Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-07-07

Finely Tempered Swords.
From swords," BY John Lsvees. In ST Nicholas for
The art shown in sword making was
not by any means confined to beautiful
forms and elaborate oTnamentation.
The greatest skill was exercised in the
manufacture and tempering 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-
features of Spain first began to have a
reputation for producing work of sH.
perior quality, and the armorers OF
Toledo stood foremost among their
countrymen. A toledo blade" was
considered 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 to
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 fam
Gus of these swords could be bent so
that the points touched the hilts, and
yet they would spring back to per-
fectly 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 pro-
duciDg 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
genuine Ferrara blade was consider.
ed great thing by the mobiles of France
and England.
But it is to the East that thu 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 other metal that has ever
been made into sword-biades. Even
the cutters 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
Diamonds, as sharp as razors, and as
elastic as whalebone.
Wonderful stories are related of
10 Ho
been told that with one az them a full.
grown sheep could be cut in half at a
single blow, heavy iron chain could
be severed without turning the delicate
edge of the sword, and a gauZe veil
floating in the air could be cut through
by one gentle sweep of the glitterine
blade. These wonderful scimitars are
not manufactured now. but their fame
has exceeded that of any other weapon
of their kind, and it is quite certain
that their extraordinary excellence has
not been exaggerated. 1t is probable
that the workers in steel of the pres
ent day might be able to discover the
peculiar methods by which the Damas
Gus steel was made, but as there would
10 AOOiO uoO VI UCundAO IO1 buO Ulduoe
after they had been produced, it is moi
| likely that their manufacture will be
attempted. We should consider, how
ever, that although the present age is
preeninent as an inventive and manu-
featuring period, there are something's
which have been produced by the an
clients and the artficers 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 a Damascu:
blade, even if they wanted to.
Some of the swords Of Japan are
said to possess wondered qualities OF
hardness and sharpness. The story is
told that if one Of these celebrated
blades is held upright in a running
stream the leaves floating gently dowr
with the current 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 worshipped, and tenn.
pies were bnilt in their honor, were
only hard and sharp; they had nc
elasticity, they could not bend and they
might break, and in this respect they
were far inferior to the splendid scimi-
tars of the Moors and Saracens.
A Sad Fact.