170 ON THE MANUFACTURE OF MATCHES IN NEW YORK. 



phorus is now reduced to a condition perfectly innocuous; it may be handled, 

 and even reduced to a fine powder, in which state it is equally serviceable 

 for the purposes of the manufacturer. 



There are in this city (New York) altogether about half-a-dozen factories 

 engaged in making matches. The principal ones are those of Mr Charles 

 Partridge and Mr Le Cure. 



Mr Partridge's factory is situated in Thirty-sixth street, between Seventh 

 and Eighth avenues. The building is of stone, 125 feet by 32, and four stories 

 high. He employs, here and elsewhere, nearly 300 men, women, and children. 

 The building is heated all over by steam-pipes, and is well lighted and 

 ventilated, and everything furnished that can facilitate the labour of the 

 operatives or render them more comfortable. The first story of the 

 building is used for making packing-cases and boxes to hold a single gross. 

 The second story is used for packing, the third for cutting and putting 

 into boxes, and the fourth for dipping and drying. There is no machinery 

 of any consequence used by Mr Partridge in the manufacture of his 

 matches, because he is of the opinion that he has no right to deprive any 

 of the opportunity of working with their hands, and is loth to introduce 

 more machinery than he can possibly do without. All his splints are made 

 by hand, cut by hand, and dipped in the same way. He is adding to the 

 already very large building awing equally large, fronting on 37th street, 

 and will, when the building is finished, increase the number of persons in 

 his employ to nearly double. It is also his intention, at the same time, to 

 confine the work to femaLes as much as possible, believing as he does, that 

 it is his duty and the duty of all, to do everything in their power to enlarge 

 the sphere of woman's labour. He intends that the nailing together of 

 boxes for holding grosses of matches shall all be put together by women, 

 the work being light, and in all respects more healthful than the terrible 

 slavery of the needle. As he will pay women for doing this work the 

 same price that he now pays his men, it is apparent that selfish motives 

 have no part in this new arrangement. 



Mr Partridge manufactured, in 1853, 84,286 gross of matches, containing 

 144 boxes each, amounting to 12,137,184 boxes, at an average of 65 

 matches each box, giving 788,916,960 as the aggregate number of matches, 

 which amounts to 2,629,723 daily, making 262,972 per hour, 4,382 per 

 minute, and 73 per second. With his increased facilities he now manu- 

 factures at least 200,000 gross. 



Besides the wooden matches, Mr Partridge is largely engaged in the 

 manufacture of wax tapers, which burn from one minute to five, and are 

 very useful for various purposes, for which the wooden matches are 

 impracticable, such as sealing letters, lighting one up-stairs, &c. &c. They 

 are very neatly made and put up, and though they can never, from their 

 greater expense, supersede the wooden ones, yet they are gradually getting 

 into very general use ; and it is rare that we find an escritoire or merchant's 

 desk without these useful things. 



Their retention of flame in the wind is another quality which will 



