The log cabin Democrat., 1907-07-04
MAKING FIREWORKS
IT HAS DEVELOPED INTO A BIG
 AMERICAN INDUSTRY.
And It Has All Been Worked Out from the Ancient Chinese Fire cracker - How They
 Are Made.

1uc Ol III CWOi hS AAeAS developed from an imitation of the Chinese firecracker to an industry of vast proportions in the United States. Also from the humble and cOmpara tive harmless cracker, the product has been developed along the most com plex yet scientific lines until the mas ter of ceremonies at full fledged mod ern fireworks exhibit must needs be a man with comprehensive knowl- edge of the explosives he is handling.
 The Chinaman, having invented gunpowder a few thousand years be- fore it came into use in the western world. invented the firecracker so long ago that the incident of it's birth has been lost in the shuffle of history, but, curiously enough, the Chinaman in this respect has stood at the initial point of development, as he has in all else that pertains to his life. He still makes good firecrackers, but they are of the same model and power as he has used for hundreds of years. The American, having stolen the idea, pro- ceeded to develop it along lines truly indicative of the American character -famboyant, pyrotechnic and loud. The Chinese cracker is small affair, considerably more so than the crack CT to buy which the small boy toiled in the gray dawn carrying water to the elephant, but at Chinese New Years and other 'estival times a string of their firecrackers suspended from the end of a bamboo pole will eXplode-every one of them-and there will be no "sizzlers" nor blanks found in the string. Which goes to show that the handmade Chinese article is still honestly made and that western methods of cheap machine manufacture have not invaded the cradle of the firecracker.
 But as all things American have de- veloped to prodigious proportions, leaving in the past the memory of sim plicity, so the firecracker of history each year finds smaller place in the demonstrations of America. Instead there have come the rocket, the bomb, the set piece and the appliances for pouring forth torrents and volcanoes of multi-colored fire. It is the manu- facture of these goods that has grown to such size and commercial conse- Quence.
 The preliminary in the manufacture If nearly all fireworks is the making of the case. The quality of paper varies from the commonest straw board to the finest bank note paper. Cases for skyrockets require a fine grade of paper called rope board. The paper is first pasted and then rolled over a mandrel. The drying process takes four or five days and the case then is ready for for charging. They vary from two to 20 inches in length and from one-quarter of an inch to two inches in diameter. The loading of skyrockets. up to the last four or five years, has been done by hand, but the machine now takes the place of the hand loader A spindle placed in the center of the case causes a cavity as the material is packed in around it. The materials are scooped in, ham, mered down until it is of rOck-like hardness and then the spindle is with
 
 drawn. When the rocket is fired the large surface of material in the spin dle cavity catches fire at once, caus- ing a tremendous pressure of gas which pours out of the spindle cavity, causing the rocket to shoot skyward. The colored stars, which go il the head of the rocket or bomb, arc com naspd as follows. Red nitrate of ba- ryta, chloride of potash and shellac; green, nitrate of baryta; yellow, oxil- ate of soda. Purple and blue are com posed of various preparations of cop per, while the making of the other tints are trade secrets.
 The Roman candle is charged as follows: Sets of cases are placed on pins and there is scooped in first a Guantitr of clay which prevents the