Omaha daily bee., 1906-08-19

which these matches are put are made
In the factory on machines Of special de-
vising. Here, too. there IL the utmost
labor saving. Whether the box is TO hold
u OF Loo matches the pasteboard 20
make IL IL received in blank rolls Of
proper width. The END of the roll is put
into the machine at one end and comes
out finished at the other, either as a car
ton, which IL the outside box, OF as a
tray, which is the inside box that holds
the matches. II II be a carton machine
the printing and coloring and the strip
OF sand on which the match is struck
are also put on before II comes out. This
making OF the carton includes the scoring
and wetting Of the pasteboard SO that II
can be bent, without breaking, to form
the sides and bottom and top. and also
the glueing, while the printing is sell
dom less than two colors. Yet such a
machine throws out finished cartons at
the rate Of 400 a minute.
In the Packing Department.
Packing matches into the boxes is stili
done by hand and the largest proportion
81 all the employees In n match factory
are thus engaged. Most OF the packers
are girls, and are paid by the number
OF boxes they pack. The matches are
brought to them In long metal trays, and
put on their tables or desks. where there
Is also supply of the empty boxes. The
rapidity with which the packing is done is
one of the marvels OF the business, and, to
all appearance. the extravagsnt waste OF
matches by the consumer is as nothing
compared 10 the waste Of the manufactures
az here seen. The packer frequently sets
fire TO three or four or a hundred matches
| In pafffn0 INF - ~ M tn
vent the Ere from spreading she grabs out
not only all the burning matches, but also
the good ones next to thcgn, and tossing
them on the floor behind her. goes on with
her work. This also looks to the layman
! like a reckless disregard OF the danger of
| fire. because, all along the floors OF the
packing alleys, there are always TO be seen
these little piles Of burning matches, and
the skirts of the packers, as they move to
and fro, seem sometimes to come into close
proximity to them. Everywhere in the
packing department may be heard the con-
slant popping and cracking Of good matches
which are being stepped upon and the air
Is fun of smoke.
Many styles Made.
The public taste In matches is very va
rious, and among manufacturers, as also
among consumers, are some few enthu-
siasts who praise one style over another
| but It is as impossible as II is unimportsni
| to so into the merits Of these rival claims
here. The quality of striking nowhere ex-
| cept on the box-and also on pane OF
| glass or on a sheet OF hard and highly
| glazed paper-which is possessed by the
safety match Is disliked by some as much
as Il is liked by others. Special advan.
| tages are claimed also for the new double
| dip match, which strikes with a cracklt
or pop on the side of the head, or silently
are precisely what some people do not like
Some people don't like matches with
parafiin on the stick because they burr
too easily, and others don't like them with
out because they don't burn easily enough
The explosive ingredients on the head Of G
match are generally a composition of sui
phur. chlorate of potash and phosphorus
used in varying proportions, or with ont
! or the other sometimes omitted
1t is estimated that of the total matches
consumed in this country today 80 per cen
are parlor matches and 20 per cent ar,
safetys, double dips, sulphurs and fuses
The old style sulphur match is still useC
exclusively in some rural districts. espe
cially in the forests OF Maine and also II
mines and on railroads, and attempts 4
supplant It with something less odoriferou
have so far failed. In some western dis
| tricts sulphur matches in blocks instead o
in boxes are still demanded-Philadelphi