MATANZAS

matanzas, an important city of cuba, capital of matanzas province, situated on a large deep bay on the n. coast, about 54 m. (by rail) e. of havana. pop. (1907), 36,009. there are railway outlets w., s. and e., and matanzas is served by steamships to new york and by the coast steamers of the herrera line. the bay, unlike all the other better harbours of the island, has a broad mouth, 2 m. across, but there is good shelter against all winds except from the n.e. a coral reef lies across the entrance. three rivers emptying into the bay--the san juan, canimar and yumuri--have deposited much silt, necessitating the use of lighters in loading and unloading large ships. the city is finely placed at the head of the bay, on a low, sloping plain backed by wooded hills, over some of which the city itself has spread. the conical pan de matanzas (1277 ft.) is a striking land-mark for sailors. the san juan and yumuri rivers divide matanzas into three districts. the teatro esteban, casino espanol and government house are noteworthy among the buildings. the broad paseo de marti (alameda de versalles, paseo de santa cristina) extends along the edge of the harbour, and is perhaps the handsomest parkway and boulevard in cuba. at one end is a statue of ferdinand vii., at the other a monument to 63 cubans executed by the spanish government as traitors for bearing arms in the cause of independence. a splendid military road continues the paseo to the castillo de san serverino (built in 1694-1695, reconstructed in 1773 and following years). there are two smaller forts, established in the 18th century. near matanzas are two of the most noted natural resorts of cuba: the valley of the yumuri, and the caves of bellamar. commanding the yumuri valley is the hill called cumbre, on which is the hermitage of monteserrate (1870), with a famous shrine. matanzas is the second port of the island in commerce. sugar and molasses are the chief exports. the city is the chief outlet for the sugar product of the province, which, with the province of santa clara, produces two-thirds of the crop of the island. there are many large warehouses, rum distilleries, sugar-mills and railway machine-shops. matanzas is frequently mentioned in the annals of the 16th and 17th centuries, when its bay was frequented by buccaneers; but the city was not laid out until 1693. in the next year it received an _ayuntamiento_ (council). its prosperity rapidly increased after the establishment of free commerce early in the 19th century. in 1815 it was made a department capital. the mulatto poet, gabriel de la concepcion valdes, known as placido (1809-1844), was born in matanzas, and was executed there for participation in the supposed conspiracy of negroes in 1844, which is one of the most famous episodes in cuban history. the hurricanes of 1844 and 1846 are the only other prominent local events. american commercial influence has always been particularly strong. mataro (anc. _iluro_), a seaport of north-eastern spain, in the province of barcelona, on the mediterranean sea and the barcelona-perpignan railway. pop. (1900), 19,704. the streets of the new town, lying next the sea, are wide and regularly built; those of the old town, farther up the hill, still preserve much of their ancient character. the parish church of santa maria has some good pictures and wood carvings. the wine of the neighbourhood, which resembles port, is shipped in large quantities from barcelona; and the district furnishes fine roses and strawberries for the barcelona market. the leading industries are manufactures of linen and cotton goods, especially canvas and tarpaulin, and of soap, paper, chemicals, starch, glass, leather, spirits and flour. the railway to barcelona, opened in october 1848, was the first to be constructed in spain. outside the town is the much-frequented carbonated mineral spring of argentona. match: 1. o. eng. _gemaecca_, a cognate form of "make," meaning originally "fit" or "suitable"; a pair, or one of a pair of objects, persons or animals. as particularly applied to a husband and wife, and hence to a marriage, the word is especially used of two persons or things which correspond exactly to each other. the verb "to match" has also the meaning to "pit one against each other," and so is applied in sport to an arranged contest between individuals or sides. 2. o. fr. _mesche_; apparently from a latinized form of gr. [greek: myxa], mucus from the nose, applied to the nozzle of a lamp; primarily the wick which conveys oil or molten wax to the flame of a lamp or candle (this use is now obsolete), the word being then applied to various objects having the property of carrying fire. with early firearms a match, consisting of a cord of hemp or similar material treated with nitre and other substances so that it continued to smoulder after it had been ignited, was used for firing the charge, being either held in the gunner's hand or attached to the cock of the musket or arquebus and brought down by the action of the trigger on the powder priming ("matchlock"); and more or less similar preparations, made to burn more or less rapidly as required ("quick-match" and "slow-match"), are employed as fuses in blasting and demolition work in military operations. the word "match" was further used of a splint of wood, tipped with sulphur so that it would readily ignite, but it now most commonly means a slip of wood or other combustible material, having its end covered with a composition which takes