SIMPLE FIREWORKS—SAXON & LANCE CLASSES
The fireworks which form a class by themselves are the Saxon or Chinese
flyer, and the tourbillion. Both of these consist of a single case made
to revolve in the plane of its axis by jets of fire projected through a
hole at right angles to the axis.
Saxons revolve about a nail driven through the case into a post or
other support; they are charged with a composition of mealed gunpowder,
saltpetre, and sulphur.
The case is charged thus: the lower end is firmly “clayed” and the
composition is charged up to a point about ⅝ inch below the centre,
clay is then charged for ¾ inch, and again composition to within a
short distance of the top, which is again firmly clayed. Two holes are
bored near each end on opposite sides of the case, and a third hole is
bored through the centre of the case at right angles to the other two
and of sufficient size to take the nail or spindle on which the case
revolves.
The two holes at the end may be connected with match to light
simultaneously, or the time of burning may be lengthened by leading the
second half from the lower end of the first lit. In the larger sizes,
and generally in display work, a small case charged with a colour
composition is attached to the side of the case, producing a ring of
colour inside the fire of the saxon.
A smaller and cheaper form of saxon is what is in effect half of that
described above, the nail being at one end and the propelling hole at
the other.
[Illustration: Rocket Charging.]
[Illustration: Filling Roman Candles.]
Formerly saxons for display work were made with a wooden centre, on
which the two halves, which were charged separately, were fitted, and
to which the colour case was secured by a nail.
The tourbillion is a development of the saxon; instead of the central
spindle a piece of curved wood is secured to the case, forming a pivot
on which to revolve when lying on a flat surface, and two additional
holes are bored on the under side of the case, so arranged as to light
when the case has sufficiently rapid revolution and project it into the
air.
Jones describes tourbillions as made to-day, also saxons under the
older name of Chinese flyer. In addition, he describes what he calls
“table rockets,” which resemble four double saxon cases fitted to a
centre, which has a projecting cone upon which the device revolves.
He says that “table rockets are designed merely to show the truth of
driving and the judgment of a fireworker, they having no other effect
when fired than spinning round in the same place where they begin till
they are burnt out, and showing nothing more than a horizontal circle
of fire,” but afterwards adds that “these rockets may be made to rise
like tourbillions by making the cases shorter and boring holes in the
under side of each case at equal distances; this being done they are
called ‘double tourbillions.’”
Frézier shows tourbillions as at present manufactured, which he calls
“tourbillion de feu” or “soleil montant,” but the nearest device he
shows to a saxon is similar to Jones’s table rocket, made to revolve on
a spindle, and having several holes bored down the side of each case,
presumably to produce more effect. These he designates “tourniquets” or
“soleils tournants.”
He also illustrates two ordinary rockets mounted on a centre similar to
that of a double saxon. This he calls “baton à feu,” and describes that
one case lights after the other is burnt out, and one gathers that the
device is intended to revolve but how it can be made to do this by fire
issuing radially is not apparent.
The word tourbillion is the French for a whirlwind and is applied by
Ruggieri to a compound firework, which will be considered later under
that head.
What we know as tourbillion he names “fusée de table” (a table rocket),
and adds that they are commonly called “artichauts.”
The success of all the above, in common with rockets, depends on
careful and experienced construction and strength of the case, and it
is indeed curious that Jones describes the rolling of the cases for
these fireworks without paste except on the edge of the paper. It seems
incredible that an experienced pyrotechnist should make such a mistake,
and one is almost inclined to agree with Kentish (1878), who says of
Jones’s book: “The greater portion of it is absurd and impracticable,
and shows it was written by a person who undertook to teach what he
had not learnt.” Nevertheless Jones’s book, as Kentish says, has been
copied by almost every book published since, just as his own matter
was largely pirated from previous works. In fact, for a century and a
half the plates illustrating pyrotechnic works were in a great degree
fac-similes of one another.
The catherine wheel, or, as it is sometimes called, the pin wheel, is
a rotating firework of simple, as distinct from compound construction,
and should therefore be included in this class.
It consists of a long, thin case of small diameter, charged with a
composition of sulphur, saltpetre, and mealed gunpowder. This case is
wound round a circular block of thin wood, with a hole in the centre
through which a pin or nail is passed, forming a pivot upon which the
wheel turns.
The case of the catherine wheel, unlike any firework we have considered
up to the present, burns down as the composition is consumed, and
for this reason it may be included equally well in another small
class of fireworks. This class includes the lance, the port-fire, the
starlights, feathers, and the colour cases used on wheels and saxons,
etc.
The lance is used in display work in greater numbers than any other
unit. Some idea of the quantity used may be gathered from the fact that
on one of the battle set pieces shown at the Crystal Palace as many as
thirty thousand lances are consumed in a single display.
Lances consist of thin paper cases about the diameter of a lead pencil,
filled with colour composition, and primed, to facilitate the lighting,
with mealed powder damped with water. This sets and further serves to
retain the contents of the lance, which are not compressed solid as are
fountains, rockets, etc.
The port-fire is used as a means of lighting the pieces, etc., of a
display, and in the last century for military purposes; its composition
consists of a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and mealed gunpowder. It
was formerly known as a blue candle.
The starlight and feathers, as are the squib, golden rain, etc., are of
the garden type, and are not used in display work, as although burning
with pretty effect, it is not distinguishable at any distance.
The feather and starlight compositions are similar to that of the
flower pot, but the cases are smaller, that of the feather being
catherine wheel pipe, but naturally not bent—the ends are closed by
“dubbing.” This is a method usually adopted for closing the ends of
“small goods.” The end of the case is introduced into an opening
formed by opposing V-shaped notches in an upper and lower series of
steel plates, the upper set being then forced down. The result is to
constrict the end of the case, which is then dipped in a mixture of
sealing-wax and glue.
Under the same head fall the Light group, which are wide and
comparatively thin cases filled with coloured or “bright” (as white
composition is known in the trade) composition. They are used either
for illuminating as Bengal lights, or for signalling purposes; if for
the latter, they are generally provided with a wooden handle and some
means of self-ignition.
The name Bengal light is probably based on the use of Bengal saltpetre,
and does not indicate their origin in that province.