MATCHES. Prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century, matches were unknown. We read in Virgil, who lived in the Augustan period, that two centuries before the dawn of the Christian era, fire was obtained by rubbing decayed wood together with a roll of sulphur between two stones. Several centuries later, we have record of the use of a primitive tinder-box with flint and steel, and this method of producing a spark of light, elaborated and perfected, remained in vogue until com paratively recent years.
Phosphorus, the dominating ingredient of the composition employed for the heads of matches, was first discovered in the eighth century by an Arab named Bechel, but, owing to the lack of mechanical and chemical appliances, it could not then be made of commercial or industrial value, and the utilization of its wonderful light-giving power was lost to the world until in 1669 a German named Brandt again brought it to the attention of mankind. Chlorate of potash, a great oxidizing agent, which, when utilized in conjunction with phosphorus, makes possible the production of the modern match, was discovered by a Frenchman in 1786. Burning glasses, dipping and match sticks, were all used in the onward march of progress, and in 1830 John Walker, a chemist of Stockton-on-Tees, England, produced the first successful friction match of which we have authentic record. These matches, named "Congreves," were sold in boxes of fifty for sixty cents, and their success soon led others to experiment in match manufacture, with the result that improvements were rapidly invented—the efficiency and reliability of the match increased and the cost of manufacture and the selling price decreased.
The match-making industry affords a striking example of the great economy in cost and excellence of product which has been accomplished, particularly of late years, by the development of labor-saving machinery. Of the many articles that are neces sary to the comfort of modern existence, none is more nearly indispensable and there are few that are sold so cheaply. The rapidity and magnitude of manufacture may be judged from the fact that the largest factory in the United States, located at Barber ton, Ohio, can produce two hundred million a day.
The process of match making, as conducted in a typical American factory, con sists of the feeding of clear-grain white pine blocks to automatic machines, which cut the wood into smooth match sticks or "splints," and transport them for tipping through paraffin and composition chests, drying the chemicals by contact with the speedily tempered air, ultimately packing the matches into boxes, and, in some cases, even wrapping the boxes into packages ready for the trade.
Matches of present manufacture can be divided into three general classes : (1) Ordinary Strike-4mywhere Wood Splint Matches, known to the trade as "Lucifer" Matches.
(2) Safety Matches.
(3) Miscellaneous and Fancy Matches.