MISCELLANEOUS & FANCY MATCHES include Wax Matches, "Book" Matches and such varieties as "Flamers," "Blazers" and "Vesuvians," matches which cannot be extinguished by wind or water, etc.
Wao Matches are splints made of stearin and copal gum, capped with Parlor or Double Dip composition. They are not manufactured in the United States, but large quantities are produced in Great Britain, Belgium, France and other countries. They are more expensive than wood-splint matches and are sold here only to a comparatively small extent.
Book Matches are usually of the safety type, made of cardboard, or thin wood splints, enclosed in a cardboard cover. They are frequently distributed free for adver tising purposes.
Under proper conditions, matches are not a dangerous article to handle or store, with the exception of Double-Dip Parlor Matches. If packed in well-constructed cases, they will stand a vast amount of abuse without ignition, and if ignition should occur, the gases generated smother and effectively extinguish the fire. Danger arises only when an accident results in a case being broken and the contents scattered. They are accepted by all railroad companies as an average risk.
With the same exception (that of the Double-Dip Parlor), modern, well-made matches of the best type and manufacture, do not materially affect by odor other materials stored in their vicinity, or even in direct contact with them.
The daily consumption in the United States is about 750 millions.
The largest single match factory in the world is the Vulcan, at Tidaholm, Sweden. It employs more than sixteen hundred men, and manufactures daily two and a half million boxes of matches.
into small pieces. Their collection and preparation is an important industrial occu pation in both Brazil and Paraguay.
The title "mate," now generally employed, was applied originally to the vessels in which the tea is infused. These vessels, or bowls, are generally dried gourds, which in many cases have been carefully developed into a variety of curious forms. A small quantity of the leaves, properly called Yerba Mate, is put into the gourd, and it is then filled with boiling water. Each person holds a small tube called a "Bom billa," and with this he sucks up the infusion and passes the bowl back to be filled again for the next guest. One end of the Bombilla is finished with a small bulb of deli cate basket work or perforated metal, which acts as a strainer to prevent the powder or other particles from being sucked up into the mouth. The beverage is very hot— much too hot indeed to be generally pleasant for novices! The effect of the mate beverage is stimulating, restorative and diuretic, and because of these properties it is frequently prescribed for hospital use in countries in which it is otherwise practically unknown. An average analysis shows components very similar to that of tea and coffee, including an important percentage of their stimulating principle (Theine and Caffeine).
More than 120,000,000 pounds of Mate are exported annually from Brazil, and 5,000,000 pounds from Paraguay, to other sections of South America, but it has never found favor as an article of general consumption in other parts of the world.