Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-28

st. Nicholas for J,.ly.

~. Ntch00S TOR Jug.
The art shown in sword making was
not by any means confined to beautiful
forms and elaborate ornamentation. The
greatest skill was exercised in the manu-
facture and tempering of the blade,
which, in the days when swords were
not only worn but used, was more i'm
portant than any other part of this
weapon. To Europe, the sword manu-
facturers of Spain first began to have a
reputation for producing work of SUI
perior quality, and the armorers of
TOLEDO stood foremost among their coun-
trymen. A Toledo blade" was consid-
cred to be a weapon of great value, and
even now, when we wish to speak
of something remarkably fine tempered
and sharp, we compare it tc one of
these swords. The popularity of the
Toledo blade was not only its extreme
hardness, which enabled it to receive and
retain the sharpest and most delicate
edge, but its elasticity, which allowed it
to be bent without being broken. Some
of the most famous of these swords
could be bent so that the points touched
the hits. and yet they would spring back
to perfectly straight line. 1t is said that
in Toledo sword blades have been seen
in the cutters shops coiled in boxes like
watch springs, and, although they might
remain 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 men
toned before, was better known through.
out 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 supe-
rior 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 max
ing blades that were as hard as diamonds,
as sharp as raZOrs, and IS elastic as
whalebone.
Wonderful stories are related of these
Damascus swords. We have been told
that with one of them a full grown
sheep could be cut in half at a single
blow, heavy iron chain could be sever.
ed without turning the delicate edge of
the sword, and gauze veil floating in
the air could be cut through by one gen
tie sweep of the glittering blade. The
wonderful cimeters are not manufac-
tured now, but their fame has exceeded
that of any other weapon of their kind,
and it is quite certain that their extra
ordinary excellence has not been exag-
gerated. 1t is probable that the workers
in steel ofthe present day might be able to
discover the peculiar methods by which
the Damascus steel was made, but as
| there would be little use or demand for the
blades after they had been produced, it is
not likely that their manufacture will be
attempted. We should consider, how
ever, that although the present age is
pre- eminent as an inventive and manu-
featuring period, there are some things
which have been produced by the an
clients and the artiticers of the middle
ages which we of the present day have
not been able to equal. 1t is possible,
| therefore, that our steel workers might
never be able to make Damascus blades,
even if they wanted to-
Some of the swords of Japan are said
to possess wonderful qualities of hard
ness and sharpness. The story is told
that if one of these celebrated blades is
held upright in a running stream the
leaves floating gently down with the cur
rent will cut themselves in two when
they reach the keen edge of the sword.
But these japanese swords, some of
which were held in such high esteem
that they were worshiped, and temples
were built in their honor, were only hard
and sharp; they had no elasticity, they
could not bend, and they might break,
and in this respect they are far inferior
to the splendid cimeters of the Moors
and Saracens.