Blasting Items/Coast Mfg Safety Fuse Wrapper

Blasting Items

Coast Mfg Safety Fuse Wrapper.JPG - COAST MFG & SUPPLY CO SAFETY FUSE WRAPPER - Original safety fuse paper wrapper, 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 in., image of grizzly bear with marking WHITE COUNTERED WATERPROOF SAFETY FUSE 100 FEET MANUFACTURED BY COAST MFG & SUPPLY CO. LIVERMORE CALIFORNIA and IN COLD WEATHER WARM FUSE SLIGHTLY BEFORE UNCOILING, wrapper has lot number perforations, the wrapper has been re-wrapped onto a 6 in. dia. foam inner core to look like it was originally packed, generous gift to the museum from my good Alaskan friend Neil Tysver [The invention and development of the patented safety fuse in 1831 by William Bickford of Cornwall, England was a major improvement in the safety and conditions of mining. This fuse soon replaced the less reliable fuses which were made of straws or quills filled with black powder, thus greatly reducing the hazard of accidental explosions in mining or construction. Word of the reliability of Bickford's safety fuse spread, and was soon in large demand across world markets. Bickford with the help of his son-in-law George Smith and a working miner named Thomas Davey invented a machine which would thread and weave two layers of jute yarn (a shiny vegetable fiber), spun in opposite directions, over a small tube of gunpowder, the whole of which would then be varnished with tar to waterproof the product. The outcome was the development of a fuse which when lit would burn at a known rate of about 30 seconds per foot. The firm of Bickford, Smith and Davey expanded to the US in 1836 with the firm Bickford, Bacon, Eales & Company located in Simsbury CT. In 1839 Joseph Toy was sent from England by the British partners to improve the company’s operations. After continuing problems, Toy was advised by the home office to dissolve the partnership with Bacon and set up his own manufactory - Toy, Bickford & Co. - in 1851. After getting his plant into production, he spent several years traveling to mining camps in the United States, going underground with the crews to demonstrate the effectiveness of his product. Joseph Toy would become the inspired driving force who introduced safety fuse into blasting practice in U.S. mines. To expand the company, Toy turned to his son-in-law Ralph Hart Ensign for help. In 1867 a California branch was established by Ensign in Alameda California to meet the need for fuses in the mines. By 1870, the invention of the blasting cap called for a more precise fuse manufacturing process to meet the tolerances required. Joseph Toy met the challenge and controlled all parts of the manufacturing process from raw material to finished product and distribution. By the late 1880s, Toy's fuse was being used in mines across the U.S. After his death in 1887, the firm became known as the Ensign, Bickford & Co. The California branch of the business was located in what was then known as Fitchburg but is now a part of Oakland. Ralph Hart Ensign was listed as president but vice president and general manager James B. Merritt assumed the management of the business, which he successfully conducted for thirty years. Prior to 1903 there were in operation in and near Alameda county four independent fuse manufactories. These were the Ensign-Bickford Company, the California Fuse Works, the Western Fuse & Explosive Company, and the Metropolitan Fuse & Match Company. This existing condition was not productive of prosperity for any of the parties concerned and in that year Merritt together with others succeeded in bringing about a consolidation of those interests, which resulted in the organization of the Coast Manufacturing & Supply Company. In 1913 the company moved its operations to Livermore CA. The output of the plant was confined exclusively to one product, that of the safety fuse. At that time, Albert H. Merritt, James son, was the sole head and director of the company on the Pacific coast. The secretary was T. W. Morris and the technical representative was Grant H. Todd. In 1968 the Coast company (now manufacturing fiberglass products) merged with the Hexcel Corporation. The fuse business was sold to Apache Powder Company in Benson, Arizona.]

Coast Mfg Safety Fuse Wrapper | COAST MFG & SUPPLY CO SAFETY FUSE WRAPPER - Original safety fuse paper wrapper, 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 in., image of grizzly bear with marking WHITE COUNTERED WATERPROOF SAFETY FUSE 100 FEET MANUFACTURED BY COAST MFG & SUPPLY CO. LIVERMORE CALIFORNIA and IN COLD WEATHER WARM FUSE SLIGHTLY BEFORE UNCOILING, wrapper has lot number perforations, the wrapper has been re-wrapped onto a 6 in. dia. foam inner core to look like it was originally packed, generous gift to the museum from my good Alaskan friend Neil Tysver [The invention and development of the patented safety fuse in 1831 by William Bickford of Cornwall, England was a major improvement in the safety and conditions of mining. This fuse soon replaced the less reliable fuses which were made of straws or quills filled with black powder, thus greatly reducing the hazard of accidental explosions in mining or construction. Word of the reliability of Bickford's safety fuse spread, and was soon in large demand across world markets. Bickford with the help of his son-in-law George Smith and a working miner named Thomas Davey invented a machine which would thread and weave two layers of jute yarn (a shiny vegetable fiber), spun in opposite directions, over a small tube of gunpowder, the whole of which would then be varnished with tar to waterproof the product. The outcome was the development of a fuse which when lit would burn at a known rate of about 30 seconds per foot. The firm of Bickford, Smith and Davey expanded to the US in 1836 with the firm Bickford, Bacon, Eales & Company located in Simsbury CT. In 1839 Joseph Toy was sent from England by the British partners to improve the company’s operations. After continuing problems, Toy was advised by the home office to dissolve the partnership with Bacon and set up his own manufactory - Toy, Bickford & Co. - in 1851. After getting his plant into production, he spent several years traveling to mining camps in the United States, going underground with the crews to demonstrate the effectiveness of his product. Joseph Toy would become the inspired driving force who introduced safety fuse into blasting practice in U.S. mines. To expand the company, Toy turned to his son-in-law Ralph Hart Ensign for help. In 1867 a California branch was established by Ensign in Alameda California to meet the need for fuses in the mines. By 1870, the invention of the blasting cap called for a more precise fuse manufacturing process to meet the tolerances required. Joseph Toy met the challenge and controlled all parts of the manufacturing process from raw material to finished product and distribution. By the late 1880s, Toy's fuse was being used in mines across the U.S. After his death in 1887, the firm became known as the Ensign, Bickford & Co. The California branch of the business was located in what was then known as Fitchburg but is now a part of Oakland. Ralph Hart Ensign was listed as president but vice president and general manager James B. Merritt assumed the management of the business, which he successfully conducted for thirty years. Prior to 1903 there were in operation in and near Alameda county four independent fuse manufactories. These were the Ensign-Bickford Company, the California Fuse Works, the Western Fuse & Explosive Company, and the Metropolitan Fuse & Match Company. This existing condition was not productive of prosperity for any of the parties concerned and in that year Merritt together with others succeeded in bringing about a consolidation of those interests, which resulted in the organization of the Coast Manufacturing & Supply Company. In 1913 the company moved its operations to Livermore CA. The output of the plant was confined exclusively to one product, that of the safety fuse. At that time, Albert H. Merritt, James son, was the sole head and director of the company on the Pacific coast. The secretary was T. W. Morris and the technical representative was Grant H. Todd. In 1968 the Coast company (now manufacturing fiberglass products) merged with the Hexcel Corporation. The fuse business was sold to Apache Powder Company in Benson, Arizona.]

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