The Red Cloud chief., 1898-03-11
Oil DAMASCUS BLADE.
GIVEN BY THE GEAR TO PRESi-
DENT JOHNSON.
It Helped to Iiuiid Kingdoms The nit
Is Made Of Horn Ornamcntcd with
Twisted. Wire The scabbard L. Mad.
OF Wood. "a

=. Farmer. the county surveyor Of
Columblana county. Ohio, who resides
at Lisbon, has in his possession one o..
the rarSst historical, specimens in en-
istencc. II is an old Damascus blade,
which. IL is claimed. Is over two thou
sane years old. II Is of crude design
and workmanship. and was made en-
tirely by hand. the irrcgularity of iis
lines proving more ConclusiVcly than
anything else its antiquity. shortly
AFTER the assassination Of President
Lincoln an unsuccessful attcmnt was
maze upon the life of the Car of Rus
STA. a fleet of American warships was
rent on a cruise across the ocean, and
incidentally carried q message OF on
graduation TO RuSsia's ruler from
president Johnson. Assistant Sccre-
tary OF the Navy Fox accompanied the
squadron, on board the Miantunomah.
commanded by John J. Cornwell, OF
Lisbon, Ohio, Secretary Fox was pre-
sented with the sword Ivy the car in
10 ~ NphNu vi HIS llEl 'clt'Ill,
accompanied by the following speech:
i present 10 You, sir, ms the repre-.
sentative Of one of the foremost and
mlghtiost Of modern nations, this
sabre. as a material appreciation of
II nations high regard Cor my wei
rare ana safety. Through ages it has
been treasured in the archives of my
tathegs as a sCmhlanCc of the mighty
races that swaycd the dCstiniCs Of flu
ture generations on the shores Of the
Mediterranean; 1t was carried through
scenes Of carnage which marked the
upbuilding of the powerful sovereignty
OF western Asia and has outliyed the
kingdoms IL helped build" The an.
Gent treasure was accepted by the soc
rotary, with an appropriate response,
ana as the fleet steamed out Of the Rus
sian port he presented the sword to
Commander Cornwell. While the feet
was OFF Toulon, France, Commander
CornWell died suddenly OF heart fail
nre. The vessels pulled in at the port
ana n telegram was sent TO Paris for
a burial casket. A squad OF marines.
under command of a lieutenant, was
sent on shore TO receive the casket from
the train and convey II aboard the dead
commanders vessel. The casket missed
connections, but the sailors. who wer.
unaware OF that fact. hustled a cnskct
which arrived on the train off to the
ironclad. The fact that the box was
quite heavy did not excite the suspi-
cion or the sailors, and after IL had
been taken 10 the cabin the mate
opened the cover. CONSERVATION
reigned on board when there was dis
closed the body of a beautiful young
lady, buried in u wealth of flowers.
The lid OF the casket was hurriedly re-
stored TO its place and preparations
were promptly made to return the body
to the depot In Toulon. But the story
Of the alleged seizure had spread. ere
ating Intense excitement in the French
port. and a city official was ~preparlng
TO board the American warship with a
search warrant. Explanations were
made. but the mistake came near caus-
ing an international disruption. The
French newspapers characterized the
actions OF the American sailors in the
most scathing terms, assuming that
the taking Of the body of the young
lady was a prearranged plan. Com.
mander Cornwall was buried at Tou-
lon and the old sword was given into
his widows keeping. and she in turn
presented it to her brother-in-law, Mr..
Farmer. The blade Is twenty-five and
onc-half inches long and one inch
wide. tapering TO a point. The HIT
is made OF horn, ornamcnted with
twisted brass wire, and is as hard as
adamant. The cross pieces are OF
leather. tipped with sheet brass. Tho
scabbard Is as interesting as the blade.
being fashioned from wood, with a
sheet brass covering. 1t was orna-
mented in crude style by indents OF a
pointed tool. Near the Hit, on the
blade, are a number Of odd characters
resembling ancient Hebrew inscrlp
tons.