The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-07
ARROW HEADS
MADE OF GLASS
BY White MAN
Custodian Of Lincoln Monument Px,
GELS Indians at Graft; Study
Revealed Process.

Springfield. Ill.,, Dec. S0.-Makiua
OF Indian arrow heads has been re-
dueed to its first principles here
by Herbert Wells Fay, custodian OF
the Lincoln monument. who has
gained the distinction which it is
said until now has been undisput.
ed. of being the only white man to
make real arrow heads.
Indians are among the foremost
in crediting Mr.. Fay with this abil-
ity. Drawn to the last resting
place of Abraham Lincoln, various
present day Indian chiefs have
openly confessed their ignorance Of
lust how" to make arrow heads.
and then have voiced their surprise
at the excellent workmanship OF
the white man.
Finding that his arrows have
been taken for the work of real In
dians, Mr.. Fay no longer makes
arrows of flint, but to prevent
fraud uses only glass
His study of arrow heads was
gained largely near his former
home at DeKalb. in which vicinity.
he said. there had been seven In
dian camps.
Mr.. Fay takes issue with other
authorities who say rroW heads
may be identified by their shape as
the work of a particular tribe.
Years of study and the actual max
ing of arrows prove otherwise. Mr..
Fay declares.
Arrow Making.
His conclusions as to arrow max
ing are outlined as follows: In
dams first tried stones that break
with a conchoidal fracture dixie the
inside of a spoon. They found
that the deeper the break at the top
of the fat surfaced stone, the long
er would be the break in the stone.
but it would be correspondent
wide. They wished, however, a long,
narrow piece as more suitable for
an arrow head.
"They then found that by break
ing the stone at corner they could
produce such a fake (raw arrow
head, one, two or even five times
its width, according to the skill Of
the artisan Such an arrow head
always has a ridge on one side, and
the other side smooth. The ridge
is the corner of the stone from
which the flake was broken.
Next the Indian found that in
finishing the arrow head, if the
stone breaks easier from one diFee-
ton on the top, it would break just
as easily from the other on the bot
tom. This gave rise to the belief
that arrow heads were made to re-
volve. Such was not the intention
OF arrow makers, as the same nat
uraI popularity appears in spear
heads, which are too heavy to re-
Volve, as spears were seldom ex-
pected to go more than few times
their length.
"These principles being true OF
all stone used by the Indians, it is
an evident impossibiIity for any
collector to tell what tribe made
certain arrow or spear heads. The
width, depth and thickness. deter
mined by the depth of the fracture
of the stone. determine the shape
and appearance of the finished
product"
Made of ebert.
MOST OF the arrow heddS VI LlS
north Mississippi valley, Mr.. Fay
said, were made of ebert, a chalky
flint, taken from the Quarries In
Union county, Illinois, near Cairo
The bluffs at that place along the
Mississippi river show outcToppings
OF this ebert and prolific evidences
of the activity of Indians. who went
there from all parts of Illinois, In
diana, Iowa and Wisconsin, he