MATCHES 



3695 



MATERIALISM 



ployed as a substitute is sesqui-sulphide of 

 phosphorus, a harmless ingredient which is 

 quite as satisfactory as the white phosphorus, 

 lied phosphorus has also found favor as a 

 substitute. 



Safety Matches. A match known as a safety 

 match was the invention of a Swedish manu- 

 facturer named Lundstrom; this has been on 

 the market since 1855. As its name implies, 

 this match can be ignited only by being rubbed 

 on a specially-prepared surface. Its head con- 

 tains no phosphorus, but holds a mixture of 

 which chlorate of potash usually forms a part. 

 The striking surface, which is on the side of 

 the box, is formed by a compound of red 

 phosphorus and sand. The manufacture of 

 safety matches is confined largely to Sweden 

 and Norway. 



How Matches Are Made. In the match indus- 

 try the best grade of lumber is used. The 

 ordinary match is made from two-inch planks 

 of white pine, from which all knc>ts and cross- 

 grained portions have been removed. The 

 wood is sawed into blocks the length of a 

 match, that is, from one and seven-eights to 

 two and one-half inches, and the blocks are 

 then run through a machine which cuts them 

 into rows of splints, each row containing splints 

 for forty-four matches. As each row of splints 

 is cut from the block it is placed in a machine 

 consisting of cast-iron plates formed into an 

 endless chain by link attachments. This ma- 

 chine, revolving from 175 to 250 times a minute, 

 cuts forty-four matches at each revolution. 

 When the splints have been cut they are car- 

 ried from the cutting end of the machine by 

 the endless chain attachment over a block 

 which heats the ends, then to a receptacle 

 containing melted paraffin, and finally to one 

 containing the substance of which the heads 

 are made. 



The match tips are heated so the paraffin 

 will not become chilled as it comes in contact 

 with them, and the receptacles containing par- 

 affin and the composition which forms the head 

 are automatically replenished without any in- 

 terruption of the work of the machine. The 

 bundles of matches are finally cooled by blasts 

 of cold, dry air and are automatically deposited 

 in boxes. A machine of this type will turn 

 out one hundred gross of boxes a day, and 

 requires the attention of eight girls. These 

 boxes are fed into the machine automatically, 

 and when filled they are deposited on a rotat- 

 ing table. There a number of girls place covers 

 on them and pack them into cases, and the 



operation is completed. Two million matches 

 can be produced in one day by machinery re- 

 quiring the services of only seventy-five opera- 

 tives. M.R.T. 



MATE, mah'ta, or PARAGUAY, pair 'a gway, 

 TEA, a South American holly, whose leaves 

 and shoots are used, when dried and roughly 

 ground, for making tea. The term mate was 

 applied originally to the vessels in which the 

 drink was steeped. These vessels were made 

 of gourds, or calabashes. The tea is made by 

 pouring boiling water over the dried leaves 

 and stems. It has the same stimulating effect 

 as ordinary tea on account of the presence of 

 a large proportion of cafjein, which is also 

 found in tea and coffee. 



Mate is a shrub or small tree with wedge- 

 shaped leaves and small flowers in the axils 

 of the leaves. Mate raising is an extensive in- 

 dustry in Paraguay and Brazil, over 5,000,000 

 pounds of the dried leaves being exported an- 

 nually from Paraguay alone. See HOLLY. 



MATE , a corruption -of an old English word 

 gemaca, means a comrade or companion. In 

 merchant vessels a mate is one of the assist- 

 ants of the captain, or master. The first mate 

 is always second in command, except on ocean 

 passenger steamers, where great division of 

 authority is necessary. In warships the mates 

 are not assistants to captain or other officers, 

 but serve under the gunners, carpenters and 

 boatswains and have specified duties. Accord- 

 ing to the position they occupy they are called 

 carpenter's mate, gunner's mate, boatswain's 

 mate, etc. 



MATERIALISM, mate'rializ'm, a system 

 of philosophy which teaches that matter is the 

 only thing in the universe that has reality, and 

 which denies the existence of mind or soul as 

 distinct from matter. All mental processes are 

 regarded as the result of physical changes in 

 the nervous system, and thoughts, will and 

 feelings are said to have no real existence. 

 The word comes from the Latin materia, 

 meaning matter; the theory of materialism 

 dates back to a period before Socrates, over 400 

 years before Christ. In a modified form the 

 principles of materialism have been upheld by 

 such eminent English philosophers as John 

 Locke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes and 

 Herbert Spencer, but the opposite system, 

 idealism, is more in favor. 



In a popular sense materialism is applied to 

 the tendency to attach greater value to the 

 things of the material world rather than to the 

 mind and spirit. 



