The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-05-29
Balls, Shells and EsOmbs-..YHOw
They are Wad dc.

THey are Made. sE.. .
/ The Watervlet Arsenal, situated at West
Troy, is, yon doubtless know, the largest ar
senal for the construction and fabrication of
military implements, other than small arms
and cannon, in the country, and visit to its
work shops at the present time, powerfully
impresses one with the power and resources
Of our Government. Everything at present
is on a war footing, and from three 10 four
hundred hands directly, and as many more
indirectly, in the neighboring foundiies, are
kept busy night and day Through the
tbieving of Floyd and the recent acquisitions
IF Government, the arsenal, has been ne;lly
stripped of muskets, pistols and cannon, but
of other munitions there, is yet an ample
store. A large number of hands are engaged
in the preparation Of ammunition six thou
sand ball cartridges are made daily most
ofthase are intended for the Minnie rifle, but
largo numbers of the old fashioned. round
ball cartridges are also manufactured The
rapidity with which a cartridge is made is
wonderful. A boy sits at "a counter with a
cylindrical stick, pile Of creased balls and
one of prepared paper before .him-.a simple
roll ofpaper and stick-a jerk and twist
at one end-a twist of a string, and the car
fridge is ready for filing in less time than it
takes to read this description. They are
then taken into another room, placed open
end up iE shallow boxes, and man by
means of a simple instrument, fills them
with an equal and specific amount ofpowder,
at the rate Of thirty a minute. A twist at
the open end and the cartridge is complete.
The manufacture, goes on so fast that it. re-
quires nearly dozen men and boys to pack
boxes, and remove the finished cartridges.
In another apartment a number Of men and
girls are employed in the manufacture of
cannon cartridges, of all sizes, from the
mightiest columbiad down to the SIX pound
er. The material of which they are made is
kind of woolcd goods (moreen) imported
from England especially for the purp ,se,-
Thousands of yards ofthis material were in
the process ofbeing cut up and manufactured
Cannon cartridges are not filled, here, but at
the place where are intended to be used. In
still another department, grape, canister and
strapped ammunition are il course of prepa.
ration, while huge cart loads of bomb shells
and spherical shot are hourly arriving from
the neighboring foundrics The grape shot
are larger than supposed, and might more
properly he called peach shot. Some six or
more of these are packed il sort ofa wire
corkscrew arrangement, and fitted into a tin
case, and when thus finished have much the
same appearance. ofjars Of preserved meats
or fruit.
The manufacture of bomb shells is also
matter of much interest. The preparation
Of those | witnessed was briefly as follows :
The shell is first filed up with old fashioned
round leaden bullets melted sulphur is then
poured in to fill up the interstices and bind
the bullets in one solid mass; the shell is
then pnt.into a kind of a lathe, and cylin-
drical hole of the exact size of the orifice Of
the shell is bored through the bullets and the
sulphur !; this cavity is filed with powder
even with the interior edge of the orilice, a
six inch shell Of the kind here described
holding about halfa pound the fuse fitted
into the orifice, is sarecent Belgian invention,
made of pewter, and resembles the screw
cap used for the patent fruit cans. An ex-
animation of this pewter cap shows, howev-
er, that it is made oftwo hollow dies Of metal
Screwed together, and filled with neal pow
der a number of fine holes are drilled in the
lower disc, while the outer disc is entire,
and marked with figures in circle, 1, 9, 8.
4. In this state the shell is water and weath-
er proof. When t,ken for use, the gunner,
by the means of small steel instrument,
scoops out portion of the outer soft metal
surface, and lays bare the charge Of compo-
sition powder below it. If the, shell is de-
sired to explode in one second after leaving
the gun, the scooping is made on the figure
one if in two seconds, on the figure two,
and so on /; the idea being that the shells of
this description shall first strike the object
aimed at and do execution as ball, and then
explode, sending the bullets forward as if
from another cannon located at the point
where the fight of the shell is arrested.
Large shells ofeight or ten inches, are filled
with powder only, and bursting do execution
by means Of their fragments. These large
shells are generally fred by means of fuse
| of meal powder extending through brass
| plug screwed into the mouth Of the shell ;
in both cases the fuse is fired by the ignition
of the charge in the gun Cor Springfield
Republican.
The Tallahassee Sentsael has just learned
how Mr.. lincoln lives. 1t says: :
Lincoln keeps five men in his room to
guard him by night, and Mrs Lincoln two
to guard her! Old Abe, in order to keep his
spirits and courage up, ''pours the spirits
down." and is half drunk all the time. For
fear Of being poisoned, Mrs. Lincoln has turn
ed cook, and prepares all the food they eat.
Some ministers of the Gospel recently called
to see him TO desist from his mad policy OF
coercion, when the indignant Abe cursed
them away, swearing that the Southerners