The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1922-02-03
LEARNS SECRET
OF ARROW HEADS
Illinois Man Gets Credit as Only
Man Who Knows How
to Make Them.
INDIAN CHIEFS LOSE TRICK
Many OF Them Confess Their lono-
rance Of Just How to Make Arrow
Heads-Are identified by
Tribal Marks.


Heads-Are identified by
Tribal Marks.
Springfeld.-Making of Indian ar
row heads has been reduced to its
first principles here by Herbert Wells
Fay, custodian of the Lincoln mOnu-
ment, who has gained the distinction.
which it is said until now has been
undisputed, of being the only white
man to make real arrow heads.
Indians are among the foremost in
crediting Mr.. Fay with this ability.
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 work
manship of the white man.
Finding that his arrows have been
taken for the work of real Indians,
Mr.. Fay no longer makes arrows of
flint, but to prevent fraud uses only
glass.
Worked Near Dekalb.
His study of arrow heads swas
gained largely near his former home
at Dekalb, in which vicinity, he said,
there had been seven Indian camps.
MIR. Fay takes issue with other au-
thOrities who say arrow heads maybe
identified by their shape as the work
of particular tribe. Years of study
and the actual making of arrows prove
otherwise, Mr.. Fay declares.
His conclusions as to arrOw-making
are outlined as follows: Indians first
tried stones that break with con-
choidal fracture Qike the inside of q
spoon). They found that the deeper
the break at the top Of the fiat-sur-
faced stone the longer would be the
break in the stone, but it would be
CORRESPONDENCE wide, They wished
however, long, narrow piece as more
suitable for an arrow. head.
"They then found that by breaking
the stone at corner they could pro-
duce such flake (raw arrow head)
one, two, or even FIVE times it's width
according to the skill Of the artisan
Such an arrow head always has q
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 I'm
fishing the arrow head, If the stone
breaks easier from one direction or
the top, it would break just as easily
from the other on the bottom. This
gave rise to the belief that arrow
heads were made to revOlve. Such was
not the intention of arrow makers, as
the same natural popularity appears
in spear heads, which are too heavy
to revolve, as spears were seldom ex
pected to 60 more than a few times
their length.
''These principles being true of al
stone used by the Indians, it is an evi
dent impOssibility for any collector f.
tell what tribe made certain arrow ~
spear heads. The width, depth and
thickness, determined by the depth oi
the fracture of the stone. determins
the shape and appearance of the fin
ished product"
ebert Center in Illinois.
Most of the arrow heads of the
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 outcroppings of this ebert
and prolific evidences of the activity
of Indians, who went there from all
parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and
Wisconsin, he added.
LESS than / per cent of the arrow
heads found in this wide territory.
Mr.. Fay continued, seem to have beer
made from local stone. The Union
county quarries have been determined
as the principal source because arrows
found throughout that region CORE
sponded exactly to the quality Of the
Union county stone. 1t Is not known
whether expert fake makers helC
the quarries in Union county and dis
tributed material to tribes as the,
came down, or whether each tribe hao
its flake makers and visited the quar-
ries periodically.
Implements used by Indians In max
ing arrow heads, according to Mr.. Fay
were made with one tool piece o.
bone somewhat like the handle OF
toothbrush.