Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-07-10
History OF Swords.

ohe OF The most clearly marked dtl;.reu.
ces between man and the brute beasts lies !,
the fact that with his own uuai,led s,rruath
man Is seldom able to take the life of his fel.
io"-oeihSs. Consequently, when we wish to
put ourselves upon level with the lieerand
the wolf, and to qualify. ourselves for the
shedding of blood and the taking of life wa
are ooiged to find some other weapons than
| those nature has given lis. Here and there
may ne man who can kill another man bv
.i'e eNertlon or his unassiSted strength hut
.ei' very SeioOm indeed that human life is
taken by human beings without thr usn nS
an artificial weapon. ''7' Vi
Ihc first weapon used bv mnn w,s nrob.,
ni! club; and it is also likely that in time
inns was made of Very hard wood. and some
"lat Sharpencd on one or more sides. so nc
10 lnfllct Il more deadly wound, Wooden
weapons of this kind are now in use bv .omn
savage races. Then it was found that more
eIiectlre weapons of the sort could bc m,dc
VI d naroer substance, and short. unwieldy
'"otus were hewn out of stone, very much
as a: our Indians made their urrow-heads Of
liiht; But Il sword Of this kind, although a
terrible weapon i'll the hands of u stTonr
man, was brlttleand apt to break and so in |
time, when the use and value of metals comn |
10 be understood, swords were made ofthnso
substances. The early Romans and some
other nations, had strong, heavy swords
MADE OF bronze. But when iron and steel
came INTO use, it was quickly perceived that
lheE were the metals of which offensive
weapons should be made.
hy careful study Of the form and Use of
.me smoIu, rom Its first invention, until the
present time, we may get q good ideo oftho
laapAesrr. in which, in Various nmcs miIt.r,.
to be improved and as civilization and en-
lightcnment progressed, men seemed anxious
to get farther and farther away from one
another when they fought and SO the sword
gradually became longer and longer, until
in the Middle Ages, Il mans sword was
as long as himself
But there is ii limit to this sort of thing
and when the Use of projcctiles which would
kill at a great distance became general, it
was found that 4 soldier was seldom near
enough to his enemy to reach him with his
sword; and ut the present day it is seldom
used i'll actual warfare except by cavalrymen
and these frequently depend as much on the
firearms they carry as upon their sabers 1t
is said that cavalry charges, in which the
swords of the riders are depended upon to
rout the enemy. do not frequently occur in
the warfare of the present day; and those
naval battles of which we all have read
where the opposing ships are run side by |
side, and the sailors of one, cutlass in hand. |
spring upon the deck of the other, and en-
engage in Il hand to hand fight, are now
seldom heard of. Our ironclad ships fire at
one another from Il great distance, or one of
them comes smashing into another with its
terrible steel ram; and sword would be a
very useless thug to Il modern sailor Our
armies lie mile or two apart: and pop at
each other with longrange rifles and heavy
cannons. and to thcgreat body ofthe opposing
forces swords would be only an incumbrance
From ''iS~ords" by John Lemees in 81. Mich
oids for Juiy