Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/207

* MATARO. 179 MATCHES. some promenades, a seminary, a school of arts, and tlio celebrated Colegio de Valldemia. It is an importaut industrial centre, and manufac- tures cotton and woolen textiles, sail cloth, starch, soap, glass, chemicals, and pigments, espe- cially white lead. There is also some shipbuild- ing, but the commerce is insignificant. The rail- road between ilataro and Barcelona was the earliest road built in .Spain. Population, in 1SS7, 18,425; in 1900, 18,705. MATCHES (OF. mesche, Fr. medic, It. ininiii. niatdi, from JML. mixa, Lat. myxus. wick, from Gk. fiv^a.inyxa, lamp-nozzle). Specially pre- pared pieces of infiammable material designed to enable the user to obtain fire readily. At present the name match, or friction match, is usually applied to a splinter of wood, tipped with sonic combustible material w'hieh will ignite on being rubbed against either a specially prepared, or any rough surface. One of the first forms of this useful article w'as the hrimstonc match, made by cutting dry pine wood into thin strips about six inches long, pointing the ends, and dipping the latter into melted sulpliur; thus prejjared, the sulphur points instantly ignited when applied to a spark obtained by striking fire into tin- der friim a flint and steel. Early in the nineteenth century was invented the in- stanluiicoiis light box, which consisted of a small tin box containing a bottle in which was placed some sulphuric acid, with sutlicient fibrous asbestos to soak it uj). and a supply of properly prepared matches. The latter were s]dints of wood which had been dipped first into melted sulphur and afterwards into a paste composed of chlorate of potash, powdered loaf sugar, pow- dered ^nim arable, and a little vermilion as col- oring matter. By dipping these prepared points into the sulphuric acid the matches were in- stantly ignited. The chief disadvantages of this device were the danger of using a material so destructive as sulphuric acid, together with its fireat power of absorbing moisture, which soon rendered it inert. In 1827 the lucifcr match, the first true fric- tion match, was invented. The inflammable mixture was a compound of chlorate' of potash and suljihuret of antimony with enough of pow- dered gum to render it adhesive when mixed with water and applied to the end of the match, which had previously been dipped in melted' brimstone. These matches were ignited by the friction caused by drawing them through a piece of bent sandpaper. The if,mition of sulphur and phosphorus by friction was discovered by Godfrey Haukwitz in 1080. and it was one hundred and fifty years be- fore this discovery was applied to matches. It is stated that in ' 18r!.3 phosphorus friction matches were made at Vienna. About the same time .John Walker, of England, who invented the original friction match, sidistituted phos- phorus for the former mixture. In 1836 the first improved friction matches were made in the United States by Alonzo Phillips of Springfield, Mass. The body of these matches is usually of wood, but some, called rcxtas. are of very thin wax-taper strips. The composition consists of phosphorus and nitre, or phospliorus, sulphur, and chlorate of potash, mixed with melted gum or glue, and colored with vermilion, umber, soot, or other coloring material. To obviate the danger of fire incurred by using matches so readily ignitible as the ordinary luci- fer match, safety matclics were put upon the market in 1855. Their inventor was a Swede luimed Lundstrom. The safety match differs from the ordinary match in having the phos- phorus omitted from the composition applied to the match and combined instead with sand to form a friction surface on the match-box, wdiere the matches must be rubbed in order to be lighted. The constant handling of ordinary phosphorus is a very unhealthful occupation, the emanation of phosphoric acid giving rise to necrosis, or mortification of the bones. In the early days of the industry the manufacture of matches was largely carried on, in European countries, in cellars, and deaths from necrosis were so com- mon that Government intervention was neces- sarj' to drive the manufacturers into more sani- tary quarters. In the modern match factory, better surroundings, the increased use of me- chanical appliances, and the smaller amount of phosphorus used have greatly decreased the danger incurred by match-makers. It might, however, be entirely removed were the more expensive red or amorphous phosphate alone used. In Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Ger- many the match-making industry has assumed enormous proportions. In France the making of matches is a Government monopoly. In the United States the match industry is practi- cally controlled by a single corporation, the Diamond jMatch Company, and much ingenious and automatic machinery is used in its factories. The first step in the manufacture is to prepare the splints from blocks of pine from which all knots and cross-grained portions have been re- moved. This wood comes in the form of planks two inches thick and is thoroughly dried. It is then sawed into lengths of from 1'% to 2% inches, or the length of an ordinary match. A machine now receives these blocks and they are cut by knives or dies into thin strips, each one containing splints for 44 matches. Each set of splints as they are cut from the block are placed in cast iron plates which are formed into an endless chain. The machine makes from 175 to 250 revolutions a minute, and, as has been said, at each revolution 44 matches are cut and set. After the splints have been cut and set in the plates they are carried over a drying or heating block, where they are heated in order that the melted paraffin will not become cold on the exterior of the stick, but will saturate the end thoroughly. The paraffin and the com- position which forms the head of the match are placed in proper receptacles, which are automatically replenished without stopping the machine. Through these the splints pass and at the composition rollers the head of the match is received. As the chain carries the bundles of paraffin along the matches are cooled and dried by blasts of air. and finally they are auto- matically removed and packed in appropriate boxes. The boxes, too, are fed into the machine automatically, and after receiving their contents are discharged on a rotating table where they re- ceive their covers at the hands of girls, two to four being employed at each table, .ftpr the chain has discharged its matches into boxes it is ready for .a fresh set of splints, and the operation proceeds continuously.