The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-06-27
WHAT A PYROTECHNIC STAR is AND
WHY THE FIREWORKS INOUG.
TRY is BUILT UPON II

for roman candles. Others of different
sizes, are chopped into lengths accor3.
ing TO the purpose for w'l,c'i they arr
requlred-the large-t ones being uiil-
lied for mines anl f,r b,1.Ns sore.
what different in character from those
already meutioDal.
The bomb Of cylindrical pattern is
separated into II series of comDnrt-
ments, each containing its own Dad;
and thus, when it bursts high iii the
air, II makes a rumDcr Of succe s:vu
discharges Of "stlrs' or wha, not 4
"mine' is fixed or I sauare wooden
base, so rs TO siaNn ur, and mas an
ordinary roman cdud;c for Il |-spout'
at the top. When the roman c;;r,ile is
| then, fuse having conveyed .gnjiion
TO the explosive charge in the lower
mart of the coptrivance, the tl;ing goes
bang, and some hundreds Of ''stars'
held i'll a paper bag q ne Upper part
are thrown out with great dsnlcy.
Mines of this isjdl a:e sometimes as
much as FIVE feet hi2h: bl, one may
height. for family use. IT IS the same
way with the spherical bombs, which
run all the way from two inanes 20 five
feet in diameter IL al. kinds of fire.
works, however. with onv a few ex.
ceptions, it will be noticed that
stars arc the princioal reliance for
the effects produced. Roman candles,
which, while among the Oldest, are Ger
tainly among the most popular OF isyro-
technlc plavthings, sh1oy Il series OF
stars" which take the form &c fiery
balls of different rolors.
Considering what great quantities Of
explosives are used h. nlanufacfpc ce-s
of fireworks, it s really surprising how
seldom 2 serious accident is recorded n
the Industry. This, as nigh be sun
posed, is due to the adopi;Gr Of thor
ough system of safeguards The en-
tire stock of explosive ua-arials IS kent
IN building by itself. which is not &C
cupied by operatives. As for The Int-
ter, those of them who ara actuoltv en-
gagged in loading or hand!'ng already
loaded fireworks are required 10 OCCUPY
many little houses scattered over u wide
area and sufficiently far apart 10 ma ke
it impossible for an explosion IN ous
OF them to endauger any oe The Others.
Accidents costing life Or limo do oc-
casionally happen, but by The means
described they are minimizcd. The most
dangerous work of the kind is that per-
formed by the men wno load roman
candles-each of whom occupies tiny
hat by himself, together With bis ma
chine and small stock OF mater'ols.
including the requisite pastebonrd
tubes, explosive com pos;@ion, and
'fstars. The ''stars' and explosive
mixtures are kept in cnbbY-hnlns ron
cealed by iron shutters. which drop
back into place every tiat -he operator
takes what is requisita for a charge.
The cubbvholes are opar 20 -ae out
side so that, if their ,octan.s caught
fire, the direction Of tho explosion
would be away from he building.
With the aid of his ingenprs machine,
the lonely workman is able 20 load two
dozen candles at once.
The beginning of grea. "set piece
for display purposes IS !? wpoIan !at-
tice-a sort of ssel ,t9p, IN which tic
design (drawn by IN art,st) IS lerro-
duced by a skilled saruenJer IN rattan
Every line of the lrawin9. that s to
say. is copied IL 'oi-Ir On greatly
enlarged scale. Then Iit.., La:is sIr
hammered into the rattan n short aui
regular intervals, Upon every QUE OF
these nails is finally Sick 4 little CYL
lnder (rather like "sta:'N filled with
fire mixtures Of one color or onother,
according 10 the design There may
be many thousands Of them. But event
uallY all are connected together by
Kind Of fuse called ''quick match. -
made of lampwick saturated with gun
powder. \ spark applied at the proper
moment, and, hehold. the fire picture is
displayed IN all its glory.
RENE BACHE.