Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-08-17
Famous Swords.
Wonderful Stories Related Of tho Damascus
Blades-Japaneso Swords.

Wonderful Stories Related OF tho Damascus
Blades-Japanssc Swords.
The art shown in sword-making was
not by any means confined to beautiful
forms and elaborate ornanentation.-
The greatest skill was exercised in the
manufacture and temperament of the
blade. which in the days when swords
were not only worn but used, was more
important than any other part Of this
weapon. In Europe the sword manu-
facturers of Spain first began to have
reputation for producing work of supe-
rior quality, and the armorers Of Toledo
stood foremost among their countrymen.
A Toledo blade was considered to be
. weapon of great value. and even now.
when we wish to speak Of something re-
markably fine-ten. .pered and sharp, we
compare it to one of these swords. The
peculiarly of the Toledo blade was not
only its extreme hardness, which ena-
bled it to receive and retain the sharp
est and most delicate edge, but its elas-
ticity, which allowed it to be bent with
out being broken. Some of the most
famous Of these swords could be bent so
that the points touched the hilts, and
yet they would spring back to perfectly
straight line. 1t is said that in To-
ledo sword-blades have been seen in the
cutters shops coiled in boxes like wstch-
springs, and, although they might re-
main in this position for some time, they
would become perfectly straight when
taken out. Other places in Europe were
also famous for producing good swords.
Many excellent weapons were made in
Italy, and Andrea Ferrara, the Italian
sword-maker, who has been mentioned
before, was better known throughout
Europe than any other of his craft. To
possess a genuine Ferrara blade was
considered great thing by the mobiles
,, of France and England.
| But it is to the east that the world
owes the production of the most finely
| tempered swords it has ever seen; and
the steel of Damascus has been cele-
brated for many hundred years as SUI
perior to any metal that has ever been
made into sword-blades. Even the cut
lers of Toledo doubtless owed their skill
and knowledge to the Moors, who
brought from Damascus the art of
making blades that were as hard as dia-
monds, as sharp as razors, and as elas-
tic as whalebone.
| w StOIIcS dEc IcltLcu VI tLeSe
Damascus swords. We have been told
that with one of them a full-grown
sheep could be cut in half at a single
blow, a heavy iron chain could be sew
cred without turning the delicate edge
of the sword, and gauze veil floating
in the air could be cut through by one
gentle sweep Of the glittering blade
The wonderful cimeters are not manu-.
factured now, but their fame has ex.
ceeded that of any other weapon OF
their kind, and it is quite certain thai
their extraordinary excellence has not
been exaggerated. 1t is probable thai
the workers in steel of the present day
might be able to discover the peculiar
methods by which the Damascus stee
was made, but as there would be little
use or demand for the blades after the,
had been produced it is not likely tha
their manufacture will be attempted &
We should consider, however, that al
though the present age is preeminent AZ
an inventive and manufacturing period
there are some things which have beer
produced by the ancients and the artifi
GERS of the middle ages which we of th'
present day have not been able to equal
It is possible, therefore, that our steel
workers might never be able to maxi
Damascus blades, even if they wanted
to.
Some of the swords of Japan are salt
to possess wonderful qualities of hard
ness and sharpness. The story is tol'
that if one of these celebrated blades i
held upright in running stream tn
leaves floating gently down with tn
current will cut themselves in two whel
they reach the keen edge of the sword
But these Japanese swords, some o
which were held in such high esteem
that they were worshiped, and temple
were built in their honor, were onl
hard and sharp; they had no elasticity
they could not bend, and they mi Ugh
break, and IN this respect they are ia
inferior to the splendid cimeters of tn
Moors and Saracens.-St. Nicholas.