The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-07-13
Finely.Tempered Swords.

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
manufacture and tempering of the blade,
which, in the days when swords were
not only worn but used, was more I'M
portant than n other part of this
weapon. In Europe, the sword manu-
facturers of Spain first began to have a
reputation for producing work of supe-
rior quality, and the armorers of Toledo
stood foremost among their c~ountrymen.
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 En-
abled it to receive and retain the sharp
est and most delicate edge, but its elias
ITCHY, 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
vet they would spring back to aperfectly
Straight line. 1t is said that, in Toledo,
sword-blades have been seen in the cut
lers' shops coiled in boxes like watch
springs, and though they might emain
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 We're made in
Italy, and Andrea Ferrara, the Italian
sword-maker, was better known through
out Europe than any other of his craft.
To possess a genuine Ferrara blade was
considered a 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 celebra-
ted for many hundred years as superior
to any other metal that has ever been
made into sword-blades. 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 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, a
heavy iron chain could be severed with
out turning the delicate edge of the
sword, and a gauze veil floating in the
air could be cut through by n gentle
sweep of the glittering blade. These
wonderful scimitars 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 extraor-
binary excellence has not been exag-
gerated. 1t is probable that the workers
in steel of the 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 artificers 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 Damascus blade,
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 worshipped, and tenn
pies 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
were far inferior to the splendid scimi
tars of the Moors and Saracens.-Johz
LeUees, in st. NIch5lnS.