The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1910-06-30


depend for their effects wholly upon such paper
cylinders no bigger than goodsized f1recrackers,
stuck all over the lattice work OF the skeleton
structure employed by the 1re-painter IN lieu, as
one might say, OF canvas
Something more in detail about these fire pic
lures will be said later on; but meanwhile 1t may
be as we'll to speak descriptively of the processes
used in the manufacture of the more simple ana
familiar kinds of fireworks-such, for example,
as roman candles, bombs, rockets, pinwhees and
the like. All of these, excepting the bombs, are
substantially nothing more than cylinders OF
pasteboard, filled with combustbles and fash
Toned in different ways.
One of the greatest fireworks factories IN the
world is located the outskirts OF Brooklyn,
but the stranger who passes by it on trolley car
on the way to Coney island would scarce sus'
pect the character of the outfit, which is scat
tered over about twenty acres of land In series
of small buildings some of them being SO tiny
as to accommodate only a single workman Inc
object of this arrangement is to minimize the
consequences of accidents. If the lone man who
occupies any one of the tiny houses should hap
pen to be blown up he alone would suffer.
It naturally happens that the only building
Of considerable size on the premises is one IN
which explosives or other lively combust1Dles
are used. Here, in fact, Is where all the paper is
stored, tons upon tons of it, for the outer wrap
pings of the fireworks. Pyrotechnic toys, OF
course must be pretty to look at, else they would
mot sell to advantage and the papers utilized for
| the purpose are of all colors of the rainbow and
a great variety Of ornamental patterns. For
extra fancy goods more or less gilt and silver
paper Is employed.
Upstairs in the same building all of the pa
per cylinders are made, the process adopted be-
! ing SO exceedingly expeditions that one person
can turn out as many 10 gross of them in
day. OF course they are of all lengths and diam
eters according to kind and size of fireworks
| for which they intended and though the
rocket cylinders are rolled by machine all OF the
others are made by hand. With the aid of a long,
round stick of metal and pot of paste the oper.
ator converts sheets of thin, brown pasteboard
into neat and compact tubes at the rate OF three
or four minute.
| A dozen work people engaged in this occu-
patton can turn out immense number OF CYL
| inders in day and the manner in which they
are utilized in the manufacture of different kinds
| of fireworks will presently be explained. 1t might
be we'll to say incidentally, however, that in this
same department made the bombshells which
are stamped by machine out OF pap1er-macne
in halves. When they have become dry the
halves are Joined by strips of thin canvas soaked
. in PASTE each sphere thus produced having
round hole at one end for loading
Bombs are among the most interesting and
. beautiful of fireworks and some of them are OF
great size-as much as five feet in diameter
. They are discharged from mortars and reaching
a height of 900 feet or more, explode with
stars or golden rain, or sometimes parachutes
carrying trains of stars. Some are made as
small as two inches in diameter-baby ones,
suitable for family use.
The method of their construction is always
the same and is at once simple and ingenious.
. The papier-mache shell is filled with stars
that is to say, with little pieces of cylindrical
paper tubing packed with different chemical COM
positions. Beneath the shell thus loaded is at
tached and firmly glued paper receptacle con-
| tanning slow-burning composition similar to
gunpowder. Then fuse is fixed that being
ignited at the instant of the bombs discharge it
will burn just long enough to explode the shell
at the moment when the projectile has reached
. its greatest height in the air. When this hap.
pens the paper shell is blown to pieces and the
stars, incidentally ignited, are thrown far and
-wde. Being light, they fall slowly and the effect
produced Is very beautiful.
Even the stars, you see are paper cylinders
though only half an inch perhaps in length. But
they vary much in size, according to the uses to
which they are to be put A man cuts them by
the millions with small circular saw, taking a
handful of paper tubes of small diameter and
using the saw to chop them into short pieces of
equal length. Then the little sections filled
with chemical mixtures of various kinds, nitrate
and chlorate of baryta being used for green, car
donate of strontium for red, oxylate Of soda for
yellow and oddly enough) paris green for blue
with various admxtures Of chlorate of potash
shellac, etc.
1t should have been said that, in order to
strengthen the papiermache shells and SO to en-
able them to scatter their stars more widely
when shattered they are wound with strong gro
GERS Irvine, outside of which the final decorative
paper cover is put on. There is, however, an
other and quite new kind of bomb, which Is made
in the shape of cylinder 1t is so constructed
that during its fight through the air it makes
series OF "breaks." sometimes as many ten
throwing out each time shower of stars. This,
might be imagined. is very beautiful effect
and is achieved by dividing the containing cylin
der into a series of compartments holding stars
each compartment being set off in its turn
Some of these cylindrical bombs contain par
achutes, which arranged like the parachutes
dropped from rockets. Inside of the pasteboard
case is a circular piece of tissue paper, around
the circumference of which are attached series
Of very long strings. To each of these strings
are fastened at intervals number of the little
paper stars already described and the arrange.