The Republican journal., 1909-04-22
Getting a Light.

simple turning of switch gives instant
light and heat, a glimpse of great-grand-
father starting the morning fire would
seem the funniest sight imaginable. The
night before the red Goals in the fireplace
were carefully buried beneath the gray
ashes so that they could be raked out
and famed into flame when the next
fire was needed. The old gentleman, in
the cold gray morning, dug out the living
Goals and carefully piled fine shavings on
them. Then he blew them industriously
with the hand bellows, not too hard least
he blow the shavings away. AS soon as
the light fuel began to burn he piled on
small fat-pine sticks and then larger
wood until the fire roared in the chimney
with all it's strength.
If the Goals were neglected the night
before and the,fire went entirely out, as
sometimes happened, it was often neces-
sary to go to the neighbours and borrow
a shovelful of Goals. But if the house,
holder had flint and steel he made fire
with these crude implements. With the
flint held firmly in the left hand he would
strike it a smart but glancing blow with
the steel, resulting in shower of sparks.
These sparks were caught on a dry piece
of half burned cloth, because the charred
cIluS VI SuCIl ClOC1 dlC easy W oOC Oil G.
As soon as a spark was caught it was
nursed and blown into flame from which
the fire was lighted.
Since the beginning fire has been the
most sacred possession of man. Fire
came with the very beginning of civil
cation. 1t was worshipped by the men
of the East and the half-savage Aztecs
and Incas of the West.
In those ancient days it was very diff
cult to obtain fire and among the savages
men were told off to tend the fires and
to carry the live Goals from place to place.
Many of the American Indians could not
make fire at all and either obtained their
sparks from neighboring tribes or from
trees struck and fired by lightning. Once
the fire was obtained it was never allow
ed to go out. Other savage tribes pro-
duced fire by friction The fire drill, used
by American Indians of the North, which
whirled pointed stick of hard wood in
shallow crevice of a dry block of softer
wood, was a good source of fire so long
as it was kept dry. The drill revolving
with great rapidity raised the tempera-
ture of the wood dust in the crevice until
it burst into flame.
Then came the flint and steel, which
proved the handiest way of getting
light for hundreds of years. Even in the
memory of some of the older folk OF to-
day the flint and steel were in daily use.
When it was found that bit Of Jagged
flint, struck with piece of steel, would
emit shower of bright and intensely
hot sparks, then fire building became
easy. Sparks from the flint would set
fire to tow, to charred rags, to gunpow-
der or to most any combustible material.
The first matches were made of thin
strips of highly resinous or dry pinewood,
about six inches long, the pointed ends
of which were dipped in melted sulphur;
ignited when applied to spark obtained
by striking fire into finder from a flint
and steel. Then someone invented the
instantaneous light box This con-
sisted of a small tin box containing
bottle, in which was placed some sui
phuric acid, with enough fbrous asbestos
to soak it up and prevent it's spilling,
and a supply of properly prepared
matches. These primitive matches con-
sisted of small splints of wood about two
inches long one end Of which was coated
with a chemical mixture, prepared by
mixing chlorate Of potash, six parts;
powdered loaf sugar, two parts; powder
ed gum arabic, one part; the whole col
ored with little vermillion and mixed
with water until it became thin paste.
The splints were first dipped into melted
sulphur and then into the prepared paste.
They were really made to burn by dip
ping the prepared ends into sulphuric
acid
In the year 1928 peculiar match was
introduced. Phosphorus and sulphur were
carefully mixed in a glass tube tightly
corked. A splinter of wood was slipped
into the tube, a small portion of the mix
ture was drawn out, and when this was
exposed to the air it ignited and set fire
to the wood. John Walker, druggist
in England, invented the first really prac
tical friction matches, giving to them the
name of "Congreves. They were of
thin strips of wood, or cardboard, coated
and dipped with sulphur and tipped with
mixture of sulphide of antimony, chlor
ate of potash and mucilage. But they
cost twenty-five cents for seven dozen of
them.
1t was not until about the year 1888
that the friction method of obtaining a
light began to be developed. and friction
matches came into use.
Matches are common enough today and
already other inventions are taking their
place. Electric cigar lighters are provid
ed at nearly every cigar stand as a sub
stitute for matches, which take too much
time. The electric lights are rapidly
superseding the old oil and gas lamps,
which require matches, and even the
faithful old cook stove is being replaced
with an electric cooking outfit which pro-
duces plenty of heat without fire or flame
and without matches or fuel. The electric
cigar lighter, which is the very latest
method of obtaining light, consists pri
marily Of few turns of German silver
wire stretched behind a non-c conducting
screen of mica or embedded in heat resist
This wre IT. rcd gat w;eb IN t,qgn
heats the screen or cement so that CT