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Hindostan Info/Photos/ID Thread

That might be a Magog from Quebec??


I mean I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’ve not seen anybody that has a confirmed / labelled Magog...(?) If it is one, then the Magog stone is effectively identical to a Hindostan.

(I have a potential theory about these ‘Canada Oilstones’ which I’ll post later when I’m back with a computer).
 

timwcic

"Look what I found"
I mean I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’ve not seen anybody that has a confirmed / labelled Magog...(?) If it is one, then the Magog stone is effectively identical to a Hindostan.

(I have a potential theory about these ‘Canada Oilstones’ which I’ll post later when I’m back with a computer).

The few that I have seen pictures of, look almost identical to a Hindo. If it was not for the Canadian label, it came from Indiana.
 
The few that I have seen pictures of, look almost identical to a Hindo. If it was not for the Canadian label, it came from Indiana.


Oh right! One’s that actually say ‘Magog’ on them then? In which case - yes then I imagine it’s that.

(I was under the impression that the Magog stone was still a bit of a mystery).
 

Legion

Staff member
And another interesting one...

Far be it from me to cast aspersion on the authentic Canadian-ness of AB Salmen's Celebrated Fast Cutting Canada Oilstone, but it's certainly doing its very best impersonation of being a Hindostan. Though Indiana's pretty near Canada isn't it, so who knows...

This is another very nice, fairly fast stone, a little coarser the the Pike Fastcut.

View attachment 1542532

View attachment 1542530

View attachment 1542531
Maybe… did you buy that in England?

It’s possible that by sending a Hindo through Canada, and writing Canada all over the box, British importers might have skirted some sort of taxes or duties. Being as it came from within the Commonwealth.
 
Maybe… did you buy that in England?

It’s possible that by sending a Hindo through Canada, and writing Canada all over the box, British importers might have skirted some sort of taxes or duties. Being as it came from within the Commonwealth.


So this is very closely related / overlaps with my theory...

How many labelled Hindostans have you ever seen? That's right... feck all. There are billions of them out there, and yet none apparently have labels calling that actually use the name 'Hindostan'. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is this Pike stone that @timwcic found a picture of, and interestingly - it appears to be for the Spanish or Latin American market:

140A3D13-55D4-4266-BE00-FC59E79BE7B5-1890-0000017CA7C6E48E.jpeg



So why the omerta about calling a Hindo a Hindo?

I might suggest that it could have something to do with this...


Screenshot 2022-10-20 224242.jpg

Screenshot 2022-10-20 224331.jpg



Sounds like a whetstone in need of a rebrand if you ask me. But then why Canada?

Well you can't very well call it an 'American Oilstone', as America has other, better, more successful and famous oilstones, and people will think you're trying to do a number on them. Canada by contrast does not; it has maple syrup, gravy on chips, and Wayne Gretsky (if anybody knows anything else about Canada please feel free to chime in).

Also, as you rightly point out David, at certain points the stones may well have been shipped from there for reasons to do with trade, tariffs and international relations. And if the Turk can appropriate a Cretan Oilstone once it gets to Smyrna, it seems churlish to deny the Canucks a lowly Hindostan. Especially if it stops it from being chucked in the Thames on arrival in the civilized world.

So really... why not Canada?

---

That's what I reckon anyway! Quite possibly a load of overthought nonsense, but I've never seen a picture of a labelled Magog stone, and I've seen plenty of very suspicious-looking 'Canada' oilstones.
 
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duke762

Rose to the occasion
IIRC The boom town of Hindustan Indiana, was hit by a severe flood, followed by a severe cholera outbreak. This left the town devastated, and it totally failed soon after. Other concerns moved in to capitalize on the Hindustan name by mining the stone and using the Hindustan name. Who knows where they mined the stones exactly in Indiana but that type of stone is fairly widespread in southern Indiana. The current town is a not even a town, it's more of a place, with a name, but not the sight of any minig activity.

The site of the original, water powered mill used in the mid 1800's boom town, is characterized by large bolt's sunken into the exposed bedrock to support the building. IIRC this site has been found but my IIRC is sketchy at best....a Google search would be a better source...

I truly worry about Timwcic getting Radon from all his stones but I sure love looking at them.....
 
I have two. Just sayin. 😜

Ah yeah I think I remember you mentioning them or posting pictures or something. Was one of them also in Spanish...?


LOL! In the same way that Cardiff is pretty near to Edinburgh! 🤣 The Hindostan quarries were located south-central Indiana.

Nice rock!


