The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-10-23
Cuban Knives.
ynm lbe 70 ion Home Journal.

Fr,m the 70 ion Home Journal
There i no weapon in peace or war
like ihe machete, " hich the Cubans are
now using in their fight for liberty.
Every country has a sword Of its own,
but Cuba Is the one place whose only
sword aud only instrument Of war has
been her reaping hook or cane knife.
II she frees herself from Spain the
mcsi decisive port of the work must
hc done with the machete.
\ Cuban leader, iu giving 10 the
writer his estimate OF the chances Of
the Cubans. said that the conflict
hinged very largely on how many Of
the people in cane fields had good ma
chetes. There is not one Cuban in a
hundred who knows how to use gun.
The islanders have been denied the
use of firearms 50 long that those who
had fallen into possession Of guns in
the battles Of the ten years rebellion
often threw them down when they got
into battle and relied chiefly upon their
cane knives The battle of Baira, i'll
which - many Spanish heads were
eat of, and which was the biOOdiest in
Cuban history, was won by cane knives
over the best modern repeating rifles
IN the hands Of the Spainards.
The great execution of the machete
/ lies in the wonderful skill in handling
il. There are three classes Of these
knives. The first j. nothing more nor
less than a sword, . inches in length,
made Of the very best spring steel and
/ inca-ed in a leather scabbard. ItlOOks
like an ordinary sword, but il much
I heavier. IL is worn 10y the Cuban Of
fieeTs and gentlemen. The next il an
over-eeF's mochcte, very flexible, and
with a slight stroke it will sever a
mans head from the body.
But the broad, heavy iG-inch knife
is Cuba's peculiar weapon Of cfiense
and defense and her principal agricul-
tural and domestic implement. IL i
used fer nearly every service for which
We U.s. 4 knife, an AK, clcaver, a
pruning hook, or a scythe. Forests are
cleared with them, and they are about
the only tool in a butchers shop.
I Nowhere cIse in Spanish America y
the nIachete 80 generally Used. Near
Iv the hole Of Cuba Is devoted io the
cultivation of cane and tobacco, and
every stalk OF these crops Is harvested
with the macheie. Great skill in
handling them is the result.
{ An army of the most skiii.U. fencing
masters in Paris could not stand up
before an equal number Of Cuban cane
cutters. In one of ti,e engagements %
short time ago, when % detachment OF
Spanish cavalry charged upon the Gu
bans in the open, a. the onslaught was
made the Cubans axe reported 70 have
caught the Spanish sabres in orquetii-
las, or fur&ed sticks, and then cut men
OF their horses a. il they were grass.
These regular cane knives, on sc-
count OF their peculiar shape, can not
be worn in scabbard. They must he
worn hanging, exposed from the trunk,
and the fact that they can thus be
worn "a all denotes that the wearer IS
one Of very careful habits, for the blade
Is always kep5 a. sharp a. the very
best steel can be made. Absolutely
every male Cuban wears one 1t Is his
most highly valued piece Of property,
aud he will 10 ainos; anything To SC
cure good machete. Ia the noun
tains OF Southern Cuba ne i al home
with his mschete. He would not give
it for the bcst American rifle or revOi-
ver. The undersrowth is TOO dense for
anything but the passage of the ma-
chetc through the bush. He trims hi-
foot path and waits To spring upon a
Spaniard and behead hiu.. And there
: is nothing that a Spaniard breads 81
muca in Cuba a. the work % these
knives. Their stroke i the stroke of
= death in nearly every instance.