Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1920 — STILL MAKE BOWS [ARTICLE]

STILL MAKE BOWS

OM Weapon of War and Chase Not Yet Obsolete. Quantity of Yew Wood, to Be Used for That Purpose, Recently Sold by the Government Forest Service. It la a far cry from long range rifles and high-powered explosives to the bow and arrow of the American Indian. Nevertheless, bows and arrows are still used by the small boy, albeit not without sorrow to the neighbor’s chickens. There is also a demand for stronger and more expensive bows for archers of mature years. Doubtless these facts account for a recent sale, on the Snoqualmie national forest In Washington, of a quantity of yew, to be used in making bows. Although the forest service of the United States department of agriculture sells a variety of forest products for unusual uses, this la probably the first case in which the final product is to be one of the oldest and most common weapons known to the world. The yew has long been known aa the best of all bow woods. Famous English archers would have no other. Richard HI. ordered bowyers to make four bows of witch hazel, ash, or elm to every one of yew, in order that the supply of this valued wood might be preserved. This is said to be one of the earliest forest regulations in England. The staves from which bows were made in those early days were seasoned for three years before being made into bows and the bows were not used for two years after being completed. The American yew is botanlcally very similar to the European yew. One of the three species found in the United States grows only in Florida and is a small tree. Another Is a shrub growing in the north Atlantic region, while the third occurs in the forests of the Pacific coast It is the latter that grows in the Snoqualmie national forest. When mature It usually is from 20 to 30 feet high and from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. On account of its elasticity and strength the Indians of the Northwest utilized the wood of the yew for their bows and often for canoe paddles. Yew, wood is also well adapted to carving and numerous attractive articles can be made from It Not only does the grain of the wood make It possible to carve attractive designs, but thft combination of red bark, white sapwMfl, and rose-red heartwood make especially pleasing effects possible.