The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1888-11-08
THE MODERN STONE AGE.
Dfany Imp dement's Made of This Material
Still Used I'm Virginia.

H 1S~%A IA NaABAhAhs
r. All over our country we find many in
teresting relics of the Indians. Stone
spearheads, arrowheads, hammers, chi
sells. knives, scrapers, ETC., together with
pottery, some of burned or baked CLAW,
omecut from soft stone, as slate, steatite.
etc. Similar remnants of the soscalled
stone age of mankind are found in nearly
every portion of the globe, and, besides
their interest as curious survivals of a
bygone time, they aid us toward dis
covery OF the prehistoric man. 1t is
hardly of less interest, or of less historic
or scientific value, to note how the stone
age still survives among us to no little
extent.
Here in Virginia, for instance, many
people still scald their slaughtered hogs
in hogsheads or barrels, as our barbarian
progenitors boiled their meat in skins. by
heating stones and putting them into the
water until it is hot enough for the pur-
pose. The stones ordinarily used in this
way are roundish, hard, and very heavy
black or brown modules, sometimes
called NEGRO heads" or iron stones
although they are composed lava, sup-
heaved in strata through crevices in the
rock crust of the earth at remote periods
OF geological time. 8&ni8 86Wf
We, sometimes encounter stones that
are followed out in the center, often to a
socket, and these not infrequently are
treasured by their finders as an ancient
Indian stone for MASKING or grinding
corn, with the aid of a stone pestle; vet
they are nothing more nor less, for the
most part, than discarded stones once
used by our rural brethren for their gates
to swing upon many gates In all parts
OF the commonwealth being still thus
pivoted
Many housewife in remote country
regions still has her stone weights, more
or less rough, but honest; wherever the
Old Kentucky rife fingers there is likely
to be found still a set of soapstone bullet
mods; our log cabins yet have rough
stone and clay chimneys, where they are
not of mud and sticks; In manga humble
household thin rock, not always
smooth, is the utensil for baking corn
bread; and the stone ''mash trap is
familiar to all our country boys. The
stone pipe, believed by many to have
gone out with the Indian, is made and
used today by many colored folks and by
no few white folks. Whenever soap
stone, or steatite, is found, not only the
stone pipe, but many other articles sup
posed to be archaic, are still manufac-
tured and put to service by the ingenious
and thrifty. In such localities stone
pans, stone roughs for children, etc, are
still common. Some day they will be
dug up and attributed to the Indians, or
even to their predecessors. A little in
quiry and investigation would show
much more of the stone age still here
than we have adverted to.
1t is not rare to see stone sinkers in use
for lines and nets in fishing; the flint is
not yet superseded wholly by the match;
there are clocks in the landmeWt run by
stone weights; stone novels. with dirt
roofs, are not unknown in our noun
tains; the colored ruffian, and sometimes
the white one, carries stone in stock
ing, along with his razor, when on the
warpath; many a cider press and tobacco
press are still made effective by stones
swung at the end of their lever; and our
small boys are all in their stone age
whenever they can give their natures full
and free play.
We are not SO far off from the stone
age man as some imagine; many of the
implements and relics supposed to be
prehistoric, and doubtless so in many
cases, have their modern duplicates, and
in some instances are all in use among
us.-Cor. Petersburg Index-Appeal