fire when rubbed either on any rough surface or on another specially prepared composition. the first attempt to make matches in the modern sense may probably be ascribed to godfrey haukwitz, who, in 1680, acting under the direction of robert boyle, who at that time had just discovered how to prepare phosphorus, employed small pieces of that element, ignited by friction, to light splints of wood dipped in sulphur. this device, however, did not come into extensive use owing to its danger and inconvenience and to the cost of the phosphorus, and till the beginning of the 19th century flint and steel with tinder-box and sulphur-tipped splints of wood--"spunks" or matches--were the common means of obtaining fire for domestic and other purposes. the sparks struck off by the percussion of flint and steel were made to fall among the tinder, which consisted of carbonized fragments of cotton and linen; the entire mass of the tinder was set into a glow, developing sufficient heat to ignite the sulphur with which the matches were tipped, and thereby the splints themselves were set on fire. in 1805 one chancel, assistant to professor l. j. thenard of paris, introduced an apparatus consisting of a small bottle containing asbestos, saturated with strong sulphuric acid, with splints or matches coated with sulphur, and tipped with a mixture of chlorate of potash and sugar. the matches so prepared, when brought into contact with the sulphuric acid in the bottle, ignited, and thus, by chemical action, fire was produced. in 1823 a decided impetus was given to the artificial production of fire by the introduction of the dobereiner lamp, so called after its inventor, j. w. dobereiner of jena. the first really practical friction matches were made in england in 1827, by john walker, a druggist of stockton-on-tees. these were known as "congreves" after sir william congreve, the inventor of the congreve rocket, and consisted of wooden splints or sticks of cardboard coated with sulphur and tipped with a mixture of sulphide of antimony, chlorate of potash and gum. with each box which was retailed at a shilling, there was supplied a folded piece of glass paper, the folds of which were to be tightly pressed together, while the match was drawn through between them. the same idea occurred to sir isaac holden independently two and a half years later. the so-called "prometheans," patented by s. jones of london in 1830, consisted of a short roll of paper with a small quantity of a mixture of chlorate of potash and sugar at one end, a thin glass globule of strong sulphuric acid being attached at the same point. when the sulphuric acid was liberated by pinching the glass globule, it acted on the mixed chlorate and sugar, producing fire. the phosphorus friction-match of the present day was first introduced on a commercial scale in 1833. it appears to have been made almost simultaneously in several distinct centres. the name most prominently connected with the early stages of the invention is that of j. preschel of vienna, who in 1833 had a factory in operation for making phosphorus matches, fusees, and amadou slips tipped with igniting composition. at the same time also matches were being made by f. moldenhauer in darmstadt; and for a long series of years austria and the south-german states were the principal centres of the new industry. but the use of ordinary white or yellow phosphorus as a principal ingredient in the igniting mixture of matches was found to be accompanied with very serious disadvantages. it is a deadly poison, and its free dissemination has led to many accidental deaths, and to numerous cases of wilful murder and suicide. workers also who are exposed to phosphoric vapours are subject to a peculiarly distressing disease which attacks the jaw, and ultimately produces necrosis of the jaw-bone ("phossy jaw"), though with scrupulous attention to ventilation and cleanliness much of the risk of the disease may be avoided. the most serious objections to the use of phosphorus, however, were overcome by the discovery of the modified form of that body known as red or amorphous phosphorus. that substance was utilized for the manufacture of the well-known "safety matches" by j. e. lundstrom, of jonkoping, sweden, in 1852; its employment for this purpose had been patented eight years previously by another swede, g. e. pasch, who, however, regarded it as an oxide of phosphorus. red phosphorus is in itself a perfectly innocuous substance, and no evil effects arise from freely working the compositions of which it forms an ingredient. the fact again that safety matches ignite only in exceptional circumstances on any other than the prepared surfaces which accompany the box--which surfaces and not the matches themselves contain the phosphorus required for ignition--makes them much less liable to cause accidental fires than other kinds. the processes carried out in a match factory include preparing the splints, dipping them first in molten paraffin wax and then in the igniting composition, and filling the matches into boxes. all these operations are performed by complicated automatic machinery, in the development of which the diamond match company of america has taken a leading part, with the minimum of manual intervention. the chief element in the igniting mixture of ordinary or "strike anywhere" matches used to be common yellow phosphorus, combined with one or more other bodies which readily part with oxygen under the influence of heat. chief among these