Subdivision 1. Safety matches. No person, association, or corporation shall manufacture, store, offer for sale, sell, or otherwise dispose of, or distribute, white phosphorus, single-dipped, strike-anywhere matches of the type popularly known as "parlor matches", or any type of double-dipped matches, unless the bulb or first dip of such match is composed of a so-called safety or inert composition, nonignitable on an abrasive surface. No person, association, or corporation shall manufacture, store, sell, offer for sale, or otherwise dispose of, or distribute, matches which will ignite in a laboratory oven at a temperature of less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit when subjected in such laboratory oven to a gradually increasing heat and maintained at the before stated continuous temperature for a period of not less than eight hours, or blazer or so-called wind matches, whether of the so-called safety or strike-anywhere type.

Subd. 2. Brands and trademarks. No person, association, or corporation shall offer for sale, sell or otherwise dispose of, or distribute, any matches, unless the package or container in which such matches are packed bears, plainly marked on the outside thereof, the name of the manufacturer and the brand or trademark under which such matches are sold, disposed of, or distributed.

Subd. 3. How kept in retail stores. Not more than one case of each brand of matches of any type or manufacture shall be opened at any one time in any retail store where matches are sold or otherwise disposed of; nor shall loose boxes, or paper-wrapped packages, of matches be kept on shelves or stored in retail stores at a height exceeding five feet from the floor.

Subd. 4. Storage in warehouses. All matches stored in warehouses, excepting manufacturer's warehouse at place of manufacture, which contain automatic sprinkler equipment, must be kept only in properly secured cases, and not piled to a height exceeding ten feet from the floor; nor be stored within a horizontal distance of ten feet from any boiler, furnace, stove, or other like heating apparatus, nor within a horizontal distance of 25 feet from any explosive material kept or stored on the same floor.

Subd. 5. Boxes, how made. All matches shall be packed in boxes or suitable packages, containing not more than 700 matches in any one box or package; provided, that when more than 300 matches are packed in any one box or package, the matches shall be arranged in two nearly equal portions, the heads of the matches in the two portions shall be placed in opposite directions; and all boxes containing 350 or more matches shall have placed over the matches a center holding or protecting strip, made of chipboard, not less than 1-1/4 inches wide, which shall be flanged down to hold the matches in position when the box is nested into the shuck or withdrawn from it.

Subd. 6. Containers or cases; number of boxes or packages; how marked. All match boxes or packages shall be packed in strong shipping containers or cases; maximum number of match boxes or packages contained in any one shipping container or case shall not exceed the following number:

No shipping container or case constructed of fiberboard, corrugated fiberboard, or wood, nailed or wire-bound, containing matches, shall have a weight, including its contents, exceeding 75 pounds; and no lock-cornered wood case containing matches shall have a weight, including its contents, exceeding 85 pounds; nor shall any other article or commodity be packed with matches in any container or case; and all shipping containers or cases containing strike-anywhere matches shall have plainly marked on the outside thereof the words "strike-anywhere matches," and all shipping containers or cases containing "strike on box" matches shall have plainly marked on the outside thereof the words "strike on box matches."

Subd. 7. Violations; penalties. Any person, association, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined, for the first offense, not less than $5 nor more than $25 and for each subsequent violation, not less than $25.

History: (6019-6022) 1913 c 99 s 1-4