Similarly BARBER-SHOP. The Balance, Oct. 22, 1805, mentions “a drunken sailor frolic.”
1822. Her foot slipt, and she fell upon a large butcher-knife which she had in her hand.—Mass. Spy, Dec. 25.
1837. She saw another Indian level his rifle at her; she raised her arm, the Indian fired, the ball cut the flesh of her arm lengthwise, and passed through her neck. They then dragged her into the house, and tearing the string and comb from her hair, with a large butcher knife skinned all her hair off her head, as the butchers would skin an animal.—John L. Williams, ‘The Territory of Florida,’ p. 254 (N.Y.).
1838. The pack was found to contain the body of a man, with a butcher-knife in his hand.—Balt. Comml. Transcript, Feb. 7, p. 2/4.
1851. Leaving his dead son in the lodge, he broke into the congregation with a large butcher-knife in his hand, and rushing upon the now terrified doctress, seized her by the hair, and with one blow across her throat, laid her dead at his feet.—Gustavus Hines, ‘Oregon,’ p. 190.
1853. One of the hands of the dead man grasped a long butcher knife.—S. A. Hammett (‘Philip Paxton’), ‘A Stray Yankee in Texas,’ p. 289. [Two pages later, he writes butcher’s knife.]
1853. When you go into the harvest field, carry a good butcher knife in your belt, that if an Indian should come upon you, supposing you to be unarmed, you would be sure to kill him…. Let every man, woman, and child, that can handle a butcher knife, be good for one Indian, and you are safe.—Brigham Young, July 31: ‘Journal of Discourses,’ i. 167–8.
