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Show I I MAKING FIREWORKS K IT HA8 DEVELOPED INTO A BIG 1 AMERICAN INDUSTRY. And It Hat All Been Worked Out I from the Ancient Chinese Fire-I. Fire-I. cracker How They I Are Made. I'' I Tho manufacturo of flroworka hna H s dovolnpcd from an imitation of tho H Chliieso flrecrnckor to nn Industry of H '. vuHt proportlouu In tho Unltud Statou, H AIbo from the htimhlo and coinpnni' t. tlvo harmless cracker, tlio product lias H h been dovolopud aloiiK tho most com-H com-H ' plox yet HcU-ntlllc llnoa until tho niaa-H niaa-H r tor of curvmonli'H at a full Hedged mod-H mod-H . em llroworkH exhibit miiHt ucods bu H ; a man with a comprelionnlvo knowl- odgo of tho explciHlvcH ho Is handling. H Tho Chinaman, having Invontod H .gunpowder a fow tlioiiHand yeara bo-Bj bo-Bj i' foro It enmo Into iihu In tho weatorn Ht world, Invented tlio llrucrackor so long ago thut tho Incldont of ItH birth has Ht, boon lost In tho tdiunio of history, but, curiously enough, tho Chinaman In Hf tllla respect has stood at tho Initial H point of development, as ho Iuib In nil H else thut pertains to his life. Ho still f makes good. Ilrecrnckers, but they aro f of tho same model aud power as ho K lias used for hundreds of years. Tho Hf American, having stolen tho Idea, pro- If cceded to develop It along lines truly H? indicative of tho Amorlcau character H' flamboyant, pyrotechnic and loud. H; Tho Chinese crncltcr Is n small affair, H,' considerably more so than tlio crack- er to buy which tho small boy tolled In tho gray dawn carrying wator to 1 tli) elephant, but at Chinese New Year's and other festival times n string of their flrecrackora siiBpouded 1 from tho end of n bamboo polo will explode every ono of them and v thoro will bo no "slzzlors" nor blanks found In tho string. Which goes to show that tho Imnd-mado Chinese artlclo Is still honestly mado and that western methods of cheap mnchlno tniantifacturo have not lnvndod tho v cradlo of tho tlrccrackor. Ilut as all things American liavo do-volopcd do-volopcd to prodigious proportions, leaving In tho past the memory of slm-. slm-. pllclty, so tho flrocrackor of history ' each yoar finds a smaller place In tho demonstrations of America. Instead thero havo como tho rocket, tho bomb, H- the sot piece and tho appliances for H, pouring forth torrents and volcanoes of multi-colored flro. It Is tho manu-facturo manu-facturo of these, goods that has grown to such slzo und commercial conse-quoncc. conse-quoncc. Tho preliminary In tho manufacture-of manufacture-of nearly nil llreworks Is tho making of tho enso. Tho quality of paper varlos from tho commonest straw-iboard straw-iboard to tho finest bank noto paper. .Casos for .skyrockets roqulro a lino grndo of pnper called ropo board. Tho pnper is first panted and then rolled over n mandrel. Tho drying process takes four or flvo dnyB nnd tho case then is ready for for charging. They vary from two to 20 Inches In length und from ono-qunrter of nn Inch to two Inches In diameter. Tho londlwg of skyrockets, up to tlio lust four or tlvo . years, has been dono by hand, but tho mnchlno now takes tho place of tho hand loader. A eplndlo placed in tho center of tho caBo causes u cavity as tho mntorlal Is packed In around It. .jT Tho materials aro scooped In,, ham- uiored down until It is of rock-llko hardness nnd then tho splndlo is with-drawn. with-drawn. When tho rocket Is 11 rod tho large surface of material In tho spln-die spln-die cavity catches flro at onco, cans-Ing cans-Ing a tremendous prcssuro of gas which pours out of the splndlo cavity, causing tho rockot to shoot skyward. Tho colored Btars, which go In the head of tho rocket or bomb, are com-posed com-posed as follows: Hod, nltrato of btf- H. ryta, chloride of potash and shellac; green, nitrnto of baryta; yellow, axil- IB ate of soda. I'urplo and bluo aro com- posed of various preparations of cop-per, cop-per, whllo tho making or tho other B, tints aro trado secrets. Tho Itomau candlo Is charged as 1, follows: Sets of cases aro placed on HH pt'ia and thare Is scooped in first a B, quantity of clay, which prevents the explosive composition from burning tho hnnd; then ii chargo of gunpowder, gunpow-der, and on top of this aro placed tho colored stars In tho proper sequenco of color. On top of this comes n composition com-position called fuse, which makes tho Intervals botweon tho dlschargo of tho stnrs. After tho fuse rammers aro brought down to pack tho mntorlal, tho operation being repeated ns often ns required. Tho candles contain from two to 35 stnrs. Tho finishing consists con-sists of covering tho candlo and providing pro-viding n quick match for oasy Ignition. Igni-tion. Quick match, ono of tho Important features of fireworks manufacturo, Is mado from specially prepared wick soaked In n solution of gunpowder. At tho proper tlmo It la wound off on frames nnd Just before it Is dried It Is slftod over with very lino powder In order to make It extra quick In notion, it Is then cut In lengths or about six feet and worked Into what Is known as match paper, nttor which It Is placed In manlla paper cases and Joined together. Flro ut ono ond or quick mutch leops to tho other nnd almost al-most ns quickly ns would olectrlclty. Tho quick match Is fitted out on what nro known ns lances, or rods or bnm-boo. bnm-boo. For sot pieces tho design Is Bkotched by an artist nnd then scaled ho It can bo enlarged to any slzo. Tho regulation set piece framo Is 10x5 foot and Is divided Into squares a foot largo. Tho design Is outlined in rattan, rat-tan, pegs aro driven into tho rattan and on theso pegs nro fastened tho quick match lances reforred to. Sulphur, saltpotor and charcoal on-tor on-tor lnrguly Into tho mnnufactiiro or fireworks nnd for particularly brilliant effects ateol nnd Iron tilings aro ndded. |