The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-13
THE HERO OF THE FORGE
TUBAI-CAIN AND THE PROPOSED
HONORING OF HIS MEMORY.
First Cunning Artificer in the InduS
try That Has Made Pittsburg Fa-
nous Throughout the Land.
Chicago Times-Herald.


in tradition and tale by the elders of the
race as they dozed away their declining
years. But the work that he had started
continued to become greater and greater
factor in the life of the myriads of human
beings who have followed him. And now,
when the world was old and weary Tubal-
cain is to have a monument such as he
deserves-a towering structure OF brass and
iron in the one city in all the world where
brass and iron reign supreme in industry
Tubal-cain will stand as the hero of the
forge, swinging his hammer and portraying
to all the world the giant life of iron
The. hero of the forge. Well is he so
called. In the book of Genesis it is written
that he was the instructor Of every arti-
hcer in brass and iron" In the TaImud he
is described as the ''furbisher of every cut
ting instrument of copper and iron" He
was the first man to handle molten metal
and form 1t to his purpose, the first man
to make weapons of iron, the first man
to prepare the way for the sharpening of
the plowshare. He was the forerunner of
all that great industry which furnishes
every year the metal skeleton for the huge
structures of commerce and business.
Very properly, Tubal-cain is chosen as
their patron by the societies of foundrymen
and of engineers of Pittsburg. Very prop
erly they have chosen to honor his memory
with statue which at the same time cele-
brates their own achievements and those of
the industry to which they belong Very
properly they have chosen to place the
statue where it can be seen by all who APP
proach the city of FORCES, and where it will
become the symbol of that city, as the
great statue of Liberty is the symbol of
first time into the country's greatest harbor.
and as the statue of Minerva on the Aero
polls was the symbol Of culture and of art
to all who made their pilgrimage to glorious
Athens.
Tubal-cain, a giant in bronze, will stand
at the junction of the Allegheny and Mo-
nongahela rivers. Besides him, on the mon
ster pedestal of iron and steel will be his
great anvil, upon which he is in the act
of raining blows with his hammer of might.
Simple in conception, powerful in effect, the
monument will mean more than if it in
volved the thousands of details with which
the industry of iron is now carried on to the
benefit of the human race.
PRIMAL IDEA REPRESENTED.
And in truth the blows that Tubal struck
on his anvil meant more for the race than
all the subtleties of invention that have fol-
lowed in the expansion of the primal idea.
Tubal-cain's was the great conception, the
central idea from which all the others have
sprung His hearth fire, his simple furnace,
were the seeds of all others, down even to
those of the Carnegies and the other iron
giants of the present day.
1t matters not whether we venture to be
doubtful whether Tubal-cain, the individ-
ual, the hero OF the fourth chapter of Gene
sis, the descendant of Adam in the sixth
generation, ever existed. 1t matters not
that we look upon his name the mere
olA|l fN.c fnva ON
whom the Hebrews first learned the arts
of iron and of brasS-a race so far Off that
its separate members all sank into a vague
identity in the mind of the early scriptural
chronicler. Tubal-cain is still the great
hero OF primitive industry. Though he were
at the start but an offspring Of the fancy of
the writer of Genesis, it was inspired fancy
that gave him BIRTH and he has become
reality in the early history of the world.
To the early Hebrews Tubal-cain is what
Hephaestus was to the Greeks, and Vulcan
to the Romans, and Dwalnn to the Scandi-
naVianS. The TelchineS of Rhodes, who, ac-
cording to StrabO, were the first workers in
copper and iron, are his representatives, and
the men of the race of Tubal IN Scythla, re-
peatedly mentioned in the Bible, ana told
of as famous coppersmithS, are sometimes
spoken of as his descendants, and all OF
these names, with the ore exception or
Hephaestus. are traced by philologlsts to a
common origin The simple omission OF the
first syllable from Tubal-cain gives Bal
CAIN a word very similar to Vulcan The
name Telchines, when passed throngh
common in the passage of words from one
country to another, becomes Slmdar In APP
pearance, and though DWalnn seems
further away from the original root, 1t, too,
can have its history made clear 10 the men
who know the languages and their develop
ment. Thus the same IuDal-caln thal Is
tina hero of the Hebrews is the hero of many
other races as well, and the sounds in his
name even though changed to some ex-
tent, have been common, properly hor tno oa
cupied by Semitic and Aryan races. All the
more is he fitted by this to be patron OF the
modern workers in iron and in brass.
Tlbal-cain appeared on earth, to FOLLOW
biblical chronology, about the year 300 -
c.. He was the son OF Lamecn, VINO was IHe
son of Methusael, who was the son OF Me-
huiael who was the son OF Trad, VINO was
the son OF Enoch, who was the son OF cam,
the son of Adam. 1t is well, lndeed, tnat ne
is placed away back in the beginning OF
time Little history could the race nave
made before he had done his work Hlttlng
each other with CLUBS SURFING tne gdI u
with sharpened sticks in place or ploWs,
scrambling and clawing and burroWlng IKE.
beasts the men of those days must nave
spent their time.
HIS FIRST WORKS.
Then came Tubal-cain-man or race. He
made a. hammer of iron, with which, rude
and clumsy though it was, he could pound
harder than anybody else. All the others,
when they had learned of him, followed his
example. He tipped lance with iron and
became invincible in war and unexcelled at
the chase. He fashioned a plowshare, and
whenever ANYBODY had time to till the
ground he offered thanks to Tubal-cain for
tightening his lapors. Perhaps he fashioned
a nail. that first of things little to conquer
things big.
far east where he had wrought 1t among
his barbarian folk, to the west, where the
descendants of Seth, the good son Of Adam,
were living. They were carried into Eu-
rope and into Asia After thousands of
his ideas and simple accomplishments were
enlarged and widened and improved. Every
where thew furnished the basis for the
whole system of human operations upon
nature and for much that men did toward
their fellow-men.
Tubal-cain is greater than ii ever was be-
fore 1t is centralized in huge works From
its furnaces goes forth the material that
makes possible the railroads OF the land.
the modern city, and gives the color to
modern architecture. 1t makes the stoves
and furnaces which gives us heat 1t pro-
yides the pans and dishes to cook our food.
It's products are part ana parcel OF every
operation which we carry on, and without
1t the whole system of modern industry
would be impossible.
Now. sad to say, despite the great
achievements in the arts Of peace that have
flowed from his works Tubal-cain was
race of Cain. He had nothing to do with
the holy patriarchs except to fight them.
The Bible has nothing to say in his favor.
He was a broiler and a fighter, and a man
of general bad habits. 1t was even told in
legend by the writer's of the Talmud that
he was the first man to ferment the juice of
grapes and that when he had drunk of the
product he proceeded to dance a weird and