Evening star., 1940-09-24
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

By Thomas r. Henry.
We live in the. twilight OF the Iron
Age. 1t passes in the screeching, smoke
belching terror of European battlefields.
1t has lasted for close to 1000 years.
Man has come long way during these
millenniums Perhaps the discovery and
utilization of metals for tools has been
the single most significant fact in the
history Of the species The Iron Age
now seems to be giving way to a new
era of plastics, with man making his
own metals. each ideally adapted to
specific purpose, in the chemical labor.
atory.
Some of the most picturesque aspects
of the age that is passing have escaped
the historian. The facts are buried In
the libraries and archives Of Europe
in yellowing black-letter volumes in the
British Museum and the Bibliotheque
National of France. Between two jobs,
one as chief engineer of the Resettle-
ment Administration and the present
position of chief architect of the Youth
Administration, Thomas Hibben. WASH
ington architect, spent nearly two years
delving into these ancient records.
| He has just published the fascinat-
| t., - -
started as a book for children but
packed with hitherto unknown facts
| which make it storehouse for serious
historians of one OF the most funda-
mental aspects of the phase of civilza-
ton that is passing.
Nearly always the craftsman. due to
some mysterious quirk in human
| psychology, had had a low social rating.
He has been outranked by the warrior.
the clerk, the farmer and even the gods
which ancient peoples pictured as the
| fathers of the crafts were rank out
siders in the pantheons. They served
but were not served.
| Much of Mr.. Hibben's material is
| from neglected records which he has
brought to light for the first time.
He has turned up many fascinating
| curiosities of history from the days
when the metal worker was feared and
despised as servant of the Evil One,
from whom he had learned his craft
| Yet always he has carried the burden
| Of the civilization of his revilers on
| his broad shoulders made strong by his
| labors at the anvil.
In Sparta 1t was forbidden for any
citizen to engage in any form of work
and each year the rulers went through
the solemn mummery of declaring war
| on all those who worked that they
might be outlawed and beyond the pale
| of any rights and privileges as citizens"
In ancient France and Spain there
were whole towns inhabited only by
blacksmiths. Here they worked in soli-
! tude, allowing no other people to come
! near their shops. So great was the
secrecy preserved that the towns were
surrounded with walls of earth and
timber and the shops were underground
tunnels. When a blacksmith died he
was buried under the anvil In his shop
is buried with his arms.
| Gold first came to be priced by men
as piece of the sum-" more than
for its intrinsic properties as metal,
and all the early gold-seeking people
we're sun-worshipers.
The fine clothing of rich Romans
was burned when it became too old
| to wear and the ashes were mixed with
mercury. This was done because the
Romans used to decorate their robes
with gold embroidery. far too precious
! metal to be thrown away. The mer-
| curry would separate the gold from the
| ash, then the mixture of mercury and
| gold would be placed in a fine cloth
bag and squeezed. When this was done
all the mercury would be forced out
through the cloth, leaving behind pure
gold.
Romans made wedding rings of iron.
| They thought diseases of the chest could
be cured by pricking the skin with an
iron point which had wounded a man,
that an iron nail taken from a grave
would keep of nightmare, and that If
| you drew three circles in the air around
any one and three on the ground with
a point of iron that person could not
be bewitched Our own superstition
about horseshoes bringing good or bad
luck comes from the fact that horse
shoes are made or iron.
Coal first was used as fuel more
than 1000 years ago. The mother OF
the Emperor Claudius made briquettes
of coal dust and wax for her own house.
hold fires.
In France less than 400 years ago
a law was passed forbidding any work.
man to use coal on pain Of severe pun
ishment, because the people of Paris
believed an epidemic had been caused
there by coal fumes.
The Iron Age started at about the
time of the Trojan War, described by
Homer. At first 1t served chiefly for
crude tools and farming implements
| rather than for fine tools and arms.
Medieval iron workers were generally
supposed to have sold their souls to the
devil, so marvellous did their craft seem
to the general populace.
| Mines In the ancient world usually
were worked by slaves captured in battle
who were allowed no respite from labor,
night or day, and naturally lived only
short periods Better business methods
/ - Ay,% kA