Licking Valley courier., 1913-07-03
- THE FIRST MISSILE.
HOW 1T BEGAN
NAKED savage found himself
In the greatest danger. A
wild beast, hungry and fierce.
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AseTS wild beast, hungry and fierce.
&&&9 was about to attack him.
Escape was impossible Retreat was cut
off. He must fight for his life, but how?
Should he bite, scratch or kick?
Should he strike with his fist? These
were the natural defenses of his body.
but what were they against the teeth,
the claws and the tremendous muscles
of his enemy? Should he wrench
dead branch from a tree and use II
for a club? That would bring him
within striking distance to be torn to
pieces before he could deal a second
blow.
There was but a moment In which
to act. Swiftly he seized jagged frag-
ment Of rock from the ground and
hurled it with all his force at the blaz-
ing eyes before him. then another and
another until the beast, dazed and
bleeding from the unexpected blows,
fell back and gave him chance to es-
cape. He knew that he had saved his
life, but there was something else
which his dull brain failed to realize.
HE HAD INVENTED ARMS AND
AMMUNITION!
In other words. he had needed to
strike harder blow than the blow of
his fist at greater distance than the
length Of his arm, and his brain show
ed him how to do 1t. After all, what
is a modern rifle but a device which
man has made with his brain, permit
ting him to strike an enormously hard
blow at a wonderful distance? Fire
arms are really but more perfect
form of stone throwing, and this early
cave man took the first step that has
led down the ages to present day arms
and ammunition.
This strange story of q development
that has been taking place slowly
through thousands and thousands of
years, so that today you are able to
take n swift shot at distant game in
stead of merely throwing stones-this
story we shall briefly tell
The Earliest Hunters.
The cave man and his descendants
learned the valuable lesson of stone
throwing, and it made hunters Of them,
not big game hunters-thnt was far too
risky. But once In while a lucky
throw might bring down bird or a
rabbit for food. And so it went on
for centuries perhaps. Early mankind
was rather slow of thought,
At last, however, there appeared q
great inventor-the Edison of his day
He added the second link-the sling.
The Use of Sings.
The new weapon worked with great
success, and a little practice made eX
pert marksmen. We know that mos
Of the early races used it for hunting
and In war. We find 1t shown in pic
lures made many thousands Of years
ago in ancient Egypt and Assyria. W.
find 1t In the Roman army, where the
slingman was called n "fundltor."
We find ii in the Bible where it Is
written Of the tribe of Benjamin
Among all these people there were
seven hundred chosen men left handed
EVERY ONE COULD SLING \
STONE AT AN HAIR BREADTH
AND NOT MISS" Surely. too you re
member the story Of David aud Goliatl
when the young shepherd prevailed
over the Philistine WITH A SLING
AND WITH A STONE"
Something Better.
Yet they had their drawbacks.
stone slung might kill bird or even
man. but 1t was not very effectiv,
against big game.
What was wanted was missile t
pierce a thick hide. So through lon
years OF cropping for something bet
ter the bow and arrow was evolveu
and played most important part Il
the development of arms and ammuni
ton In many lands
A Shooting Machine.
But the nge of machinery was com
Ing on, Once IN awhile there wer
gllmpses of more powerful and con
plicated devices to be seen among th
many forms in which the bow and al
row were constructed.
A new weapon now came TO the Ger
ter of the stage. II was the crossbow
the first real hand shooting machine
This was another big step toward th
day Of the rifle. The idea was simpl
enough. Wooden bows had alread
been made as strong as the stronges
man could pull, and they wished 70
still stronger ones-stee ones. Hoy
could they pull them? At first the
mounted them upon wooden fran
and rested one end on the shoulder TO
a brace. Then they took to pressln
the other end against the ground an
using both hands. Next II was
bright idea to put stirrup Oh thi
end in order to hold 1t with the foot.
still they were not satisfied. strong
er, stronger!" they clamored. Let u
try mechanicsW
So they attached levers, pulleys
ratchets and windlasses until at las
they reached the size of the grea
Siege crossLows. Weighing eiGhteel
pounds. These sometimes needed
force OF 1000 pounds to draw back th'
string TO its catch, but how they coult
shoot! Notice the pictures OF u'
crossbows and you will see that no"
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