pipes, on wires of different thickness, to suit the size of the match.
They must be large enough to admit the match easily, without much
pushing, which would break it; otherwise, the more nearly they fit the
match, the more rapidly it blows through. The fire is conveyed from the
tail of one case to the mouth of another, by a short piece of pipe, d,
fig. 80, with the match projecting at both ends; when the fire has to
be conveyed to two other cases at once, a fresh bit of piping is slipped
on, and the match left exposed, as at a; or a piece is cut out of the
side, as at b; each end should be bent into a hook, as at c, to prevent
its slipping back. Wheel cases are to be enveloped by rolling a piece of
double-crown twice or thrice round them, two inches longer than the
case, as fig. 82, shown by the dotted lines. Suppose you have six wheel
cases ready charged; lay six pieces of double-crown flat before you, and
work them back with the thumbnail, as before described; paste the 6
edges; lay the 6 wheel cases in a row, side by side, and draw the paste
brush across the middle, as if pasting your knuckles; then roll one in
each envelope, so that it projects an inch at each end. Put the leader
pipe in, and tie it with a piece of carpet thread, thin twine, or waxed
yellow flax or hemp, as at fig. 83. To join one pipe to another, to
lengthen it; suppose you have a piece of match 40 inches, long, and two
pipes of 20 inches each. Slip both the pipes on the match, so that they
touch in the middle; take the end of one, so touching, gather it round
the match; pinch the end of the pipe tapering, push it into the other,
and bind a piece of pasted paper round, to secure the joint. In cutting
a matched pipe straight across, of course the match inside gets cut
flush; do not leave it so, but, with a pair of pointed scissors, cut
away a quarter of an inch of the pipe all round, and bend the exposed
match, as at c, fig. 80, before putting it into the envelope of the
case. Besides a strong pair of pointed scissors, a small pair, 3 inches
long, with rounded ends, to carry constantly in the waistcoat pocket,
will be found convenient for many purposes.
_MAROONS._
Take 3 inches of a 6/8 or 3/8 rocket case. Fix, in one end, a cork, half
an inch long; put in 2 inches of F grain powder; on this, another cork.
Wind string tightly round it, lengthwise, 6 or 8 folds, side by side;
bend it to a right angle, and wind 6 or 8 more folds; and so on, till
covered; then wind crosswise; and again, at right angles, as in fig. 74.
Dip it into melted glue, and put by to dry. When dry, make a bradawl
hole through one part, to reach the powder. Make sure of this, by
inverting it, and letting a little drop out. Insert a short port-fire,
having a piece of match at the bottom, and touch-papered at the top.
ANOTHER METHOD.
Take a rocket case, 5 inches long, and unchoked. Put in one solid inch
of plaster of paris. When this is dry, pour in 3 inches of F
grain-powder; on this put another solid inch of plaster of paris. When
dry, wind string tightly round it, up and down the cylindrical part, not
the ends, till of two thicknesses. Paint the string over with melted
glue. Make a bradawl hole in the middle of one side; fasten to it a
squib, without a bang, having a piece of quickmatch at the end, to enter
the hole. Cover the joining with two layers of pasted paper. On the
other side, below, fasten a short piece of deal, like a rocket stick,
with a point, to put into the ground, fig. 72. After lighting the
touchpaper, remove to a distance; as bits of string are likely to get
driven into the face, on the explosion.
To fire a salute with maroons, at regular intervals of time. Charge a
port-fire, and saw it into inch lengths; envelope each in a piece of
double-crown, 3 inches broad, and long enough to go thrice round the
port-fire. Hang the maroons to hooks, or otherwise suspend them, on a
frame, a foot distance from each other, as a, b, c, fig. 75. Underneath
them fasten, with binding screws, or tie to nails, the port-fires x, y.
Connect the port-fires with one another, and with the maroons, by
leaders, in the usual way. On lighting at w, the first maroon explodes,
and the first port-fire catches; this, having burnt, lights the second
maroon and the second port-fire; and the port-fires being of the same
length, the intervals of time between the explosions of the maroons will
be the same.
_GOLD AND SILVER RAINS._
These are little cases, 2-1/2 inches long, rolled on a 1/4-inch former,
and filled with the funnel and wire. They may be primed like fig. 29 or
30, or like squibs. Put them, mouth downwards, into rocket heads.