latter substances is chlorate of potash, others being red lead, nitrate of lead, bichromate of potash and peroxide of manganese. but at the beginning of the 20th century many countries took steps to stop the use of yellow phosphorus owing to the danger to health attending its manipulation. in sweden, matches made with it have been prohibited for home consumption, but not for export, since 1901. in 1905 and 1906 two conferences, attended by representatives of most of the governments of europe, were held at berne to consider the question of prohibiting yellow phosphorus, but no general agreement was reached owing to the objections entertained by sweden, norway, spain and portugal, and also japan. germany, france, italy, denmark, holland, switzerland and luxemburg, however, agreed to a convention whereby yellow phosphorus was prohibited as from 1912, and to this great britain expressed her adherence after the passing of the white matches prohibition act 1908, which forbade the manufacture and importation of such matches from the 1st of january 1910; though to avoid hardship to retailers and others holding large stocks it permitted their sale for a year longer. phosphorous sulphide (sesquisulphide of phosphorus) is one of the substances widely employed as a substitute for yellow phosphorus in matches which will strike anywhere without the need of a specially prepared surface. safety matches contain no phosphorus in the heads; according to one formula that has been published the mixture with which they are tipped consists of chlorate of potash, 32 parts; bichromate of potash, 12; red lead, 32; sulphide of antimony, 24; while the ingredients of a suitable rubbing surface are eight parts of amorphous phosphorus to nine of sulphide of antimony. there is no doubt, however, that there is considerable diversity in the composition of the mixtures actually employed. "vestas" are matches in which short pieces of thin "wax taper" are used in place of wooden splints. fusees or vesuvians consist of large oval heads fixed on a round splint. these heads consist of a porous mixture of charcoal, saltpetre, cascarilla or other scented bark, glass and gum, tipped with common igniting composition. when lighted they form a glowing mass, without flame. it is calculated that in the principal european countries from six to ten matches are used for each inhabitant daily, and the world's annual output must reach a total which requires twelve or thirteen figures for its expression. in the united states the manufacture is under the control of the diamond match company, formed in 1881; which company also has an important share in the industry in great britain, where it has established large works. similarly the manufacture of safety matches in sweden is largely controlled by one big combination. in france matches are a government monopoly, and are both dear in price and inferior in quality, as compared with other countries where the industry is left to private enterprise. the french government formerly leased the manufacture to a company (_societe generale des allumettes chimiques_), but since 1890 it has been undertaken directly by the state. mate (a corruption of _make_, from o. eng. _gemaca_, a "comrade"), a companion. in the language of the sea, the mate is the companion or assistant of the master, or of any officer at the head of a division of the crew. in the merchant service the mates are the officers who serve under the master, commonly called the captain, navigate the vessel under his direction, and replace him if he dies, or is disabled. in a war-ship mates serve under the gunner, boatswain, carpenter, &c. they are officers told off to attend to a particular part of the ship, as for example mate of the upper deck, whose duty is to see that it is kept clean, or mate of the hold, who is employed to serve out the water and other stores, and to keep the weights adjusted so as to preserve the trim--or balance--of the ship. (for "mate" in chess, see chess.) mate, or paraguay tea, the dried leaves of _ilex paraguariensis_,[1] an evergreen shrub or small tree belonging to the same genus as the common holly, a plant to which it bears some resemblance in size and habit. the leaves are from 6 to 8 in. long, shortly stalked, with a somewhat acute tip and finely toothed at the margin. the small white flowers grow in forked clusters in the axils of the leaves; the sepals, petals and stamens are four in number, or occasionally five; and the berry is 4-seeded. the plant grows abundantly in paraguay, and the south of brazil, forming woods called _yerbales_. one of the principal centres of the mate industry is the villa real, a small town above asuncion on the paraguay river; another is the villa de san xavier, in the district between the rivers uruguay and parana. although mate appears to have been used from time immemorial by the indians, the jesuits were the first to attempt its cultivation. this was begun at their branch missions in paraguay and the province of rio grande de san pedro, where some plantations still exist, and yield the best tea that is made. from this circumstance the names jesuits' tea, tea of the missions, st bartholomew's tea, &c., are sometimes applied to mate. under cultivation the quality of the tea improves, but the plant remains a small shrub with numerous stems, instead of forming, as in the wild state, a tree with a rounded head. from cultivated plants the leaves are gathered every two or three years, that interval being necessary