The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-06-28
MAKING FIREWORKS
1T HAS DEVELOPED INTO A BIG
AMERICAN INDUSTRY.
And Il Has All Been Worked Out
from the Ancient Chinese Fire
cracker - How They
Are Made.

The manufacture of fireworks has
developed from an imitation of the
Chinese firecracker to an industry of
vast proportions in the United States.
Also from the humble and compare
i've harmless cracker, the product has
Oeen developed along the most com
)lex yet scientific lines until the mas
er of ceremonies at full fledged mod
srn fireworks exhibit must needs be
4 man with a comprehensive knowl-
edge of the explosives he is handling.
The Chinaman, having invented
sunpowder a few thousand years be-
,ore it came into use in the western
world, invented the firecracker SO long
ago that the incident of it's birth has
oeen lost in the shuttle of history, but,
,uriOusly enough, the Chinaman in
his respect has stood at the initial
point of development, as he has in all
else that pertains to his life. He still
I makes good firecrackers, but they are
If the same model and power as he
las used for hundreds of years. The
American, having stolen the idea, pro-
,eeded to develop it along lines truly
indicative of the American character
-fiamboyant, pyTotechnic and loud
The Chinese cracker is a small affair
considerably more so than the crack
er to buy which the small boy toiled
in the sgray dawn carrying water to
the elephant, but at Chinese New
Years and other festival times a
string of their firecrackers suspended
| frsm 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
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 a 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. 1t is the manu-
facture OF these goods that has grown
TO such size and commercial conse-
quence.
The preliminary in the manufacture
of 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 ene-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 cavity as
the material Is packed in around It.
The materials are scooped In, ham
mered down until IL 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.
die 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 so in the
head OF the rocket or bomb, are com
posed 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.
pes, 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
quantity of clay, which prevents the