Posted with permission of the transcriber, Barb. Baker. Geo. CARLISLE PATRIOT, Saturday, November 18, 1843 / NEWS LUCIFER MATCH MACHINE. In a paragraph in your paper, and the "Journal" of last week, from a correspondent, it is stated that . . . . . . . "An ingenious machine has recently been invented and constructed by an humble cotton spinner of Carlisle, of the name of HART, for the manufacture of lucifer matches, which far exceeds, we believe, anything of the kind hitherto used in the manufacture of this extensive branch of trade; and in conclusion it further states, that the machine with one man's labour is capable of cutting the enormous quantity of 3120 in a minute." The writer of the above article is certainly not aware that many years ago, a patent was taken out for a similar machine for cutting lucifer matches, and is now at work at the City Saw Mills, City Road, London. The machine in question has 44 cutting knives, with a diagonal vertical cutter, is worked by steam power, but capable also of being worked by hand. This machine, it will be observed, far exceeds the performance claimed by the writer for MR. HART's. It cuts off 104 matches each stroke, and makes 80 strokes per minute; the length of the match-wood or cutting is the length of two matches. The enormous quantity therefore cut is 16,640 in one minute, upwards of five times the production of the ingenious Carlisle match machine. We are truly sorry that the humble but meritorious inventor should inadvertently have permitted any writer to have given publicity to his machine, until he had made himself certain that no one had preceded him to dispute priority of invention ... "Correspondent" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^