_PEACOCK'S PLUMES._
These are a combination of rain and star. Roll them like pill-box cases,
on a 3/8 inch former, about 1-3/4 inches long; charge one end, 3/8 of an
inch deep, with coloured fire, driven in dry; fill up with gold, or
silver rain, with a film of shell fuse at the top, to bind. Cut a bit of
match, 2-1/4 inches long, lay it outside the case, so that it projects
3/8 of an inch at one end; envelope it in a piece of double-crown, fig.
90; tuck in the paper, to press the match, at one end, on the colour;
twist the other to a point. Both ends thus light at once; and the rain
appears, like a coloured star, with a tail.
To prime a case with match laid flat on the mouth. Take a piece of
thread, or fine string, and fold, or bend it, in the middle, as at fig.
76. Tie a knot near the bent end, as at a, fig. 77. Bring the knot, a,
up to the side of the case, as at fig. 78; pass the loose ends round,
and tie in a knot, at b. Lay the bits of match flat across, as at e,
fig. 79; bring the threads together, and tie them at c. Or bend tape
match across, and tie, as at d.
To get a fine thread through a long pipe, or the hem of a bag. Take a
piece of copper wire, and bend it round at one end, as z, fig. 88. Pass
the end, z, forward, and push it through to the other end of the bag,
&c., then bend it to the form of x, fig. 89; pass the string through the
loop x, and pull the wire back.
_SAUCISSONS._
These are a large kind of serpent, charged on a nipple, like a wheel
case, with solid drift and mallet. They may be 5/8 or 6/8 or larger;
about 3-1/2 inches long. Drive in brilliant fire, or gerbe, fig. 84,
1-1/2 inch; fill up to within 1/2 an inch of the top with F grain
powder; and plug the end with plaster of paris, or a bit of wood,
fastened with a tack or two. Press a piece of touch-paper, or
double-crown, into the shape of a deep pill-box; fill it with F grain
powder; fit it to the mouth of the saucisson; tie round the choke;
brush, with meal paste, the outside, at bottom, and dip into dry meal.
These saucissons are to be fired in a volley. Procure, say 2 dozen, iron
tubes, a, b, c, &c., each a foot long; fit them with a wooden bottom,
fig. 92, having a tenon, t, an inch long; let it be fastened with a
screw on each side. Bore a hole through, to make a communication with
the mortar formed by the tube. Take a board, an inch thick, of suitable
length and breadth; bore in it 2 dozen holes, of a size to fit the
tenons; glue these in, so that the tubes, or mortars, stand upright, in
rows, side by side, like the pieces on a chess-board. Invert it. Nail a
rim all round, so as to make a box, 2 or 3 inches deep. Cut a groove
from hole to hole of the tenons; connect all the holes with naked match,
also push a bit of match up all the holes in the tenons; now fill the
box with sawdust, and nail a board on, to serve for a bottom, and to
keep the sawdust in. Invert it; and put a saucisson, mouth downwards,
into each mortar. Fig. 84 represents a single saucisson; w, w, w, fig.
85, saucissons in the mortars. On firing the match at s, it is evident
the cases will be driven out rapidly, one after the other. The sawdust
prevents the flash igniting the whole at once.
_PEARL STREAMERS._
Paste brown paper all over, and roll up a case, of four or five
thicknesses, on an inch and a quarter, or an inch and a half former,
like a rocket or other case; when dry, cut it in the lathe (see fig. 27)
into inch lengths--inch-deep bottomless pill-boxes. Set one on a foot,
fig. 9, to enter about 1/8 of an inch; mallet in the pearl streamer
fuse, till nearly full, then a little meal powder; remove it from the
foot, and press in flat, with a knife, a little plaster of paris, to
form a bottom. They will have the appearance of bungs; fire them in
volleys, like saucissons, from suitable-sized mortars. Primed end
downwards, of course. Match may be tied on, as in figs. 78 and 79.
_BLUE LIGHTS & STAR CANDLES, OR STAR LIGHTS._
These are little cases, charged with the funnel and wire; the latter are
filled with spur fire.
_PRINCE OF WALES'S FEATHERS._
These are simply pinwheel pipes, usually of coloured double-crown,
charged with pinwheel fuse, and not wound on a block, but kept straight.
_LANCES._
These are little cases charged with white or coloured star composition.
They should be of white or coloured double-crown paper, rolled dry on
the squib former, and secured at the edge with paste in the usual way.
