The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-09-16
''T' ETTTE ii;;;;' TO ri THE EDITOR.

oouse Aucfsus - n 49,
.....+.,s ntrs fux xrvrsziS rsrEREsr'S
0 " rixp- "A sttsGEsTloS.
IN "A. Editor Of TIE Dispatch
~" .,,sed Davis has given me for In
s.. beautiful stone Implement
ssch' foeethe. with lump Of red paint
s""vtrscied from supposed Indian grxv
- IA nlSce known m The early history O
w.ncbcstevi ~ TreNtoh.' Trenton Is las
dissnpearlng under the high bank Of brick
sIsv which Il being excavated by MT
nsyis's hands. II was formerly the seat O
thai Trent who built the wooden bridg
thai spsnnsd the James river across from
Ssr,sr Botsom 10 thu Trenton hammocks
Trenton itself was probably the site OF ont
N the two forts or garrisons that wer,
erected in the early part Of the seventeenth
~sntury for the protection u those Eng
Hsh coionists who settled at "the head Of
Is,nes river" ss It's falls were then called
In the Byrd surveys mention Is made %
.Rye garrison" on the north side, rs sill
usnd,ne towards the close OF that century.
This Trenton site Is said 10 have been
camnine-eround for I.afayette's troops d'i-
ring the revolution Of l7I6. Some years
400 nicked up from the red clay there
sSouts : half dozen small round beads oil
she ooaljne sort, which feel sure were
drepprd there by some Of the ladies who
visited Che camps. picked out OF the red
clay there also an Implement which IN
shane resembles an old-fashioned English
hntchct. II was lying eight feet under the
superficial soil, In . horizontal position. rs
though deposited by some ancient boatman
when the James was an estuary OF the se'.'
or enyeIoped within hills by q lake OF iresh
water.
II win be thus seen that the site OF Tren-
ton has yielded relics Of three distinct and
distant ages.
The country adjacent TO the falls before
Improvement set in by the whites was
richly strewn with Indian and other relies.
Evidences OF heavy prehistoric encamp-
ments are to be found even now in the
Manchester and Richmond fields and
amongst the cebbie-stones which oul
fathers used in paving the streets OF this
city. -..f
The stone which shall describe ms wei
as words enable me measures Just six
inches 10 length by seven-eighths Of au inch
through its thicker or middle diamater. II
i shaped like an unbent bow, or by {
stretch OF fancy might be supposed to pre-
sent the appearance Of the crescent moon In
its youngest and most elongated stage. Ii,
underside Is square and fiat, like
nason's level, with slight till
upward ut either sharpened end
IL may have been designed for Use, or pos.
sibly for ornament. IL fastened to a half
II might have done service IN the soft earth
as n pick, or il may have been borne in pro-
cessions ms symbol of the martial charac.
ter OF the tribe possessing il. Like many
Indian implements found i'm graves and in
the field, IL does not bear sign of having
been used as tool. The upper side Il
convexed like the back OF bow, but the
other parts square, even to the two ends
that are sharpened like the ends Of chisel
til smooth, but not polished ike some oi
the mound celts / have in my collection
1t is of dark gray granite-a material sell
dom used by our Indians in their stone
workshops. l have seen I'm the prints OF
early Virginia annalsts figures resem-
bling somewhat the shape of this stone
which, In Powhatan's tongue, was called
tockahock." These tOckahOcks" were
substantially picks, whilst "tomahawks '
were either hatehets, axes, hoes, or clubs
They are sometimes made of sOapstont
bored with an eve for handle. At othei
: times they are without holes and OF hardeI
material. These "eyes" or holes are in
variabiy of II conventional size-perfectly
round--like those which the neolithi,
man OF Europe drilled through many Of hi,
cutting tools. IL would appear rs II Their,
had been some communication or com
merce between The old Vikings and on
Vlrginiap Indians, for some Of the tool
found here appear to have been fashione,
from the older models found in the cave
and sbell-heals OF Denmark and adjacen
countries. do not mean TO say that tn,
stone man OF Europe IL Of higher antiquit,
than the stone man Of Virginia, for trace
OF the latter have been found by me IL
gravel OF the quaternary period, but il j,
clear that nothing has yet been found by
our collectors In Virginia that will show
Its indigines to have been as far adj
vanced In the mechanical and architec
tural arts az the neollthic man OF Europe
or even as their contemporaries in some
other States, In Mexico. Central America
and Peru. .'i.
In this connection may ] venture To Sc
cond proposition made some weeks az
through the columns of the Dispatch tina
an archaeological club be instituted IL
Richmond, having for its object the dis
cussion OF the many curious lndial
finds" that are coming TO light ever
day, and their preservation in IA Virgins
museum. A mere club OF collectors, an,
others In sympathy with collectors. viii
accomplish little or nothing unless it b
supplemented by museum publici
established in some central city, wit
officers charged with the duty OF labellin,
and preserving relics, and making such eX
change Of our superintendent materials a
VIII draw to its repository duplicates an,
casts from the crowded cabinets OF EuIop
aud the two Americas. We can hardl
hope to find Virginian with mean
who will be spirited enough to en-
dow such an institution, but there is n
telling what help we may get from other
II we first begin by helping ourselves.
Smithson, q foreigner, gave. many year
ago, upwards Of half-million dollars {
endOw the institution which bears hi
hOnored name. Tbe United States Go,
ernment makes annual contributions, O
rather appropriations. towards compIetin
the design Of its founder. Ii il the large,
institution Of the kind in the world. VIII,
might not our Virginia archaologists d
In q quarter OF century II they would b.
tryf There Is vast deal Of archaologic
matter In our midst that should be rel
giously preserved as the heritage OF Il
people In whose soil IL lies as yet undi
covered and uncared for. &. NJ. w.
To the Wholesale Merchants Of Ricl
! tn ft.ta mOOd.
GooCHLAND COUNTY. Va,
September 13, 1888.
To the Editor Of the Dispatch:
May complain, through the columns
vo,,Y val,,al,le paDfr. Of the iniIstice
Richmond merchants 10 her country trad