The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-26
EARLY sMoRps.
Value of the Damascus steel said to
BE Largely. Fictitious.
From an Exchange.

&c Largely htcttUouss
From an Exchange.
Very little is known of the early history
of sword manufacture in England, and we
have no reliable Information Of the first
production of arms at Sheffield Holland
gives picture of two men grinding a
sword blade. copied from a manuscript
psalter written about che time of King
Stephen But warriors In those remote
times were extremely conservative in the
choice of their weapons. Long before the
| lnroads of the Sclavonians and Bulgarians
on the western empire, In the ridge of
| mountains called the "scaf altai" or gir-
| die OF the world, The Turks had erected a
| large number of iron FORCES, where they
manufactured those tough arms with
| which they made themselves masters of
Cohstantnople. Good Norc war knives
We're grlpped in the hands of ancient Rome
and helped her sons TO carve their way
| across the continent of Europe. Moor and
| Christian dealt their veugeful blows for
supremacy in Spain with tough and hexi-
bic weapons tempered in the waters of the
| Tagus
In the time of the crusades and through
| iaser period Milan was famous for the
| excellent weapons that armed The leuions
! OF Peter the Hermit. In the holy wars
| they proved good foils against the steel
wrought in the FORCES of Damascus. Ispa-
| nan and Cairo. The Damascus blade has
been largely exto,led in proverb song and
story, and thus 1t has been invested with
somewhat fictitious value Its chief
characteristics were keenness of edge. flex-
| Utility, curious flecky grain when polished
ana peculiar musky odor when heated by
| friction ~
| About the year 1859 serious international
| considerable aroused England to the no
cesslty OF competing with the world in the
manufacture of swords A movement
| was inaugurated in Cumberland far ,ha
| purpose of making hollow ground swora
| plades. Mills were erected by a COMPANY
| OF cutters, and considerable number of
German artificers were employed but the
! work was very inferior and the nroiect
tailed. In 1888 the sword sellers of Lon
| uon petitioned the lords of the treasury
rol peInissIon TO import German swords
| Tree OF duty. This extraordinary snnlica-
| uon called forth an indignant patriotic
| protest. A few years later 10000 cavalry
| swords were required by the East India
company, and the order was divided be-
| tween English and German makers. or
TINS order, Mr.. Gill of Birmingham secur-
| Ell large share. A special machine vac
| suggested by Matthew Bolton for TESTING
| the swords. In this machine each blade
| was forced into a curve reducing from "a
| 10 ~ inches. The result was that . 650
of those made by Mr.. Gill bore the fest
and only four were rejected OF the German
| SWORDS, 400 were accepted and % rejected
Immediately the fame of Mr.. Gill spread
over Europe, and in a short time officers
of the German army were his principal
| customers
For the making of the sword of TODAY
the metal as it comes to the hand OF tba
cutter Is bar of cast steel of the very
pest quality. 1t is cut to the required
size and weight, and called a sword mould
me hrst process 1t undergoes is in the
| forge, where 1t Is beaten into blade form
| by two smiths. When the weapon is to
De concave on the Sides or to have a
reeded back or some similar REGULARITY
OF form, it is hammered between stee,
bosses of swages. 1t is then handed over
70 Inc rough grinder. who cuts the scale
OH ana trims II on a large circular Stone
driven by steam power The next process
IS erected In the hardening shop, which
is the sanctum Of the mysterious crafts
man, who is supposed TO be the possess6r
OF the all-important secret that makes the
sword or mars It,
An iron brazler-lIke forge Is used as the
receptacle of the Goals through which the
blade is passed till 1t CLOVIS from shank IN
point of an even tint of warm red. 1t is at
this tage that one of the most innr>or ann
subtleties of the swordmaker's art Is mani
Tested. The smith must carefully gauge
the heat, ana as he passes the blade to
and fro he watches the reddening steel
until 1t assumes the necessary glow then
quickly plunges 1t into a barrel of cold
water This renders 1t hard and brittle.
so that IL must be corrected by temper-
ing. For this purpose 1t is heated, dipped
in oily liquid, and held over the fire once
more. The smith then removes any warp
1t may have got in the hardening by
means of a mallet-shaped hammer He
cleans the scale off by means of emery
cloth, heats 1t once more till the surface
assumes blush oxidation, and redips
In the cold water. II necessary it Is placed
in the fork of an anvil to correct any
warping occasloned by the tempering. It
Is then passed on to the fullering stone,
which is cut in ridges for the purpose of
grinding the groove in the sword. Next
comes the glazing process, where il is
ground on a smaller and finer stone till
IL Is ready for the polisher. The last i'm
portant process Is the test. 1t is bent round
a series of pins to the required curve,
and then subjected 10 repeated blows edge
wise on a STEEL bar, after which it is re-
moved to the etching shop, where Ii is
diapered, scrolled or illuminated as re-
quired by skilled engravers.