Mower County transcript., 1871-07-13
History OF Arms.
ny THE "FAT CONTRIBUTOR

BY THE FAT CONTRIBUTOR.
Tue history OF arms would be interest
ing, properly handled. l never was an
adept at handling arms. l think l could
handle my legs much better in All cmcr-
gcncy.
The first arm Of which there appears to
have been any record was club Cain ad
ministered to his brother on the occasion
of family difficulty that is historic, Not
withstanding the vast improvement that
has been made in arms since that early
day, clubs are frequently trumps yet. The
club docs not always come to the man,
but the man goes to the Club greatly to
the disgust Of his wife, if he has one. In
such cases clubs are more offensive than
defensive.
Political clubs are welded to dcmolish
opposing candidates. and are often very
effective weapon. The reason Womcns
Rights clubs break up so often is because
every woman wants to weld it her own
individual self
The spear seems to have succeeded the
club as an arm. Mankind growing sharp
er, they sharpencd the primitive club to
point, and in place of bluntly beating one
over the head with a blunt end, they sci.
cntihcally thrust each other through and
through-called, in the classic language
of the period, going through a man. This
was when they first began to bring warfare
down to fine point.
Then came bows and arrows. They
were suggested by young lady too indo-
lent to hurl her spear, who got her beau to
hurl it for her. In those days young ladies
never went out unaccompanied by their
beauX and arrows. Bcaux have never
been entirely superseded for ladies' arms
since their init oduction-hard}y waiting
tor an j: PRODUCTION sometimes. This is
agreeable to the beaux, an arrows the
question down considerably.
The tOmahawk is classcd among the
primitive weapons. 1t was invented by
an Indian named Tommy who (loma)
hawked it about the American forests. 1t
was known III Shakspcars day. Hamlet
says: " know tomahawk from a hand
saw"
The scalping knife usually accompanies
AS an invigorator for bringing out the
hair it has never been cxccllcd by any of
the hair tOnics.
Sings have been popular in their day,
their success depending good deal on
who got them up. GOliah was SO struck
with one that he never afterwards took
anything else. BESIDES this implement
for singing stones, the ancicnts had ma
chine for throwing mud. Mud throwing
has never gone out altogether. 1t is con
fined for the most part to a certain class of
newspapers.
Missiles Of various descriptions besides
the above have been in vogue from time to
time, not forgetting the mistlcto- -bough
never hear q dogs bowwow at night
without feeling an overpnwcring inclila-
ton to se,.d a miss 'lc bow, in the shape
of a brick or paving stone.
The discovery of gunpowdcr divides
arms into two classes, ancient and modern.
(Gun'cwder, it will bc remembered, was
discovered under the Parliament House
in tho days OF Guy Fawkcs.) The ancient
Greek fought with he pike, and the Ko-
mans with the javclin may, remark, in
cilentaly, that the Cincinnatians fought
with the Pike for some time, but the Pike
has handsomely captured them at last.
Swords We're never the most effective
arm. Rlcheieu said dcrisivcly, "The pen
is migh,icr than the sword" lie forgot
old cheese That is fir r~quently mite. icr
than pen and sword together.
Daggcrs have figured conspicuously in
the affairs, as well as the affrays, of men,
and changed the course of history fire.
qu"nlly. A dagger thrust overthrow Caesar
rs the bristling arms Of hostile lcgions
could not. Macbcth's bloody imaginings
took the form of dagger. Instead of
say ing, however, Is this dagger that
| see before mc?" his exact words should
have been, under the circumstances, Is
this dagger SO rcrSistcntly after mc?"
Gunpowder effected an entire revolution
in the construction and use of arms.
Spears, ma',ls, j.vclins and the like are
obsolete. Swords arc merely ornamental,
and bayonets rarely appealed to. Bayonc:s
may think, but gunpowdcr does the talk
question when diplomacy can't, and per-
cussion caps the climax !-CIncinnati
Times.