The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1907-12-27
MATCH MAKERS ANXIOUS
Decreasing Supply of Timber Is Already
Worrying Manufacturers

It is perhaps more characteristic OF
Americans than Of any other people to
hold small things in contempt, forget
ting that little drops of water, little
grains of sand," constitute the planet
we inhabit. A match is a small and
insignificant affair, yet multiplied as it
has been in this country and the rest of
the civilized world, it has been one of
the most potential agents of modern
material development. 1t has come
into use at late day in the worlds
history. There are many living among
us still who can remember when the
flint and finder were the regular means
OF starting a fresh fire, and the old one
was carefully preserved by burying the
embers night after night to be revived
in the morning. 1t is just 80 years
ago that the present lucifer match, the
first genuine friction match, was invent
ed, and even that required an attach
ment of bent sandpaper to produce the
desired results.
1t is hard for the present genera
ton to realize the inconvenience from
which the friction match emancipated
their ancestors. The manufacture of
this product has become a great and
even a somewhat diversified industry,
because every section seems to have
matches peculiar to itself. A man
who has been a commercial traveller for
many years tells US that if he were taken
up and carried to any point east of the
Alleghanies he could tell within hun
bred miles of where he was by the
matches he should find in use. There
is also national pride in matches. A
recent mayor Of Manchester, England,
visiting friends in Boston few days
ago, spoke very poorly of our abomin-
able Matches" and declared that he
did not see how high-spirited, indie
pendent and enterprising people like
ourselves put up with them.
The American people, however, ap-
pear to be fairly we'll contented with
the home product, else they would not
buy and consume so many with COM
paratively so little grumbling. They
use up about 700, OOO,o0 100000 year,
or about half of all that are manufac-
tured in the world. There are hun
dreds of factories scattered over the
country, one plant on the Pacific Coast
covering 240 acres and operating over
thirty miles of railroad, over which is
carried to it daily 200, 900 feet of sugar
pine and yellow pine logs for the match
machines. Inferior lumber will not do.
1t must be straight grained and free
from knots, and carefully treated in adj
dition. The by-product goes into
larger things. The factory on the Pa
cific Coast referred to turns out as this
by-product 1000 doors and 800 win
dow sashes daily. In single year one
match company in the lake region cut
225, 100000 board feet of pine, tho
that was intended for more than a
years product.
1t is no wonder, when we consider
these figures, that the match makers
are becoming anxious. And that is
true in other countries as we'll as our
own. In Germany and France there
is a movement on foot to have forests
planted just for match timber, and we
may soon face famine in match wood
in this country, for not all kinds can be
used for that purpose. 1t may also
happen that invention may develop
something that will take the place of
matches. 1t is not probable that the
limit of progress has been reached in
the means of producing fire at need.
There is no Promethean penalty for the
man who shall make the discovery, but
rather welcome and reward by his eager
fellowmen. Boston Transcript.
Trying to Ride free Horse
Only the other day someone asked
the editor to say that she was very