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at such an angle ; and when they do, we hear those who use 

 such beetles complain of having their hands hurt often by the jar, 

 in consequence of not hitting the wedges true ; and more than all 

 else, beetles that are hung one-sided, wear one-sided ; and as they 

 usually in striking hit one corner or one side of the top of an iron 

 wedge, they will not wear as long, nor will the force of driving, 

 when the beetle is in use, be half as effective as if the face struck 

 the wedge perfectly square. (See USING SLEDGE, paragraph 335.) 

 After the rings have been but on and the handle driven in, make 

 two plugs of hard wood, and drive them in the ends of the beetle 

 very tightly, and saw them off even with the surface ; it is then 

 ready for use. 



HANDLING A BEETLE. 



342. It is often very amusing to see how awkwardly and ineffi 

 ciently many laborers handle a beetle in splitting wood or rails, 

 or anything else. One blow will be on one corner of an iron 

 wedge, and the next blow will be on another corner, and the next 

 one will be in such a manner that one corner of the wedge and 

 beetle ring will come in contact, and the beetle will roll over and 

 over, and very likely will fly half a rod ; and when the laborer goes 

 to get his beetle again, he will not unlikely find a ring bro 

 ken. When beetle rings are put on as tightly as they ought 

 to be, one or two awkward blows with the beetle, in such an 

 unskillful manner that the iron wedge and beetle ring will come 

 in contact, will snap a ring asunder instantaneously, unless it is of 

 the very best iron; and even then rings will often break, es 

 pecially in frosty weather, when the blow is not very powerful. 

 Laborers ought to know but I blush to say that one in fifty does 

 not know that when the face of a beetle is struck on the corner 

 of an iron wedge, the blow is not half as effective as it would be 

 if the face struck the head of the wedge entirely square. And 

 more than all this, when all the blows are applied to a corner of 

 the wedge, a beetle will be completely worn out before it has 

 performed one-fourth of the service that it would have done had 



