, 1861-01-26
THE UNITED STATES ARSENAL AT
"ATERTOWN.
S1I Thouzand Stand OF Arms Sent to
aouxhern AF4apRIa.

From the Boston Journal, Jan. AL
The startling developments recently rndde
relative to the transfer Of arms and munitions
Of war from the United 8tates Arsenals at
springfield. Watery1Iet and HarpeE's Ferry, to
southern States, by order Of ex4secretary
Floyd, hayc led rs to fear that the military
post ut Watertown, in this State has also been
roDbcd by the fugitive de1ultcr and traitor,
and our suspicious appear to have been well
= The araenal Is ut present IN command Of
Capt. j. Rodman, IN experienced and eff
cient officer. whose scientific labors in conncc-
tlon @ with military experiments, have won linn
:wcll-merited distinction. Capt: L: Leonard il
.tpe mlltary store-keepcT. The. post h gar4it
soncd by detachment Of twenty men, Under
command OF Lieutenant 7. Edison, who, with
six privatcs, was recently ordered to Fort
Adams, Ncwport;:R [; where IL now remains
in Charge Of the ordinance stores at that place,
AS Is well known, the arsenal. has in former
years furnished employment to large numbers
ofart!slans. The workshops are provided win
machinery requisite for the manufacture or
asnig H. ana Laey Aad been put in complete order
m improved pattern, when the present politi-
cal troubles blocked the wheels or nearly alt
the machinery: Hundreds of men were former:
y employed in the alteration OF the old. tllnt
LOCKS to percussion guns, and the long raek5
n tne atmory, t11ed tier above tier, with brist-
.e%-eSt AA@ CAlGuL y LuElr
The number Of mechanics at present employed
IL SIMPLY enough to keep the arsenal. in order.
The available material at present containcl
IN tho arsenal consists Of 7eight brass field
pieces, seven Of which are mounted and one
ready to mount; tircc splendid brass howit.
zels, t6lrdS-t"o IT. Founders, for 4ischareing
s9eid! 1o,Wo stand Of arms, muskets Of the
old a nint-lock style altered to percussion lock:
1,oog rifles. 200 horse pistols, GS, 900 pounds
OF musket powder, in barrels, $50 pounds cun-,
non powder, end 3000, 900 bail cartridges. At
South Boston Point, Fort Independence and
the arsenal, there are 270 canuon Of various
callber, and in the park at the arsenal are shot
to it as follows: 175 ten inch, 81 eight inch,
1,052 1oFty-two FOUNDERS, 9,49D thirty-two
Founders, lO, 724 twcnty-Iour pountlcrs,' ,41G'
twelve Founders, 5,2Gs sixty Founders. In,
addition to the above, there are Sa5 tcn-inch
shells, 255 eight-inch do, G5 thirtccn.inch do.
933 twcnty-fonr inch do, 738 twclve-inc1 do.
All the ammunition is seryiccable only in cor
nection with lie old muskcts, the cartridges
having round balls. There are also 235 sca
coast gun carriages in the storehouses. which
could be shipped at a moments warning.
: The number Of rifles is less by six thousand
than it vas one year ago. In January. 1880
two thousand rifles fitted for Tic Mimic bali
were sent to each of the arseIals at Baton
Rouge; La, Mount Vernon, Ala, and Ar.us-
ta, ia. Though nominally designed to suppIy
The States to which they were sent with tLeir
quota OF the public arms, these rifles were un-
luestionnbly ordered South for the same pur-
pose as were the arms sent from Springfield
aud Watervliet. They comprised all the best
rifles in the arsenal