Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-09-12
ABOUT THE MILESTONE.
wAs Different Kinds and Where the Best
are Furnished.

10 tne production of whetstones, said
/ Curator Merrill Of the Smithsonian In
s<itution, to a reporter of the Wash
lngton Star. Civilization may be-
said to depend primarily for its deyel-
/ apment upon edged tools, and so it Is
interesting TO consider the most i'm
proved method so for devised for the
sharpening OF the implements used In
the mechanical AID other arts
The finest whetstones known for
I the sharpening of fine-edged tools are
! obtained from Arkansas In that state
are beds OF what is called 'noyaculite,
| which is what is scientifically known
as an altered schist' This means a
/ deposi OF finty nature, usually com
! oined with limestone the rock thus
] prodT ed being changed in such a
manner molecularly, by processes not
altogether understood as to supply a
surface most suitable for grinding
! Arkansas furnishes the entire supply
| # novaculite for the United States.
] also filing a largo part OF the export
! demand. which is very considerable.
! The main deposit of the material is in
single hill about 500 feet high. For
/ the sharpening Of keen-edged tools
razors excepted. this novaculite is I'M
rivalled. 1t is very beautiful stone,
Of snowy wilderness, and is quite costly.
becau it has to be cut by diamond
aust owing TO its extreme hardness.
Next in point Of quality for whst-
stone purposes Ia a gray, dne-grained
sandstone from Orange county. Ind.
II IS called indiHerently Hndustan
stone Very commonly it is made
into long spikes for sharpening knives
upon in the kitchen, and for this pur.
pose &c is far better than steel. Another
sandstone employed for the same pur-
pose IS quarried in Cortland county,
n. Y, and is called, without any
reason that l know of Labrador
rtone, II is a dark gray color
"a till coarser milestone for scythes
and other such tools is made from
Berea grits sandstone found in the
/ neighborhOod of Berea, Ohio. Also
/ there are certain qualities of fine
grained micaschists-a crystalline rock
or gu RITZ and mica-which are OBJ
tanned from New Hampshire and
Yerm Mt, and utilized for homes
wherc 9th to grind tools OF the bigger
sort. But II must be understood that
there is hardly such thing as a whet-
stone quarry Nearly every quarry
! from which whetstones are derived is
worked chiefly for obtaining building
stone tho small pieces OF particularly
nne grade only being utilized for
making whetstones.
Three stones imported from
abroad are employed IN this country
! for whetstones. Best known of these
Ia the German razor hone which is
commonly used by BARRIERS for sharp
I ening their razors, and is in all proba-
bility the best substance for the pur-
pose known II is found chiefly near
/ Ratisnon, Germany, in the old river
bed. During the period Of early geo.
logical formation the river brought
down to that point mud was deposited
on the bottom. This mud varied in
/ material from one season to another,
! depending upon the source from which
4 II was derived, so that during one year
( It was white and during another blue.
/ Subsequently, in the course Of ages
the mud became stone aud now the
white layers serve to sharpen the
blades by which civilized men all over
the world keep THEN faces clean OF
hair. Because the white stone is cost
ly it is usual to back thin slab of it
with her slab OF the che4p blue
stone fastening the two together with
cement Such is the ordinary razor
hone of commerce, These German
homes cost only "a fraction of what is
charged for novacuite scraps of the
lame size but there is duty upon
them which together with the ex-
pense Of transportation, renders them
about as high in the market There
are two other foreign whetstones com
monty used in this country One Of
hese is a fine-gruiued schist from
Scotland known as the Water OF Ayr,
and used much 10y carpenters and
stone cutters for rubbing down the
surface Of other stones The other Is
the Turkey oiIatone, resembling
/ noyaculjte.
The stones used in this country for
grindstones are mostly from Ohio and
Nova Scotia the latter supplying the
best grade. which does eXcellently for
soythes OF foreign grlndstones most
come from England. or all whet-
stones the most curious and interesting
are those which are utilized by en-
gravers to sharpen their engraving
tools. They are OF every shape i'm
aginable, from long ueedle-like points
to tne-edEed sticks the object being
4 } grind the little points and edges OF
.he steel instrument which could not
be sharpened upon an ordinary stone"
Took che Hint.