The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-10-27
ABOUT THE MILESTONE.
The Different Kinds ana Where the Best
are Furnished.


is the production of whetstones. sal
Curator Merrill of the Smithsonian Ii
stitution, to reporter of the WASH
ington Star. Civilization may b
said to depend primarily for its deve
opment upon edged tools, and so it
interesting to consider the most i'm
. proved method so far devised for tn
sharpening of the implements used i
the mechanical and other arts.
The finest whetstones known 70
the sharpening of fne-edged tools ar
obtained from Arkansas. In that stat
are beds of what is called .novaculite.
which is what is scientifically know
as an altered schist' This means ,
deposit of finty nature. usually com
bined with limestone the rock thu
produced being changed in such ;
manner mOlecularly, by processes no
altogether understood. as to supply 8
surface most suitable for grinding.
Arkansas furnishes the entire supply
OF novaculite for the United States,
also filling large part of the expor,
demand. which is very considerable.
The main deposit of the material is in
a single hill about 500 feet high. For
the sharpening of keen-edged tools,
razors excepted, this novaculite is un.
rivalled. 1t is very beautiful stone,
OF snowy wilderness, and is quite costly.
because it has to be cut by diamond
dust owing to its extreme hardness.
Next in point of quality for whet-
stone purposes is a gray, fine-grained
sandstone from Orange county. Ind.
1t is called indifferently Hindustan
stone Very commonly it is made
into long spikes for sharpening knives
upon in the kitchen, and for this pur-
pose it 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
stone 1t is a dark gray color.
"A still 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-ac crystalline rock
or quartz and mica-which are OBJ
tanned from New Hampshire and
Vermont and utilized for homes
wherewith to grind tools of the bigger
sort But 1t 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, the small pieces of particularly
fine grade only being utilized for
making whetstones.
Three stones imported from
abroad are employed in this country
for whetstones. Best known of these
is the German razor hone, which is
used by BARRIERS for sharp
ening their razors, and is in all proba-
bility the best substance for the pur.
pose known. 1t Is found chiefly near
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 |
from one season to another,
depending upon the source from which
It 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 their faces clean of
hair. Because the white stone is cost
y it is usual to back q thin slab of It
With another slab of the cheap blue
'tone fastening the two together with
cement Such is the ordinary razor
lone of commerce. These German
ZONES cost only a fraction of what is
charged for novaculite scraps of the
anne size. but there is a duty upon
hem, which together with the ex-
,ense OF transportation, renders them
bout as high in the market. There
re two other foreign whetstones COM
monty used in this country. One of
hese is fine-grained schist from
known as the Water of Ayr
nd used much by carpenters and
tone cutters for rubbing down the
urface Of other stones. The other is
he Turkey oilstone' resembling
ovaculite
The stones used in this country for .
are mostly from Ohio and I
Iowa Scotia. the latter supplying the
est grade. which does excellently for
cythes OF foreign grindstones most
ONE from England. OF all whet- Z
tones the most curious and interesting
re those which are utilized by en-
ravers to sharpen their engraving l
'ols. They are OF every shape i'm
ginable. from long needle-like points I
fne-edged sticks the object being
, grind the little points and edges OF J
le steel instrument which could not Z
g sharpened upon ~ ordinary stone" 4
Took he Hint.
Some of the friends of q Portland