They may be from 2-1/2 to 4 inches long, as may be required; press in
one end to make a bottom. To do this, bore a hole through a piece of
cork or a small bung, and through it push a piece of brass wire or
stair-rod, fig. 81, of a suitable diameter. It can then be set to any
distance, like a cutting gauge. If the lance case is 2-1/2 inches long,
set the bung at rather more than 2-1/4 inches from the end. Put it up
the case, and, holding it with the left hand, with the right, with a
piece of wire push in the end to make a flat bottom. Charge with the
squib funnel and wire; and prime the mouth with very slightly damped
meal. Lances are used for forming letters and designs, similar to gas
jets. Frames for letters and devices are made with pieces of thin wood
and cane, or hooping, for straight lines and curves. A number of wires,
3 inches apart, are driven into the frames so as to stand forward, at
right angles, and the lances are fixed on them. The following is the way
of proceeding. Procure some inch French nails, or inch rivets; the
former at the ironmonger's; the latter at the grindery shops. Drive them
in, at the proper distances; then, with a pair of cutting pliers or
nippers, cut off their heads. Drive a piece of wire, the same thickness
as the nails, into a bradawl handle, and leave it projecting 3/8 of an
inch; file this triangular, or three-sided, and pointed. Push this
triangular bradawl up the bottom of the lance, then fix the lance on the
wire destined to receive it; it will be more secure if the wire is
touched with a dip of glue before pressing the lance on. Having
completed the letter or device, proceed to leader it. For this purpose
have a supply of 1/2-inch rivets; they may be purchased at the grindery
shops for about 5_d._ per lb. Take a length of leadered or piped
quickmatch; lay one end of it on the mouth of a lance; push the
triangular bradawl through the match and down into the lance; turn the
bradawl round, which will insure the breaking of the match and of the
priming; withdraw the bradawl, and push in a rivet; and so proceed. Take
a strip of flannel 3 inches broad, roll it into the shape of a cork, and
secure it from untwisting with a bit of string. Dip this into a
solution of gum arabic or thick dextrine, and rub it over a sheet of
double-crown. When dry, cut the sheet into pieces about half an inch
broad and an inch and a half long, something like postage stamps. Take
one of these, damp it like a postage stamp, and press it over the
joining, and smooth it round the lance. Or a strip of paper may be
pasted, and pressed round. The match will thus be nailed, as it were, to
the lances; and prevented from slipping off by the gummed or pasted
strip of paper. A common bradawl will not answer the purpose so well as
a triangular one, as the sharp edges of the latter break the match and
priming, and insure the ignition.
TO FORM A DEVICE, OR DESIGN.
Take a sheet of paper, and draw upon it a representation of whatever is
intended, as a temple, a mosque, a ship, a horse, George and the dragon,
&c.; then cross the design with lines, at regular distances, and at
right angles, so as to cover it with squares, as fig. 86. It is now
requisite to have a floor, of a considerable size; but not necessarily
so large as the design intended to be fired, as a part can be done at a
time; this floor must be divided into large squares, and the device from
the small pattern, fig. 86, transferred to it, and the outlines chalked
on the floor, fig. 87. After this a number of frames are to be made, of
deal, or other wood, like square lattice-work, as fig. 91. A frame is
then to be laid on the floor, so as to cover _a portion_ of the design;
and the French nails, or inch rivets, before mentioned, driven in, at
distances of 3 inches, to receive the lances. Every frame must be
numbered, and a copy kept in miniature, so that they may be correctly
fitted together, to form the figure, without delay or error. To
distribute the fire rapidly, over an extensive piece, it is necessary,
at points, to make one leader light several, simultaneously. Suppose 10
are to be lighted at once: bring the 10 ends together and tie them;
envelope them with a piece of double-crown, projecting a couple of
inches; in the void put a scoop of meal; bring in the single match that
is to light them, and tie as usual. Paste a piece of paper over all, to
make secure.
TO PRESERVE STEEL FILINGS, OR CAST-IRON BORINGS.
Put 1 lb. into a frying-pan, or iron ladle, with 3 ounces of marine
glue; set it over the fire; and, as the glue melts, stir it about till
thoroughly incorporated with the filings, or borings. When cold, bottle
them, and cork. Marine glue may be obtained at Pattrick and Sons, 51,
High Street, Whitechapel. It is 1_s._ per lb., which is the smallest
quantity sold. Marine glue is made by putting pieces of india-rubber
into mineral naphtha; the caoutchouc swells up; it is then to be
triturated into a uniform mass, mixed with shellac, and melted. Wax
solution, or stearine solution, rubbed up in a mortar, with steel
filings, or cast-iron borings, also preserves them. The nitre of the
gunpowder, however, attacks them, and ultimately rusts them; so that
fireworks are never so brilliant as when recently charged.
