Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/689

* STONE. 593 of the 'Navy. (See Cooper, J. F.) He was active in furthering benevolent institutions for the (UmI anil ilunib and for juveniU' ilolinquonts. Among his many publications the revolutionary Tales and sketches (2 vols., 1834), Maria Monk and the .Vii/oicn/ of the Hotel Dicii (1836), and a social satire Ups and Douns in the Life of a Distressed (Icntleman (1836) are still of interest. Better known probably are his Life of Joseph Brant (1838); Life ' of lied Jaehet (1840); and Uncus and Miantonomeh (1842). An account of his other works is given in Life and ^Vritin(/s of Col. William L. Stone (1866), by liis sou. William Leete Stone, Jk. (b. 183.5), himself the author of many works of antiquarian research connected with the Revolutionary epoch, among which the more noteworthy are: The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson. Bart.; Revo- lutionary Letters: Buryoyne's Vampaiyn; His- tory of Xcir York City; Ileminiscrners of Sara- toga and Bnllston. He edited also Ballads of the Buryoyne Campaign and Other Revolutionary Memorials. STONE AGE. A term commonly used to denote the earliest recognized stage in the de- velopment of human culture as defined by the materials used by man for weapons, utensils, etc. The phrase is somewhat misleading, however, since it is quite probable that primitive man made use of wood and other perishable materials to a far greater extent than of stone, and as a consequence the stage is defined by the prevailing material of the relics rather than by that of the actual implements in common use. The term Stone Age represents in no sense a chronological division of human progress, but is a loose equivalent for a stage of cultural de- velopment varying widely in duration in different parts of the world. There are, for example, tribes still in the Stone Age, while, on the other hand, some groups had progressed beyond it be- fore the dawn of history. It is also worth not- ing that some tribes commonly classed as be- longing to the Stone Age produced objects of a superior artistic and industrial merit to those of peoples who had advanced to the use of metals. The evidence for the existence of such an age in most parts of the world is conclusive, but it is from the prevalence and character of the relics in certain parts of Europe rather than in Amer- ica that the idea and the term have come into general use. A very common and well-recognized subdivision of the Stone Age is into the paleolithic and neo- lithic periods. In the paleolithic period man's best tools were extremely crude, and he is con- sidered to have understood how to chip stone into shape, but not how to grind or polish it. In the neolithic period both these advances had been made. Tlie terms protolithic and technolithic have also been proposed to indicate the earlier and later periods of the Stone Age, but have not come into general use. Relics of the Stone Age abound in practically all parts of the world, and are found in great numbers in all archoeological mu- seums. The most characteristic types are knives, scrapers, arrow-points, spear-heads, celts, axes, mortars, and pestles. See Akch-Eglogy, Ameki- CAX. STONE CtJTTING AND DRESSING. Processes eniplo.ved in preparing quarried stone for structural and ornamental purposes. These STONE CUTTING AND DRESSING. processes range in character from the rough shaping of the stone into squared blocks, which is generally performed at the quarry, to the cutting and polishing of carefully modeled and ornamental pieces such as columns, cornices moldings, and balustrades, and they may be carried out either by means of hand tools or by eTONE-WORKING HAMMERS. stone-working machines. The hand tools used in stone cutting and dressing are various shaped hammers and chisels and simple forms of measur- ing instruments, templates, and gauges. After a block is broken from its quarry bed by one of the methods described in CJlaerying, it is trimmed to the desired size and shape by a variety of means according to the hardness of the stone and the kind of finish desired. By means of the pitching chisel the rough block is trimmed down to a line, then the irregular surface is worked down by the point, after which it is finally dressed. If the stone is to be polished it is first scoured with wet sand. Small blocks are now usually ground with wet sand on a re- «9 "^ "^ r ■ f Pi ■5 I f li li It: 1 -^ il It V [ 8TONEWORKJNQ CHISELS. volving iron bed, while large blocks are ground by dragging a slab of stone back and forth across them with w'et sand as the abrading ma- terial. For securing a finer polish, emery, hones, pumice stone, and polishing putty (oxide of tin) are used. A high grade of polish can be secured by skilled workmen only, and each man usually has his own peculiar methods for securing the result desired. In most large establishments grinding and polishing machines are much employed. For flat surfaces a circular horizontally revolving iron plate or grating, attached tn the lower end of a vertical shaft, with an elbow joint, is used, the workman guiding the plate to various parts of the surface, and using sand or emery as the abrading material. By attaching felt to the plate the same machine is used for polishing. Blocks of svich small size as can be handled by the workmen are usually ground upon horizontally revolving iron beds some eight or ten feet in diameter. Pendulum machines are used for polishing simple moldings. The molding being first cut as smoothly as possible with the chisel, a plate of cast iron, fitted as accurately as pos-