for restoration to vigorous growth. the collection of mate is, however, chiefly effected by indians employed for that purpose by merchants, who pay a money consideration to government for the privilege. when a yerbal or mate wood is found, the indians, who usually travel in companies of about twenty-five in number, build wigwams and settle down to the work for about six months. their first operation is to prepare an open space, called a _tatacua_, about 6 ft. square, in which the surface of the soil is beaten hard and smooth with mallets. the leafy branches of the mate are then cut down and placed on the tatacua, where they undergo a preliminary roasting from a fire kindled around it. an arch of poles, or of hurdles, is then erected above it, on which the mate is placed, a fire being lighted underneath. this part of the process demands some care, since by it the leaves have to be rendered brittle enough to be easily pulverized, and the aroma has to be developed, the necessary amount of heat being only learned by experience. after drying, the leaves are reduced to coarse powder in mortars formed of pits in the earth well rammed. mate so prepared is called _caa gazu_ or _yerva do polos_, and is chiefly used in brazil. in paraguay and the vicinity of parana in the argentine republic, the leaves are deprived of the midrib before roasting; this is called _caa-miri_. a very superior quality, or _caa-cuys_, is also prepared in paraguay from the scarcely expanded buds. another method of drying mate has been adopted, the leaves being heated in large cast-iron pans set in brickwork, in the same way that tea is dried in china; it is afterwards powdered by machinery. [illustration: mate (_ilex paraguariensis_). portion of plant, half natural size. flower, drupe and nuts, twice natural size. part of under-side of leaf showing minute glands, natural size.] the different methods of preparation influence to a certain extent the value of the product, the mate prepared in paraguay being considered the best, that of oran and paranagua very inferior. the leaves when dried are packed tightly in serons or oblong packages made of raw hides, which are then carefully sewed up. these shrink by exposure to the sun, and in a couple of days form compact parcels each containing about 200 lb. of tea; in this form it keeps well. the tea is generally prepared for use in a small silver-mounted calabash, made of the fruit of _crescentia cujete_ (cuca) or of _lagenaria_ (cabaco), usually about the size of a large orange, the tapering end of the latter serving for a handle. in the top of the calabash, or _mate_,[2] a circular hole about the size of a florin is made, and through this opening the tea is sucked by means of a bombilla. this instrument consists of a small tube 6 or 7 in. long, formed either of metal or a reed, which has at one end a bulb made either of extremely fine basket-work or of metal perforated with minute holes, so as to prevent the particles of the tea-leaves from being drawn up into the mouth. some sugar and a little hot water are first placed in the gourd, the yerva is then added, and finally the vessel is filled to the brim with boiling water, or milk previously heated by a spirit lamp. a little burnt sugar or lemon juice is sometimes added instead of milk. the beverage is then handed round to the company, each person being furnished with a bombilla. the leaves will bear steeping about three times. the infusion, if not drunk soon after it is made, rapidly turns black. persons who are fond of mate drink it before every meal, and consume about 1 oz. of the leaves per day. in the neighbourhood of parana it is prepared and drunk like chinese tea. mate is generally considered disagreeable by those unaccustomed to it, having a somewhat bitter taste; moreover, it is the custom to drink it so hot as to be unpleasant. but in the south-eastern republics it is a much-prized article of luxury, and is the first thing offered to visitors. the _gaucho_ of the plains will travel on horseback for weeks asking no better fare than dried beef washed down with copious draughts of mate, and for it he will forego any other luxury, such as sugar, rice or biscuit. mate acts as a restorative after great fatigue in the same manner as tea. since it does not lose its flavour so quickly as tea by exposure to the air and damp it is more valuable to travellers. since the beginning of the 17th century mate has been drunk by all classes in paraguay, and it is now used throughout brazil and the neighbouring countries. the virtues of this substance are due to the occurrence in it of caffeine, of which a given quantity of mate, as prepared for drinking, contains definitely less than a similar quantity of tea or coffee. it is less astringent than either of these, and thus is, on all scores, less open to objection. see scully, _brazil_ (london, 1866); mansfield, _brazil_ (london, 1856); christy, _new commercial plants_, no. 3 (london, 1880); _kew bulletin_ (1892), p. 132. footnotes: [1] _i. gigantea_, _i. ovalifolia_, _i. humboldtiana_, and _i. nigropunctata_, besides several varieties of these species, are also used for preparing mate. [2] the word _caa_ signified the plant in the native indian language. the spaniards gave it a similar name, _yerba_. _mate_ comes from the language of the incas, and originally means a calabash. the paraguay tea was called at first _yerva do mate_, and then, the _yerva_ being dropped, the name _mate_ came to signify the same thing.