The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-04-09

into rods Of all sizes, round and square, and
made into nails with the greatest rapidly.
The nail was cut from strip Of copper and
headed all at one motion of the machine.
We then passed into the forging depart
ment. Here we saw the operation of ''bloom-
ing" OF " scrap-welding," and the making
of immense anchors. In the blooming pro
cess, piles of small scraps are heated TO a !
white heat and welded together in a solid i
mass under a large tilt hammer running t
by steam. The blooms are then used to !
make anchors. The operation of making /
these immense anchors is astonishing To /
give an idea OF their size, l will state that a
trip hammer weighing Is, 7CO pounds run +
by steam is necessary to do the forging.
The iron and brass finishing shop was /
the next point of interest. The machinery
is all of the best make and finish. It would
delight the eye of a machinest. One lathe, |
used to turn off large shafts, weighs 48
tons, and shaving that came from it was
twenty-five feet long. The machinery of
the new steamer Pensacola was being made
ready for putting in the vessel. The finish
was almost perfection.
The ordnance department was thea visit
ed. Here we saw big guns and little guns
in plenty. Many of them were Dahlgren-
made under the superintendent of Cap
tain Dahlgren, of this Yard, the great au-
thority in American naval gunnery. One
rihed cannon is of inch bore, admits a
60-lb ball, and will carry miles. At 81
miles it sent shot 16 feet into the sand
Before being used, cannon are subjected to
very severe test. For instance, one eleven
inch Dahlgren gun weighing Is, $50 lbs,
was fred 1000 rounds before it burst, the
charges being gradually increased from time
time. Another 1l-inch Dahlgren was fired
1859 times with $50 shot of 169 lbs. each,
and 1904 she'll of l35 lbs. each, before it
burst. Another gun was exhibited that had
burst couple of years ago and killed two
men and wounded FIVE. In testing, a slow
match is used for safety. The Dahlgren
gun is awkward looking, being very heavy
at the breech, in order to withstand the i'm
mense charge necessary to give it a long
range and great execution.
A howitzer "a short, wide-mouthed gun
for throwing shelis) is on exhibition, that
was captured at Yorktown, October 10th,
1871. 1t is mounted on a pedestal made of
thirteen different kinds of wood-one from
each of the States forming the thirteen
original colonies.
| 1t is interesting to witness the turning of,
| and boring out, of brass cannon the making
| of percussion caps, minnie and round balls.
casting of shells, cannon balls, shrapnel, and
grape, the filling of bombs, the making up
| of cases containing grape ard other ugly
| projectiles. Some of these latter are devil
ish in their deadly ingenuity. For instance,
a case of grape contains several hundred
! iron balls the size of a walnut which scat
! ter in all directions when they leave the
! gun. Another arrangement is as follows
| A "stand' of cast iron, hollow, is taken !;
| this Is placed in a canvass bag, and fifteen
or twenty balls the size of an orange are
packed in. Round musket balls are made
very rapidly by a machine The lead is
| taken IN thick strips, and run cold through
the machine. At one operation the bullet
| is pressed into shape, and at another the
bullet is cut out. The minnie bullets are
made also by two motions. So are percus-
sion caps. One machine makes the caps
and charges them with the Illuminating
| powder at one revolution. There are other
| shops, but we must cut our account short.
We next went on board the first-clas7
steam sloOp-of-war Pensacola-a new yes
sci, the hull of which " as built at Pensaco-
| la. She IS to freceIve her machinery and
finishing touches ere. Her length is go
feet, breadth of beam SO feet. Her engines
are of 1900 horse power, and she will have
a very powerful propeller. She will carry
twenty-five guns Everything about her is
of the best workmanship. The Pawnee, q
second class steam sloop-of-war, lying near
was receiving on board her coal prepare
tory to starting on secret expedition He1
decks were filed with sailors, marines and
soldiers ; she carries twelve guns
paid visit, few days ago, to AIexan-
dria, Va, seven or eight miles below here
on the Potomac. A steamer runs every
hour between the two places-flre for the
round trip, a quarter. Alexandria is a very
old town and used to do large commercial
business. But oh ! how fallen from its
high estate" Commerce has almost desert
ed its once busy wharves, and blight i:
on the town. 1t contains about 10000 peo-
pie. Washington used frequently TO visit
the place. The old church (Episcopalan
that he used to worship in still stands in
good repair. The bricks it is built of were
imported from England and are rough speci-
mems. The church is square, has a four
square roof, and has stone window and door
caps and corners. There is an old fashion
ed tower and belfry. In the churchyard
are some very ancient tOmb-stones, running
back seventy or eighty years.
In our rounds we saw very peculiar in
stitution on the outskirts of the town, viz.
a slave depot. 1t was large house sur
rounded by high wall, and looked like q
Jail. Over the door in large letters was a
sign reading Price, Birch & Co., Dealers
in Slaves"
The fishing season was just fairly com
mencing Alexandria is a great packing
point. The operation was going on. we
saw large quantities of splendid shad and
rock fish. By the way, oysters and fish
abound and are cheap and luscious. They
form the staple dishes in their many varie-
ties.
That model representative, Schuyler Col
fax, has gone home to prepare for Journey
over the Plains to California. He has been
invited to 60 on the first stage of the Over
land Mail Company, under the new mail
contract, which starts in June. This in7i-
tation was extended to Mr.. Colfax as a testi-
monial of his services in getting through the
bill authorizing a Daily Overland Mail
This is one of the many measures of great
public Importance introduced by Mr.. Colfax
as Chairman of the House Committee on
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