The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1892-09-09
THE MAKING OF ARROWS.

THE MAKING OF ARROWS,
Vast Extent Of the Native Quarrying In
dustry From Maine to Oregon.
An entertaining pamphlet on Gar
row and Arrowmakers, contains,
among other papers on the subject.
an article by w. II. Holmes, descrip-
tive Of the manufacture of stone ar
row points
The arrow point, says Mr.. Holmes,
was usually made of some material
firmer and heavier than the shaft, and
was attached by means Of thongs and
cement. Its purpose was to insure
greater accuracy aud range, and to
give greater penetrating power to the
weapon. It is not possible in all cases
to distinguish points made for the ar
row from those made and employed
for projectiles thrown by the hand, or
throwing sticks, or from those in
tended to be HATED and used as
knives, daggers, drills, and the like.
The materials used for taking are
very numerous. Those in ordinary use
in this country include vein quartz,
chalcedony. agate, jasper, flint, horn
stone, ebert, novaculite, slate, argyll
lite. Quartzite, and Obsidian. Rare
forms, such as quartz-crystal, carne-
lian, amethyst, opal, ETC., were also
employed when available.
Primitive man became mineralo-
gist almost with the first use of un-
worked stones, for he had to consider
grain, density and toughness, and it
was not long perhaps before color and
translucency became important con-
siderations through the association of
ideas of a mystic nature Little by
little and through long series of
explorations and experiments, he
learned to utilize all suitable stones
that came within his reach.
When an implement Of Clipped
stone was to be mlde 1T was necessary
first to secure the raw material. Fro
sive agencies had scattered countless
fragments of taxable stones over the
face of the country, and these were
gathered and used: but when such
materials became scarce or were not
within convenient reach, excavation
was resorted to- This led to the dis
cOvery that freshly exhumed stone
was more easily and surely worked
than that seasoned by long exposure,
and the art of quarrying came into
existence. Quarrying began with the
removal of buried or partially buried
stone from its bed in the soil, and cul-
minated with the removal OF hills and
the tunneling of mountains.
When detached fragments. bowl
ders and nodules were not sufficiently
plentiful or ceased to be desirable for
working, the rocks in place were at
tackled, powders were removed from
their beds, splinters were broken from
exposed masses of rock, and lodges
were followed deep into the earth.
In Arkansas there are pits dug in
the solid rock-a heavily bedded no.
vaculite-to the depth Of twenty-five
feet and having a width of one hun
dred feet or more. In Ohio and in
other states similar phenomena have
been observed.
In the District of Columbia extern
slve Quarries were opened in the
gravel-bearing bluffs, and millions OF
Quartzite and quartz powders we're
secured and worked.
The extent of this native Quarrying
industry has not until recently been
realized. Such work has been cOnSid-
cred beyond the capacity of savages,
and when the ancient pits were OBJ
served they were usually attributed
to the gold-hunters Of early days, and
in the South are still known as Span
ish diggings. From Maine to Oregon
and from Alaska to Peru, the hills
and mountains are SCARED with pits
and trenches. The ancient methods
of Quarrying are not we'll known, and
up to the present time no tools have
been discovered save rude hammers Of
stone improvised for the purpose.
Picks of bone or antler and pixies of
wood were probably employed. AssO-
ciated with these pittings are am
pie evidences of the object Of their
ridges Of refuse, in cases containing
hundreds of tons of the refuse Of man.
ufacture- fragments, flakes, failures
and tools broken in use and deserted
when the work ended-are found. A
study of this refuse usually indicates
clearly and fully the nature and eX-
tent OF the work carried on.
When the lncipient implement be-
came too attenuated or fragile to
withstand the blows necessary to
taking without imminent danger of
breaking, other methods had to be
employed. The statement has been
made by some writers that arrow
points are produced by simple percus-
sion, the hammers being reduced in
size to correspond with the increasing
fragility of the object worked. This
process, however, must be excep-
tional.
A Linguistic Menagcrie.