The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27

are single agreers ana double daggers.
( The latter look like the former, but When
I drawn from the SeahNar1, me blade anu
+ the hilf. which were apparently I0llae1,
I fan into TWO. Another class has q box
I other materials. a sixth has ranch ul
I blades. shaped lke q troWeL an ace OF
( clubs. a diamond, an inverted he4It u
/ an arrow. These are intended 70 mum
{ fdate as much as to wound.
I When one has passed from the DOG3'
{ sword ana dagger. one eAcouh teIs = l t
! titude Of weapons, so varied anu Lall-
i tastic that they seem % nave peen eo-i-
/ ceived by madmen rather than Dy gen
I erals or soldiers. NIUE stuaS, NV
Z ever. brings order out OF ehaos' anu til-
! abIes enc IL see that these arms are but
! the familiar tools and equipment o. me
Z different classes Of q large, neteIoseleou9
/ and poorly governed country.
vaGed or when a feudal Chinese lord or
king prepared to attack nelGhDoF, ne
sent word TO all his sublects, leldlIs
ana vaSsals Those who had proper Weap-
: ous brought them, those VINO Ada lloI
brought those implements OF utlAs ~, ~
which were best adapted To battle. The
farmer brought his hall, pltchIQfk anu
scylhe: the fisherman his hsh-spedi,
b9athook ana harpoon; the Wo0lIhah Ml7
ak and heavy pole the DulGnrt ne 49, 49,
en- ana knife the carpenter ms loh1 ms sel
and adZe. 1t required eut niue tnouAaLe
and experience to alter the toois On l'eelt,e'
no matter how innocent, into deadly IN
struments OF war. The farmer chdIiBed
the swinging bar Of his nan Tor a pie
Of metal and the cord or thong Iof q
chain. and he had an arm Wnlca WouLu
KIN a man or q horse with a slnsie blo"-
He Went further ana cohtI3ae.tte1 ~
piece of metal into a pan, anu men ~
suikes all over the ball or Simply puss
spikes an over the original p!eee, al'1 ~
he had what the Germans quantity can
: ..55oreer1erer1 or morning star, a
weapon terrible TO look a. anu eqIdllg
terrible 10 wound and kiln All three
That the evolution of the mofhlus sur
from the harmless fail Is apparent 70
ma Zines of the pitchfork he widencd
500 f5a3ps and thus made the trident.
H. next made the blades triangular III
section. and thus had an instrument whose
wound where II dld hot XII INN =
required months in healing
The scvthe he ground down 70 a me
point and then fastened TO a STOUT pott.
Tbis unique computation could thrust IKE
a spear cut like a sword ana mans tIlll7
man or brute at a safe distance. II WAS
a favorite arm in the past, ana ls sun
borne to-day in official and reheious pio-
The dsherman's boat-hook underwent 9
similar but greater change. me UP grew
into a spear head and formed one Wea-
nom a spear with a convenient spur on
one side with which the owner coulu
scale wall or pun q luckless rlder from
his horse The spur needed an az on the
other side of the SMART as Couhte po4s.N,
and thus became halber6 Growing IN
other lines fiji became Lochaber AK me
harpOOn grew lighter ana became IlIu"-
heavier and became a staDplng SPEAR, Pi-
mm OF. pike. The FISH spear followed the
pitchfork and became a trident OF hNe-
SIS with the other primitive industries.
There are spears whose heads are I'M
uuestionably chisels, g0uges, avis, butch-
ers knives and even trowels, halbefus
which are descended from pruning hooks,
sickles hatchets and cleaVers tea 10
strong wooden handles; maces which nave
come from prehistoric Celts or else from
a long handle; battleaxes which suggest
the woodcutter aud carpenter; shlelds
which We're baskets, iurs anu sklns ueF
together, pieces or plank ana SLABS OF
thick bark Nearly every transitional
stage has been a permanent one also Tor
a limited number Of weapons, and samples
Of each have been relgiousiy kept and
reproduced by the queer almond-eyed chill
dren Of the east.
Now and then one encounters some GU
rious weapon unlike anything else. one
of these, the hand arrow, Is so remark
able as to deserve special mention. II is
a bolt of iron from three to 1--WE inches IN
length and three-eighths of an inch to
an inch in thickness, and from two to
four ounces in weight. The forward
third tapers to a point which Is ease case
is hollow and is intended TO hold three
or four feathers. which act like the
feathers on an arrow. The bolt is mis-
sile and is thrown in two ways. In one
method il Is thrown underhand, in the
old style of pitching base ball. This
is intended Tor close quarters. AT snort
distances, with this style of delivery. 1t
will penetrate q human body three no four
inches and inflict a mortal wound, even
if IT does not cause instant death. The
other way of delivering the arrow is by
a full-arm throw. Thrown in this man
ner It viii go more than a hundred yards
and then kill the creature it strikes, If
it hit a vital spot. At thirty or fifty
yards a good hand-arrow man can bury
hts missile in the body of an enemy or
perforate a two-inch plank warrior
carries a hundred of these into battle,
and afterward, IL he issnot dead, disa-
bled, fugitive or a prisoner, spends an
awful time in recovering as many as he
can. The hand-arrow men are very eX-
pert with their weapon. At thirty PAGES
they win strike a target two feet in di-
ameter five out of six times, and each
time throw with force and speed that it
would be difficult to dodge if one were
the target. The hand arrow is an old
weapon, and so far as l know peculiar
1t is far more deadly than sling, javelin,
assegai, boomerang or other throwing
weapon.
In preserving these ancient weapons,
the Chinese have preserved their clum-
siness and miserable workmanship. The
Damascene blades and inlaid battle axes
the jeweled weapons and armorial art of
our own race are almost unknown in
China. Ninety-nine arms out of a hun
dred look what they are, the ingenious
attempts of farmer and fisherman. wood
cutter and artisan to convert the homely
tools of his calling into martial instru-
ments of death and destruction.