Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1886 — Roman Candles. [ARTICLE]

Roman Candles.

Very careful adjustment is needed in the making of Roman candles, as the great thing is to have the different colored balls turn out with exactly the same force, so as to play in the same sphere. The fiery balls of color are little lumps of composition filled into the case, and separated from each other by a layer of dark fire, a little charge of gunpowder which blows them into the air, and, if the charges were all' alike, every ball would be thrown out' a little further than its predecessor, because the deeper in the case an explosion takes place the more violent it is, the resistance being greater. To obviate this the charge of powder is made to increase as the tube fills up, hence the largest charge is under the first ball. The workman who fills a Roman candle has before him a series of little scoops of different sizes for measuring the powder, and uses them in succession, the smallest being used for the first ball put in, and the largest for the mouth of the tub. Arsenite of copper and sal ammoniac makes a beautiful blue; chlorate of baryta, when fired, produces a dazzling green; sal ammoniac, when combined with coloring substances, gives depth and intensity; chlorate of potash generates the gas which gives fire works their velocity. Red is composed of strontia, the nitrate, sulphur, and potash. + No man was ever so mean that he would not give advice. ,