Mmm... but geology can happen over quite large distances. Especially stuff like sandstones which tend to have been formed underwater, and seas, oceans and oceanic currents are quite big. It's very possible I think that you could get the same kind of rock at Magog and Hindustan.
 
Of course it's perfectly possible to look at it another way...

How often do you see old Idwals, Charnleys, Turkish &c. with labels...? Equally rarely. The overwhelming majority of whetstones in the c.19th were probably transported and sold without boxes and labels, and people made their own.

If we acknowledge it's not beyond the realms of possibility that similar, sandy-coloured sandstones could be found in two different places, then maybe the reason labelled 'Canada Oilstones' come up reasonably often is precisely in order to distinguish it from the near-identical Hindostan stone.
 

Legion

Staff member
Of course it's perfectly possible to look at it another way...

How often do you see old Idwals, Charnleys, Turkish &c. with labels...? Equally rarely. The overwhelming majority of whetstones in the c.19th were probably transported and sold without boxes and labels, and people made their own.

If we acknowledge it's not beyond the realms of possibility that similar, sandy-coloured sandstones could be found in two different places, then maybe the reason labelled 'Canada Oilstones' come up reasonably often is precisely in order to distinguish it from the near-identical Hindostan stone.
Nah, I still reckon they called a Hindo Canada for nefarious tax reasons. And to avoid having them pitched into a river again. Once bitten…
 
Nah, I still reckon they called a Hindo Canada for nefarious tax reasons. And to avoid having them pitched into a river again. Once bitten…


Yeah this is definitely the most likely explanation, imo.

I picked up that stone cos I wanted to check the theory first-hand, and it's the most Hindostan-y Hindostan ... err... 'Canada Oilstone' you ever did see.

Unfortunately being a Salmen stone it's glued firmly in, so might have a try cracking it out later to look at the SG.

IMG-2224.jpg
 

Legion

Staff member
Yeah this is definitely the most likely explanation, imo.

I picked up that stone cos I wanted to check the theory first-hand, and it's the most Hindostan-y Hindostan ... err... 'Canada Oilstone' you ever did see.

Unfortunately being a Salmen stone it's glued firmly in, so might have a try cracking it out later to look at the SG.

View attachment 1542943
Yeah, that white glue blob Salmens used is some pretty solid stuff, whatever it is. Even when it separates itself from the box, it takes a power of removing to scrape it off the stone.
 

Legion

Staff member
Both with the Spanish. I'd say a big market for the Hindo was south of the boarder.

Label a big portion with bilingual labels and flick them to Mexico/ South America. Label the rest with Canada and send them North. Genius.
 
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David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
One of them came from Indiana, the other I believe from the UK but it’s been a long time so I’m not positive on that.
 
Well you can't very well call it an 'American Oilstone', as America has other, better, more successful and famous oilstones, and people will think you're trying to do a number on them. Canada by contrast does not; it has maple syrup, gravy on chips, and Wayne Gretsky (if anybody knows anything else about Canada please feel free to chime in).
A really strange version of french?

Btw, love the conspiracy theory, after all Canada is still part of the British empire. Actually sounds like a good theme for a tv show, miners doing backdoor deals to trick countries into buying abrasive rocks...i would watch it 😋
 
So I've been away for a couple of weeks since I received the 'Canada Oilstone' above, and there was one little niggle in the back of my mind during that time. I hadn't cleaned it up properly but I didn't think I could really see any of the classic Hindo layering at the sides. @Alum of Potash asked about it too.

So yesterday I did clean it up properly, lap the sides a bit, and... I still can't. The only notcieable division of any kind of layer is when wet (last pic) you can see a weird wavy demarcation between yellow/orange rock that looks very Hindo like, and some that's a little more blue colour.

Hmm. Perhaps the 'Canada Oilstone' isn't the misnomer I thought it was. What do we reckon...?


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Judging from the picture, I would say that it does seem different as to the apparent absence of layering from the other "Canada" stone pictured years back. From the broken corners on the sides of the first and third stones, it sort of reminds me of an unused Queer Creek stone apart from the orange-colored areas which seem more Hindo-like.

As I mentioned in a PM, I visited the Hindostan region over the summer and also looked at some samples at the Indiana Geological Survey (IGS) in Bloomington. Attached is a photo I took at the IGS of a Hindostan that doesn't have the obvious sedimentary layering that most do. It also has some brown spotting similar to yours. So I'm inclined to think that your stone is similar to this one as pictured.

As for the fabled Magog stone, quarrying of those stopped in 1850. The labels of the two "Canada" stones appear to be of a much later vintage.

Hindostan-Indiana-Geological-Survey-1.jpg
 
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