At one time the match trade in the Far East was in the hands largely of Swedish exporters, though a small portion of the supplies came from the Ubited Kingdom, says the "Straits Times" In the early nineties, says a statement circulated to the home press, Japan took up the manufacture of matches for export, and in a very fern years estab. lished such an "ascendancy that British matches disappeared from the Eastern market, and the Swedes were almost in similar case. The statistics of the Straits Settlements give a good idea of the present position of the match trade in the region of the Malay Archipelago, and it will be seen from the figures quoted below that Japan has a virtual monopoly.
It is satisfactory to note, however, that this monopoly is likely soon to be challenged, for a British _company has been formed in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the.M.S.,' with the object of esting a match factory in the neighbourhood. Tests have been made by an expert with woods found in the forests of the Malay Peninsula, and it has been ascertained that suitable supplies can be obtained for the manufacture of matches. Machinery has been ordered from England, and the work of erection should be begun at an early date, giving British Malaya a new industry, which has the promise of becoming one of considerable importance.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.