_SHELLS._
Shells are hollow paper globes, fired vertically, from mortars, or iron
tubes. They are made of various sizes, from 3 inches in diameter to 16
inches. To make a 3-inch shell. Turn a wooden ball, 3 inches diameter;
and, round the middle, that is, the equatorial circumference, cut a V
groove, or triangular channel, deep enough to receive a piece of raw or
naked match. Remove it from the lathe, and cut it into two halves at
right angles to the groove, that is, round a meridional circumference.
Construct a deal box, 4 inches square, 2 inches deep. Place one of the
half globes, flat surface downwards, on the middle of the bottom of the
box, and secure it with screws from underneath. Brush it, and the
inside of the box, all over, with sweet oil, with a camel's-hair pencil.
Put some water into a basin; sprinkle into it as much plaster of paris
as judged necessary; about 4 tablespoonfuls; pour off the water which
floats above; stir up the plaster till homogeneous; pour it into the
box; and, with a sash-tool held upright, beat the plaster in with the
points of the bristles. Leave it to set.
Instead of having a wooden ball turned, a hemispherical concavity may be
made by pressing, half way, into sand, one of the painted india-rubber
balls sold at the toyshops; and pouring plaster over it. Or, a basin, an
inch diameter larger than the intended shell, can have the plaster mixed
up in it, till about three-parts full; and then the bottom of an oil
flask can be pressed into it. A narrow strip of blue paper should be
previously pasted round the oil flask, at the proper height, as a guide
to know the proper depth to which it may be pressed. The plaster, when
partly dry, must be neatly trimmed; and may be left, permanently, in the
basin. Or, a stiff paper cylinder, or a tin cylinder, may be made, an
inch larger in diameter than the diameter of the intended shell: put
the oil flask into this, neck downwards, and pour in dry sand, till only
the hemispherical bottom of the flask is left exposed; level the sand;
oil the flask; and pour in plaster, as before. Be careful that the mould
is not less than half-an-inch thick in any part. Or, one or two, or more
halves of the zinc, or copper globes, used for ball-taps, may be
obtained of the plumber, and used for moulds, without further
preparation.
TO MAKE THE SHELLS.
Procure two kinds of paper; one imperial brown; the other sugar paper,
printed paper, paper hangings, or any paper of a different colour from
brown. The shell is supposed to be 3 inches; half as much again is
4-1/2; add to this 1-1/2 for a flange, gives 6. Cut out a circular piece
of the brown paper, 6 inches in diameter. Snip it all round with the
scissors, in slits, reaching from the circumference, half way towards
the centre; soak it in water, and lay it on a towel to drain. Have a
piece of sponge, about the size of an orange; soak it also, and wring
it. Place the piece of brown paper in the plaster concavity, and press
it in neatly with the sponge, in all directions; it will fill up the
mould, and overhang all round; press the overhanging part flat, so that
it forms a flange. Cut a piece of another coloured paper, into a strip,
about 2 inches broad, and paste it well; then cut it across, backward
and forward, like the letter W, which will reduce it to V-shaped
triangles. Take these up, one by one; lay them in the brown paper,
pasted side downwards, and press them neatly in with the sponge, making
each slightly overlap the other. Let these also overhang to thicken the
flange. This being done, proceed with a layer of brown; and so on,
alternately, till it gauges about 2-3/4 inches across. The shell will,
then, be about 1/8 of an inch thick. Remove it, and proceed with others.
