The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-19
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TOLEDO BLADES.

| Inc glory OF Toledo blades, like nearly
every other glory there, has in great
measure departed, but a certain num-
| per or SWord-makers and damascena
workers still maintain remnant of the
OLD tradition, though they have had to
| conform somewhat to modern methods.
! AT their apogee they formed the most
! important corporation in the town, and
! possessed all manner of privileges,
| Whlch extended even to the smaller fry
| VINO merely sold daggers and knives
| livery armorer worked for himself, and
| boosted of methods and secrets of his
| own. He might almost have been said
to be the master of an artistic school,
and great was the competition among
ambitious youths to be admitted among
the ranks of his apprentices.
The peculiar excellence to which the
steel of Toledo owed it's extraordinary
fame throughout Europe is said to have
been due to some special virtue pos
| sessed by the sand and water of the
Tagus, just as the glorious beer of Mu-
Mich is attributed to some special prop
erty in the waters of the Isar. The
original iron came from the Basque
mines of Mondragon, and was also
deemed essential to the general result
Now, however, both iron and steel are
imported from abroad, and the manu-
facture has sunk If anything below the
average mediocrity of Europe. This is
as striking an evidence as any of the
universal decadence of Spain, for the
famous weapons of Toledo attracted at
tention in song as far back as the days
of the Romans. The Moors, as usual,
advanced the art to it's highest pima
Gle, and, through the armorers of Flor
ence and Milan may have produced
more artistic designs. Shakespeare was
certainly justified in pronouncing ''To-
ledos rusty to be the soldiers
dream" Each of the greatest makers
had mark or crest of his own, and
this was regarded as an indispensable
warrant of his workmanship. That of
Julien del I2ey was a small heraldic
dog. He was a converted Moor, and
obtained greater celebrity than any of
his rivals, predecessors or successors,
King Ferdinand himself consenting to
stand sponsor for him at the font.
Other names scarcely less famous are
those of Dionisio Corrientes, Orduno,
Ruiz Martinez and Cantera. Any of
their work, still to be found amid the
lumber of curiosity dealers, may al
most be said to be worth it's weight in
gold. What, however, most appeals to
the lay mind is probably the Espado de
Tosca, the steel of which is so true and
finely tempered that it may be doubled
right back and shut UP thus in box
for any length Of time. Most of the
modern work is now absorbed by the
government factory, which stands some
little distance out of the town, and by
no means repays a visit, everything
there being inferior and commonplace
1t would appear, indeed, that this mar
velous art like SO many others, has
entirely passed away, and may never
hope to be revived. For the age of the
sword died with the spirit of chivalry,
and the modern conqueror, with his
machine-guns and dull mathematical
calculations, would remain merely puz-
zled and powerless if we placed in his
hand a Durandal or an Excalibur The
days of romance faded away long ago,
and even at Toledo we may only find i
misty memories which heighten our i'm
patience and deepen our gloom.-Lon-
don Saturday Review.