And for a finale, some small device executed in lances, which shall
change into a 5 or 8 pointed brilliant star or sun, accompanied with
Roman candles, and a mine, either of serpents or crackers.
This is the kind of exhibition which my papers are intended to enable
the amateur to make. The above list will be found to contain no lack of
variety, which, in my opinion, is the great point to be kept in view.
In order that the reader of these papers may find no difficulty or
hindrance in the way of his putting my directions into practice, I shall
state farther on, where all the materials, chemicals, tools, &c., &c.,
which he will require, can be purchased ready for use, of a kind and
quality that I recommend, and at a reasonable price.
But before concluding this part, I would impress upon the amateur the
advantages to be derived from adopting a fixed plan of operations in
preparing for his exhibition. If he would do his work well, he must
learn to do it with the greatest economy of time, and labour, and
material. He should first decide of what pieces his exhibition is to
consist; next he should get all his cases made, and remember that these
are not to be used until they are thoroughly dry, and that the more
gradually and naturally they are allowed to dry the better they will be
for his purpose. He should commence the filling of one kind of piece,
and finish all of that species up to a certain point, before he begins
upon any other kind. He should calculate the quantity of composition
necessary for them, and not mix it until the cases are ready to receive
it, and he has time to fill them. A very little practice will enable him
to judge correctly the quantity necessary; but let him not hurry over
this part of his work, for a very slight inaccuracy in reckoning the
quantities of the several ingredients may spoil a large batch of
composition. The old proverb, “The more haste the less speed,” is at
least as true in the practice of firework-making as in any other work.
By mixing up no more composition than he really requires, he will both
avoid waste and have no odds and ends of combustible mixture to take
care of. He may perhaps think this piece of advice very unnecessary, but
he will soon arrive at the conclusion that it is well worth his
attention. Let him also bear in mind that he will require to get out as
many tools for the making of one rocket as of ten, and that when he has
them to his hand he cannot do better than finish the ten.
It is not, of course, to be expected that the amateur will at first fall
naturally into the most easy and convenient methods of working, but
every additional hour’s practice will furnish some new experience, and
he will soon discover that those operations, which at one time he
considered the most troublesome and difficult, can be successfully
performed in some very simple manner. He must never go to work under the
idea that there is but one way of carrying out his plans; the exercise
of a little thought on his part will generally unfold to him ways and
means of accomplishing his object satisfactorily and with ease. It is
always best for each operator to establish his own mode of working, and
not always to attempt to carry out details of manipulation which he sees
described, under the impression that what is thus recommended is _the_
way.
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]