The different-coloured papers enable the eye to detect, in a moment,
whether any part is left uncovered. When dry, cut off the flange; make
the edge straight: rub it on a sheet of glass paper, spread flat on a
board. With a 9/16 inch punch, cut a hole in the middle of one
hemisphere; to it, glue another hemisphere: and cover with two more
layers of paper, or pieces of calico. The shell may, then, when dry, be
filled with any kind of stars, or rains, that can be got through the
hole. Along with the stars put 1/16 of their weight of meal powder for a
bursting charge: that is, if the stars weigh 4 ounces, as they probably
will, put 4 drams of mealpowder. Charge a roman candle case, 3/8 inch
internal, (4-1/2)/8 external diameter, with shell fuse (see fig. 59);
saw it into inch lengths. Cut a piece of calico, 2 inches broad, and
long enough to go twice round the fuse: paste the calico all over, and
roll the fuse in it, so that the envelope is flush at one end, and
overhangs one inch at the other. Glue this in the hole of the shell, the
flush end, a, fig. 93, of course, inward: the enveloped end, b, being to
receive the match, 3/4 of the fuse may be pushed in, 1/4 of an inch left
to project. With a printer's bodkin, or a stiletto, make a hole through
both sides of the envelope, as at c and d; these holes are to be in a
line with the groove; put through them a piece of raw match, in such a
manner that it shall lie across the mouth of the fuse, and go, in the
groove, round the shell underneath, and reach to e and f. Paste strips
of paper over the match, the same as with tourbillions and saxons; or,
the part of the match lying in the groove, may be in a leader pipe.
Weigh the shell, and take about 1/5 of its weight of coarse grain
powder, for a blowing charge. Make a cone of two or three thicknesses of
paper; put the blowing charge into it; stick the cone on the bottom of
the shell, and set by to dry. In the calico mouth of the fuse, tie a
long piece of leadered match, and paste a strip of paper round, to make
secure. If the mould has been made with the indentation of an oil flask,
or with the globe of a ball-tap, it will, of course, not have a groove
to receive the match; but this is of little consequence; the match can
be drawn round outside, and covered, so as to appear as it does on
tourbillions and saxons, like a vein on the back of the hand, when the
fingers are held downwards.
Formerly mortars were made of sheet iron, riveted and bound round with
cord, which latter would not prevent them cracking, if they were not
thick enough: they are now made on an improved principle: the iron is
rolled, by powerful machinery, of three thicknesses, exactly like a
squib case; it is, then, made white-hot, and the three are welded
together, with a steam hammer. Large mortars, also, have an iron bottom,
or breech fixed in them, and are farther strengthened with a couple of
rings, put on hot, and shrunk by cold, like tires on wheels; a third
ring is put over the other two, as in the Armstrong guns. The mortar is
placed in a hole, dug in the ground, a few inches left standing out; the
earth is shovelled in, and driven down firm; a penthouse lid, to keep
out rain, dirt, and insects, renders it complete. Amateurs require
nothing of this kind. A small mortar may be a tube, open at both ends,
and fitted with a wooden bottom, to which it is to be firmly screwed.
Fig. 94 represents such mortar: it may be 4 diameters high; and the foot
should have a conical hole turned in it to receive the cone fastened to
the shell. The match is lit at t; but this may have a long bit of
touch-paper attached to it, if preferred.
Instead of making a plaster mould, to form the shells in, the shells may
be made by covering a wooden sphere, with paper, on the outside; when
dry, they may be cut round in the lathe (a cross mark, with a pencil,
having previously been made, as a guide to bring the same parts together
again); the wooden mould removed; the cut edges glued; and the shell
fitted up, in the usual way. Clean oil flasks may be covered with six or
eight thicknesses of paper: paste an inch, or two, round the neck; when
dry, cut through the cover, near the spherical part; file a notch all
round, and snap it off. I have made excellent shells this way; the chief
objection against them is their limited size. Glass globes might be
blown, of uniform size, in moulds, like bottles. Another ready way of
making shells, is to cover the india-rubber air-balls, of the toyshops,
almost as thin as soap-bubbles; when the cover is dry, a hole may be
cut, for the fuse, with a penknife, and they are ready, at once, to
receive the stars. Their shape is that of a prolate spheroid, fig. 106.
After eight thicknesses, or more, of paper have been pasted on, measure,
with a tape, round the equatorial circumference, b e d, which suppose 17
inches; add 1 to this=18 inches. Measure from the pole, a, down the
meridian by e to the opposite pole c, suppose 11 inches. Cut a piece of
double-crown, 18 by 11; fold it down the middle, to a double thickness
of 9 by 11; fold-again to 4-1/2 by 11; again to 2-1/4 by 11; there will,
now, be eight thicknesses. Pencil the shape fig. 107 upon the top, and
cut through the whole. Paste the eight gores on, as in fig. 106; for
ornament, half may be pink; half, green. If these air-balls could be
blown in a spherical mould, of uniform size, they would obviate the
gluing process, which is, at present, a tedious and necessary evil; they
would, also, be much cheaper, as they could be supplied for about 4_d._
per dozen, and save the cost of a great deal of needless labour.
_CYLINDRICAL SHELLS._