The First Missile
HOW MAN LEARNED TO SHOOT
A naked savage found himself in the greatest danger. A wild beast, hungry and fierce was about to attack him. Escape was impossible. Retreat was cut off. He must fight for his life—but how?
Should he bite, scratch or kick? Should he strike with his fist? These were the natural defences of his body, but what were they against the teeth, the claws and the tremendous muscles of his enemy? Should he wrench a dead branch from a tree and use it for a club? That would bring him within striking distance to be torn to pieces before he could deal a second blow.
There was but a moment in which to act. Swiftly he seized a jagged fragment of rock from the ground and hurled it with all his force at the blazing eyes before him; then another, and another, until the beast, dazed and bleeding from the unexpected blows, fell back and gave him a chance to escape. He knew that he had saved his life, but there was something else which his dull brain failed to realize.
He had invented arms and ammunition!
In other words, he had needed to strike a harder blow than the blow of his fist, at a greater distance than the length of his arm, and his brain showed him how to do it. After all, what is a modern rifle but a device which man has made with his brain permitting him to strike an enormously hard blow at a wonderful distance? Firearms are really but a more perfect form of stone-throwing, and this early Cave Man took the first step that has led down the ages.
This strange story of a development has been taking place slowly through thousands and thousands of years, so that today you are able to take a swift shot at distant game instead of merely throwing stones.
We do not know the name of the man who invented the sling. Possibly he did not even have a name, but in some way he hit upon a scheme for throwing stones farther, harder, and straighter than any of his ancestors.
The men and women in the Cave Colony suddenly found that one bright-eyed young fellow, with a little straighter forehead than the others, was beating them all at hunting. During weeks he had been going away mysteriously, for hours each day. Now, whenever he left the camp he was sure to bring home game, while the other men would straggle back for the most part empty-handed.
Was it witchcraft? They decided to investigate.
Accordingly, one morning several of them followed at a careful distance as he sought the shore of a stream where water-fowl might be found. Parting the leaves, they saw him pick up a pebble from the bank and then to their surprise, take off his girdle of skin and place the stone in its center, holding both ends with his right hand.
Stranger still, he whirled the girdle twice around his head, then released one end so that the leather strip flew out and the stone shot straight at a bird in the water.
The mystery was solved. They had seen the first slingman in action.
The new plan worked with great success, and a little practice made expert marksmen. We know that most of the early races used it for hunting and in war. We find it shown in pictures made many thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt and Assyria. We find it in the Roman Army where the slingman was called a “funditor.”
Surely, too, you remember the story of David and Goliath when the young shepherd “prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone.”
Yet slings had their drawbacks. A stone slung might kill a bird or even a man, but it was not very effective against big game.
What was wanted was a missile to pierce a thick hide.
Man had begun to make spears for use in a pinch, but would you like to tackle a husky bear or a well-horned stag with only a spear for a weapon?
No more did our undressed ancestors. The invention of the greatly desired arm probably came about in a most curious way.
Long ages ago man had learned to make fire by patiently rubbing two sticks together, or by twirling a round one between his hands with its point resting upon a flat piece of wood.
In this way it could be made to smoke, and finally set fire to a tuft of dried moss, from which he might get a flame for cooking. This was such hard work that he bethought him to twist a string of sinew about the upright spindle and cause it to twirl by pulling alternately at the two string ends, as some savage races still do. From this it was a simple step to fasten the ends of the two strings to a bent piece of wood, another great advantage since now but one hand was needed to twirl the spindle, and the other could hold it in place. This was the “bow-drill” which also is used to this day.
But bent wood is apt to be springy. Suppose that while one were bearing on pretty hard with a well-tightened string, in order to bring fire quickly, the point of the spindle should slip from its block. Naturally, it would fly away with some force if the position were just right.
There was one man who stopped short when he lost his spindle, for a red-hot idea shot suddenly through his brain.
Once or twice he chuckled to himself softly. Thereupon he arose and began to experiment. He chose a longer, springier piece of wood, bent it into a bow, and strung it with a longer thong. He placed the end of a straight stick against the thong, drew it strongly back, and released it.
The shaft whizzed away with force enough to delight him, and lo, there was the first Bow-and-Arrow!
Armed with his bow-and-arrow, man now was lord of creation. No longer was it necessary for him to huddle with his fellows in some cave to avoid being eaten by prowling beasts. Instead he went where he would and boldly hunted the fiercest of them. In other words, his brain was beginning to tell, for though his body was still no match for the lion and the bear, he had thought out a way to conquer them.
Also he was better fed with a greater variety of game. And now, free to come and go wherever he might find it, he was able to spread into various lands and so to organize the tribes and nations which at last gave us civilization and history.
A new weapon now came about through warfare. Man has been a savage fighting animal through pretty much all his history, but while he tried to kill the other fellow, he objected to being killed himself.
Therefore he took to wearing armor. During the Middle Ages he piled on more and more, until at last one of the knights could hardly walk, and it took a strong horse to carry him. When such a one fell, he went over with a crash like a tin-peddler’s wagon, and had to be picked up again by some of his men. Such armor would turn most of the arrows. Hence invention got at work again and produced the Crossbow and its bolt. We have already learned how the tough skin of animals brought about the bow; now we see that man’s artificial iron skin caused the invention of the crossbow.
What was the Crossbow? It was the first real hand-shooting machine. It was another big step toward the day of the rifle. The idea was simple enough. Wooden bows had already been made as strong as the strongest man could pull, and they wished for still stronger ones—steel ones. How could they pull them? At first they mounted them upon a wooden frame and rested one end on the shoulder for a brace. Then they took to pressing the other end against the ground, and using both hands. Next, it was a bright idea to put a stirrup on this end, in order to hold it with the foot.
Still they were not satisfied. “Stronger, stronger!” they clamored; “give us bows which will kill the enemy farther away than he can shoot at us! If we cannot set such bows with both arms let us try our backs!” So they fastened “belt-claws” to their stout girdles and tugged the bow strings into place with their back and leg muscles.