Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-01-16
Wood for the Match Industry

The civilized nations of the world
strike 100000 matches every minute
of the "a hours. Nearly enc half OF
these are ignited in this country.
Americans use up the enormous total
of seven hundred billion a year and
have a larger match bill than any
other nation in the world. Hundreds
Of factories over the country are en-
gagged in this industry, about which the
general public knows $50 little. Some
of the plants are very large, one Oh
the Pacific coast covering 240 acres,
with % miles of railroad, which sup
ply the match machines with 100000
feet of sugar pine and yellow pine logs
day A statement of the number of
cubic feet Of wood which actually is
converted into matches each year
would convey only an inadequate idea
Of the number of trees required for
the industry. With the manufacture
of the match, the best grade of wood
is necessary. Sapwood, knotty or
grained timber will not do. This
makes it necessary to search the best
forests and pick out the choice trees
only, and nothing but the choice por-
tons of the choice trees go to the
match machines. 1t may be seen that
the Iumberman sweeps over wide
area in search of suitable timber to
feed into the match machines.
Seldom is the little splinter tipped
with sulphur, or some other substance
to be ignited by friction, given even
scant mention in the consideration of
the depletion of the worlds finest for
ests, yet the manufacturers of these
little fire sticks are as much concerned
over the timber supply question as
any other class of men engaged in an
industry whose welfare depends on
the use of forest products. 1t might
be supposed that because matches
are small the makers of them would
utilize scraps and left-overs. This is
never the case; matches are not by
products. The match machine takes
the. finest timber and what it rejects
goes to the by-prOduct yard, and the
by-product end of the match business
becomes the largest end, so far as
bulk is concerned Among the by
products turned by the large PaSi1c
coast factory just mentioned are 1000
doors and 800 sashes daily.
AS matter of fact, it would be i'm
possible to carry on the match bust
ness at all, at present prices, if the
rejected lumber were not worked into
something else The room where
matches are made is frequently the
smallest department of match fac
tory. The larger portions contain the
sawmilIs and planning mills where
doors, sash, shingles, lath, siding,
posts, cOrdwood and many other sal
able commodities are made ready for
market. This country, although it has
the most abundant material and the
finest machinery in the world for the
purpose, does not manufacture enough
matches to supply the home market.
Thousands of dollars worth are an
nuaIly imported from Germany, Aus
trla, France, Sweden, and other coun-
tries where they ale made by cheaper
labor and poorer machinery, and usu-
ally from higher-priced wood, though
it is not better than what is grown in
the American forests. The imports
are largely safety matches which can
be struck only on the box or other
specially prepared surface.
Wood for matches is a much more
serious problem in some of the Euro
pean countries than it yet is in the
United States. The most suitable
match timber is pine, linden, aspen,
white cedar, poplar, birch and willow.
Others, however, are. occasionally
used. Germany imports willow and
aspen from Russia Sometime ago the
German match manufactures petit
toned the minister of agriculture to
cause the foresters to plant aspen in
the state forests to supply wood for
matches without importing it. A
similar petition to their government
was presented by the French manu-