Light
Matches and Men Have ADJ
vanced Together.
SKILL WAS REQUIRED
10 Operate Old Fashioned
Tender Boxes.

New York, jan 2EThe New York
: | Herald says:
NOBODY can tell thus early lust how
much the millions of people in New York
s'I really be vexed by the municips
, rules proposed TO be applied in March 10
the storage and use OF matches Almost
any DOoy can imagine that no article Of
general use could be made the sllbiec,
!, OF restrictive regulation with more COM
mon annoyance. The decision of the in
surance interests that the use of certain
KINDS OF matches renders their business
700 hazardous an. Improbable ought
perhaps, 10 silence criticism but the with
uTaWai OF all small bills from circulation.
Oh the ground that they can be made
ulSsemilators OF contagious disease would
scarceiy De more yexatious proceeding
ii the new rules shall make il more
olhcuit TO get or to use matches than il
IS today. and everybody VINO is put to
trouble or loss of time utters a nro,sst
the welkin will be rended And ,be,.
viii be host OF the uninsured thar will
wonder that Aldermen should GO about
iaboriously to create difficulties in max.
ing proper fires that must comna, nso,,a
10 remember how long the world suffered
IL is so easy TO get light NOWADAYS
tfat people seldom stop to think of get
ting one as a wonderful convenience Ev-
eiSoooy IS supposed TO carry the imple-
ments OF lighting about with him. for
'he II" sssenser boy or schoolboy. who
stops you on the street or in the mark
LOT d highland who has never learned
10 say please'-would receive with
sCorn ana surprise an admission that one
ala not nave "a match for his accommo-
dation and his cigarette. Yet is was so
recently that it was announcement to get a
hight that there are men. not of the really
Oldest inhabitants, who can remember the
introduction of practical friction matches
as a great boon. Back OF these greatly
tiessed and thankful persons were MANY
generations of yellow beings who used
hres for cooking their food and some
Tunes for cooking each other and none
OF these were ever bothered by concern
about prior or other matches or their re-
/ iation to insurance risks
The ancient Egyptians enjoyed about all
! the modern conveniences of their times
domestic. agricultural, architectural and
commercial and have left the impression
that they were somewhat ahead of their
esteemed contemporaries. Int their match
boxes were not directly apt to cause fire
nor could the formidable rat Of the Nile
valley snaw hard enough at them to
strike light They used flint and |
steel or flint against flint. catching the |
resultant spark in finder and coaxing a |
blaze from small beginning to a useful |
fire. China, for all that can be learned to |
the contrary, used this method for CEN |
turtles before the EsyI.tian became really |
skillful in the use of flint md steel
Through the dark ages the person who |
kept for gratuitous or paid distribution a /
supply of fire came to be Looked upon as /
public benefactOr. the purveyor OF some |
thing valuable TO those who were averse /
to raw flesh and who had not acquired |
the accomplishment of sJccessfui;y pro-
ducing fire with two stones or II bit of /
stone and bit of ircp. Ne did not know |
it. but he was the prototype Of he fusee |
ped'er at the door of the theatre
In very remote parts of this continent.
among whites and Indians. to whom
matches are still luxury the flint and
steel are still Indispensable companions
at home or on hunting or war parties
finder boxes are not so rare that they
where they were frequently used a few
years ago. the flint and steel and supply |
of dry punk ready to give a spark
coal and a blaze to the person who had
acquired the trick of extracting fire from
inert material
But there were people in this country
and in some other countries to whom the
flint and steel were either unknown con-
veniences or were avoided-but not be-
cause OF thir dangerous qualities-for 9TH
er fire-making machinery. All readers of
Indian stories have come across accounts
of Indian skill in producing fire by rub
bling sticks of WOOL together. Anybody
who has tried TO produce fire in this way
has pitied his ancestors. EthnOIogists
have proved TO their own satisfaction that
the American Indians. north and south !
and the Esquimaux were adopts in the {
production Of fire by various friction I
machines OF this sort. Among the Es-
quimaux In fact. the dependence upon /
friction is still common. owing to the fire.
quency OF the visits to them Of the agents
of the Match Trust.
When the matchIess Esqulmaux or the !
Hupa Indian OF California strikes a light 1
for his convenience or comfort he does
it with simple machinery that would I
seem hopeiessly Inadequate to the user !
OF modern matches The Hupa took two !
light sticks of dry and infammsbls wood !
preferably that which was soft from in ]
cipient decay or that had been riddlesi by o.
worTns. The light mesquite Was favor {
tie in the southwestern country. but sap {
wood OF the juniper and soft maple wer. :
good 10 do the trick" with One Of the ;
sticks IN which a channel was Kroovec. o
was laid fat on the ground The other. c
held upright was t<iried between the '
hands palm 20 palm. with ? rapid hack z
md forth motion the lower part % the 81
Upright stick being kept constantly on ).
The spot As the iSiriirS coafinred a =
ane powder accumulated IN the zrooved
-hanned a; the point OF tire upright stick. g
soo1 this power grew yellow. brown. n
slack. then there was AT odor OF smoke. j
hen visible smoke. a spark-and . Tire q
operator were skiilfei and provided with .
good supply % finder there would - z
1rssently a blaze o
Tsy 70 get light n this WAY. ard if I. a
0u-d To b@ difficult No Insurance man. b
.ffsr an hours trial Of :; would venture II
o sllBde 70 - as dangerous sr~suak- c
ng APPARATUS. Even TIE Eszsztnsuxs a
ingenuity was stimulated - overcome tie n
raSessazcy 70 econ0rIEe th~ iafsor C. y
handed before anyone rosssd Fst Iixhr p
With 81 Just when ~ s-sprprec sDon / ~
he fEirsy ~hirfy zaeshod - rot recorded. | 4
ut icng time ago SORE cBte Esqrlrnau -
'cntriyed a rssthod Of vsttizx q sps-f ir
kaf vvE c0r.rzarzrfxssy 1ru<<tftto-ss lie =,