Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1879-09-16
HOW THE MODERN BOW AND
ARROW ARE MADE.

ARROW ARE MADE.
In Rhode Island there is large facto-
ry used entirely for making the costly
bows and arrows used in the pretty sport
of lawn archery. A correspondent who
has visited the establishment tells in the
following words how the articles are
made: We were first taken into a room
where the arrows are made. 1t is no
small thing to make an arrow We used
to think so in our childhood days, when
we whitfield on pine stick with a case
knife. We are quite sure of it now.
For target practice thoroughly seasoned
pine is used for arrows; ash and harder
woods are employed for those used in
hunting The wood from which the
bows and arrows are made in this estab-
lishment must be thoroughly seasoned
when subjected to such heat as came from
the little room packed full of timber Of
all kinds, into which we were permitted
to enter, and from which we gladly beat
a hasty retreat. These thoroughly sea-
soned pine boards are cut into small strips,
which are again cut into lengths suitable
for arrows. A machine takes these an
gular strips and elects them perfectly
rounded. The best arrows are footed
with a wedge of heavier wood. Some
contend that there is an advantage IN
this, and others dispute it. Drayton
would seem to have given the reason IN
this couplet from song OF ms:
"Theirarrows paired for timber and FOR feather.
with birch and brazil pieced to fly in anywca-
Their"
While the glueing and the polishing OF
the wood IS going on in one part of the
room, the horn in which the mock is cut
is making out Of pieces shaped and hol-
lowed to fit over the wood Of the arrow,
which also receives at the point a cover
ing of brass or steel. The arrow Is now
taken upstairs to be feathered and deco
rated. The aucientS used pcacocks
feathers, though Roger AScham scorncd
them. and thought only the feathers Of
goose were proper to wing an arrow on
its way. At this factory the stiff teath-
ers of the turkey are used by the bushel,
and are obtained from Chicago A young
girl strips the feathers from the mid-rlb,
keeping several busy trimming them into
proper shapes, while others glue the
pieces to the arrow, which polished,
stained and coated with Shcllac or yarnlsh,
has been prepared for them, little Sits
having been made in them by a machine
at the right distances Some Of the
feathers are colored red and green. This
is generally the case with the cock feath-
er, as the one at right angles with the
mock is called, for the reason that It
shows which way the arrow Is placed on
the string. In another room we find a
woman decorating the arrows with bands
of bright colors above the feathers. At
ter this the arrows are weighed, the
number of their weight is stamped upon
them, and they are packed for transporta-
ton in quivers of dozen each.
Many kinds of wood are used in max
ing bows, among which are some beauti-
fully yariegated woods from South Amer
lea. The lance and hickory take the
lead among the common varieties, and
the elegant snake-wood, backed with
hickory, makes one of the incest bows
that is made. The snake-wood takes q
beautiful polish, and, owing TO It's re-
sponsive nature, sends the arrow farther
and with more certainty than bow made
any other kind of wood. One would IN
deed be true Toxophilite armed with
such a bow, and a quiver OF those beau
tiful arrows, winged with bright colored
feathers, tipped with snake-wood and
bound with steel. The incest bows are
planed by hand, great care beingrequired
to make the sides curve exactly alike, as
any deviation Injuries the efficiency Of the
bow. The ends of the bows are carved
out of horn. Ok horns are used, whole
bags of which, sent from New York, were
shown to us in the cellar The incest
bows are tipped with buffalo horn. It
takes long course of cutting, planning,
clueing, bending, polishing, staining and
vanishing to make the bow ready. A
piece of cork is shaped and glued to the
centre and covered with plush to make
the handle. The power of the bow is
measured by the number of pounds it
pulls, a spring scale being used for the
purpose of showing this. A bow pulling
thirty pounds is considered the right thing
for lady and fifty pounds for gentle
man.