The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1882-12-14
The Horn Industry.

If HtOmc of our humble friends with
four feet could give expression to their
thoughts, thoy would perhaps accuse
man of being u terribly rapacious ami
NAL. Not only. they mi ght say, does he
eat our flesh, but he even utilizes our
skin Ill various ways, and tho very
horns OF our heads are cut and shaped
and polished and pieced together, until
they assume hundred shapes which
nature never intended they should take
! What shockingly selfish and grasping
creature this man, as he calls himself,
must be! 1t may be urged that if our
| four-footcd brethren could speak, they
| might not have these or any other
| thoughts to communicate. This. how
ever, is q frivolous and superficial OBJ
lection, for does not the power of
speech necessarily involve the ability
to thinkP But even if this is not SO
nnd in our present mood we are not
concerned to dispute the point-it is at
least certain that if animals could think
and speak, the reflections we have put
into their mouths would be very natural
and appropriate, and from their point
OF view, even reasonable.
Time was when, from this point of
observation, we were much greater sim
ners than we are now. In former days.
and not so long since, either. the horn
industry was of considerable Importance
IN this country. There are, indeed,
plenty of people who are by no means
willing to confess themselves old, who
remember when this material was used
Tor q multitude of purposes for which
glass and various metals are now en-
ployed. We are apt to think with pity
OF our torefathers, who used it for their
lamps, and lanterns, and windows; but
1t is as well to remember, on the other
hand, that it possessed several recon-
mendatlons, by no means to be despised.
Irue, 1t was not so transparent as could
nave been wished, nor in those earlier
days was it turned out of hand so arGis-
ideally as 1t has been by the skill of
more recent times. But then it required
q good deal OF breaking, and SO our an
cestors were spared some of the irrita-
tions which we unfortunate, mortals
have to endure. In other directions the
substitution of glass for horn has more
to be said in its favor. The modern
tumbler, for example, is distinct i'm
provement upon the drinking-horn
which it has supplanted.
At the present time-to come to sober
facts-horn is used for the most part In
the manufacture Of combs. knife-han-
dies, and mouth-pieces of pipes, al
though it is employed also, to a limited
extent, for fancy articles. It is still
utilized, too. for tho hunting-horn, but
the orchestral instruments denominated
"horns, are now made Of brass.
Strange to say, one of the best kinds of
horn Tor artistic purposes is that for
which we are indebted to the comely
and graceful rhinoceros, and il is so be-
cause it is solid instead Of being hollow.
as most other horns are. 1t Is worth
noting, too, that although the breeder
has done much to improve the flesh of
domesticated animals, it does not APP
pear that any improvement has been
superinduced either in the size or tex
ture of the horns. It is suggested, in
deed, that the horns of wild animals
are more permanent than those of the
domesticated races.