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of these pieces fold down lengthwise, rather less than an inch broad; fold the double edge down a quarter of an inch, and turn the single edge back half over the double fold; then open it, and lay all along the channel which is formed by the foldings of the paper, some meal powder; then fold it over and over, till all the paper is doubled up, rubbing it down every turn; this done, bend it backwards and forwards, two inches and a half or thereabouts at a time, as often as the paper will allow, then hold all these folds flat and close, and with a small pinching cord give one turn round the middle of the cracker, and pinch it close, then bind it with pack thread as tight as you can, then, in the place where it was pinched, prime one end, and cap it with touch paper. When these crackers are fired they will give a report at every turn of the paper.
to make waterloo crackers.
Take a slip of cartridge paper, about three quarters of an inch in width, paste and double it, let it remain till dry, then cut it in two equal parts in length, (Nos. 1 and 2,) according to the following pattern:—
| No.1Glass | S | Glass | No. 2. | |||||||||
Take some of the glass composition and lay it across the paper as in the pattern, put about a quarter of a grain of fulminating silver in that part marked S, and while the glass composition is moist, put the paper marked No. 2 over the furthest row of glass. Over all paste twice over the part that covers the silver, a piece of paper, let it dry, and when you wish to explode it, take hold of the two ends and pull them quickly from each other, when a loud report will be produced.
to make squibs and serpents.
First make the cases, of about six inches in length, by rolling slips of stout cartridge paper three times round a roller, and pasting the last fold, tying it near the bottom as tight as possible, and making it air tight at the end by sealing wax. Then take of gunpowder half a pound, one ounce of charcoal, one ounce of brimstone, and half an ounce of steel filings; grind them with a muller or pound them in a mortar. The cases being dry and ready, first put in a thimbleful of powder, and ram it hard down with a ruler, then fill the case to the top with the aforesaid mixture, ramming it hard down in the course of filling it two or three times; when this is done, point it with touchpaper, which should be pasted on that part which touches the case, otherwise it will be liable to drop off.
