The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-04-10
A COIL OF rnE GREAT ANACONDA
orn stats ARSENAL AND lTs ArrESDAoSs.

StOlcS, what wealth. OF lIOOT, IndlSIldl, !
practical skill and money ia employed in |
their production, aud moro particularly |
what share our own State has in the pre- |
paration of the enormous quantities Of mu.
nitions of war daily used and expended in |
strengthening and contracting the coils OF
We know that the cost of our army 10 the !
Government is somewhere about o million |
OF dollars per day, but we puzzle our brains !
in vain TO imagine where oil the money GOES
TO, though we know very we'll where II is
to come from. We know that thero are o
half.a-mllion OF men in arms in defense Of
the Government and we can figure up ,hat
it costs something to feed. clothc, arm,
equip, and transport such host OF warri-
ors, but Of the particular items that enter
into the stun total, few of US can form eny
adequate conception.
A recent visit to our S.Rte Arsenal, IL.
borutury, and workshops fur the repair o.
arms, cnlighteus us as % q portion vi OhiO's
contingent to the great work of crushing
the rebellion, aud we propose sharing thie
know ledge with our readers.
THE STATE ARSENAL,
The building used as State Arsenal is
not without architectural pretcns ons, a, d
was, fortunately, nearly completed when
the rebellion broke ont. 1t is erected upon
( u L
on Friend Street, near the canal, from the
funds realized by the sale ot other port ons
| OF the lot, and of old, unscrviceable arms.
1t was thought to be quito grand affair q
year ago, and some people. including our
| legislative Soloua, looked upon it 0s All cx-
| pcnsive and unnecessary luxury. But the
| past few months have charged all that. Ii
| is now 80 wholly Inadequate to the de-
! mands made upon it that our present Gcne-
raj Assembly are ser onsly contemplating
the policy of erecting new aud more COM
modous building
Approaching tho Arsenal, the grounds
about which are yet uugradcd aud untcnced,
its warlike character il apparent from the
piles of cannou-halls, and the mounted iron
field guns on either side of the main en-
trance. The old cannon which here mount
silent guard have seen their best days IN
military training, and Fourth of July "a.
lmtes nnd are thus laid up in honorary re-
tircment, as too far gone tor the serious
business we now nave III hand.
Entering the building. we fund the large,
baru-ike floor hcapcd NJ and running over
with boxes of arms, and the heav CT sort o.
equipments used by artillery aud cavaIry'
Here are bronze cannon, trccd up to tue
pillars, harmless row, but only waiting the
word OF command to below forth deep
mouthed challenges to the tratorOus foe,
! A central space, running from the trOnt 10
the rear entrance, gives ingress and egress
| to trains OF army wagonS constantly utnl-
ing through delivering thoir cargos from
the arsonais of construction, or taking up
loads OF death-dealiug Instruments tor dis
trihutiUn to our troops III the Fell.
score of workman are handling the heavy
weights, packing and unpacking the un'
= A. a. -.
wfcldy' cases. marking boxes i"r thelT VAR
or perhaps Tennessee or Kansas clerks
checking off invoices and at. busy as bees,
day in and day out, every day in the week
aud sometimes Sunday too, for war fingers
for no relaxing Sabbath,
A story higher, aud we find more piles
upon piles of cases, similar to those below
only these are smaller and ncater, and con
tain the lighter articles of armameut,-- the
kecn-cdgcd sabpr, the elegantly finished re-
volver or perhaps such accoutrements rs
cartridge-bOXcs, and belts, and bayonet-
scabbards, and the like, Here, too, we see
sticks of musket or pistol ammunition, all
packed in q uniform style, and plainly let
tered with their particular size or caliber
and all ready for immediate use. We Tor
got now many it was told us were in al
these piles, but they counted by hundreds
of thousands.
In the basement beneath the first floor We
found mass-mectngs OF cast iron shot ano
shell = some for the hcd-pieces we saw
, above, some for the great coIumbiads tina
. trowu from permanent Notifications, anC
others for the floating gun-boats that are
. doing such good service on our Westerl
rivers If we had not learned that, from
curious calculation, about ton of lead oil
iron is discharged in battle for each MAJ
that is killed, we should have imagined tha
there were enough death-dealing missiles
here to depopulatc a nation, even one a
vain-glorious as the land of Dixie. In thi
, underground store-roOm are also tcll-gul
: carriages and caissOns, with thclr limher
and ammunition chests, and all the imple
/ ments Of field artillery /; all SO strong ant
3 massive, and SO bound with iron AID steel
3 that one would think them above all suspi
| ciCn of weakness, but not 50, for here to-
t are blacksmiths forges, set Oh wheels, will
bellows and anvils, and sledgehammers, alt
:. here are great battery wagons las the,
f aae called - with their compliments OF
!, blacksmiths' carriage-makers, and harness
Y makers, tools perfect locomotive work
: shops - whose business it is to follow tn
g artillery into the field, ready to repair
{ shattered axle, or a dislocated wheel
9 A battery of artillery, ready tor service
I consists of six cannon, with their carriage
l. and limbers six ca ssons, with their am
y muntion chests; battery wagon, and tray
G ellng forge,--m all IA heavy vehicles, eac
J. drawn by,six horses. and whcntully equlppe
i and attended by their mounted officers, armol
ers, and artificers 1t seems almost an army b.
/ itself Ohio has sent some thirty OF thes
, complete batteries to the war, and has 0
e hand several more ready for service.
r But we must not linger too long at tn
{ Arsenal, where there are objects of iuteres
}. for days observation, and for column
q more of description than we have space t
insert. We will briefly add that at tn
# date of the last annual report of the Qua
n termaster.Ge the Arsenal containe
Is property 10 tho amount OF three-quarter
A of a million of dollars. We next procee
d to the
& TOWN STREET ARMoRY.
if This is warehouse rented by the Stat
y within few mouths past, to hol,i the owe
'f plus of the plethoric arsenal and to accon
N modate the armorers and gunsIniths. HeI
T. we find more piles of boxes, mostly arII
c. needing repairs, and six or eight workme
10 busily engaged in re-adjustipg, cleaning
O. and putting in order arms that have bee
le dislocated and fractured in service, ali
Il have been sent to this musket-hospitsl
so have their wounds dootored. Our volul
y, teers are terribly destructive of fre-arm
e. A United States nusket that in the res snls
a. service will last lifetime, has its day
shortened TO an average Of about two yeal