Points and Edges
The first fact which the returns reveal is that girls are much less instructed in the point and edge as a means of sticking and cutting than the boys. Of the 384 children reported upon, almost three-fourth are boys. The knife leads in interest, nearly every boy being keenly anxious to own a knife of some description. If unable to own one he gets much satisfaction in using some one elses. The interest begins to manifest itself at about 5 years, and grows to about from 12 or 15, when it is at its height. Considerable sacrifice is sometimes made by the boys in order to purchase a knife. Several instances were given in which boys worked for several days for a knife or deprived themselves of other things to buy one. Some spent all their money for knives owning as high as five or six at one time. Their interest centres in the number and sharpness of the blades. Each boy's knife must be sharper than those of others, and comparison of knives with respect to sharpness is common. The blades are tested by cutting into hard material, by seeing which can cut the largest shavings or chips from wood, or by trying to cut paper or a hair. This leads to sharpening the blades and all sorts of efforts are made to improve this quality. The grindstone and whetstone are freely used.
Boys not only like to have sharp knives but they want to use them. They whittle sticks, boards, fences, palings, boxes; they cut into furniture, desks, chairs; they carve their initials upon everything which will receive them, including desks, buildings, fences, trees, walls, stones and cliffs. Pencils are sharpened often and to fine points, even when not especially dull. They also carve objects out of wood, such as canes, chairs, whistles, boats, boxes; cut out baskets and other toys from English walnuts or peach seeds. They throw their knives with open blade so that it will stick in trees, boards, or the ground. They play mumbly-peg. They often make motions with open knife in hand, brandishing it as if to stab some one. They sharpen sticks and call them daggers, or whittle out swords with which they have Indian fights, or cut down tall weeds as enemies. Stiff weeds are cut, sharpened at one end and hurled endwise at objects. Great skill is sometimes acquired in this way and the consummation of a boy's ambition is to be able to hurl one of these instruments through a pumpkin or watermelon. The sword, spear and dagger appeal strongly to the imagination of the boys. They fasten these to their belts and play robber, or soldier, and sometimes impersonate great characters like Washington, or an Indian chief, and kill imaginary enemies or charge upon wild beasts
