Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/197

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��them. They were made more perfect by rub- bing and polishing, probably done from time to time after they were lirought into use. A handle or helve, made of a withe or split stick, was fastened in the groove by thongs of hide. The bit is narrower than the body of the ax, which is generally not well enough balanced to be of much value as a cutting instrument.

��pounds, but are generally less than three pounds. The very heavy ones must have been kept at the regular camps and villages, as they could not have been carried far, even in canoes. Such axes are occasionally found in the Indian towns on the frontier, as they were fonnd in Ohio, among the aborigines. The Mound- Builders apparently did not give them as much

���PERFORATED PLATES, THREAD SIZERS, SHUTTLES, ETC.

��It is very seldom the material is hard enough to cut green and sound timber. The poll is usually round, but sometimes flat, and, rarel}', pointed. It is much better adapted to breaking than cutting, while the smaller ones are l^etter fitted for war-clubs than tools. As a maul to break dry limbs, they were very efficient, which was probably the use made of them. In weight they range from half a pound to sixteen

��prominence among their implements as their savage successors. Double-headed hammers have the groove in the middle. They were made of the same material as the axes, so bal- anced as to give a blow with equal force at either end. Their mechanical symmetry is often perfect. As a weapon in war, they were indeed formidable, for which purpose they are yet used among the Indians on the Pacific Coast.

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