Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-12-29
W00LWICH ARSENAL.
VISIT TO THE FACTORY WHERE
 BIG GUNS ARE MADE.

Range Carnon-wOolwich's Famous | 'Tnfants'-Tho Bullet Maehine-Cap
 and Cartridge Making Shops-The Output As it Is mainly to Woohrich that the coun- try must look for formidable weapons and
 improved war material, I went down to the
 arsenal a few days ago to sec what was to be
 seen Having satisfactorily established our
 identity, we wers furnished with capable
 guide from among the skilled wOrkmen, and
 at once started upon our tour of observation
 and inquiry. The hugo chimneys lone of them several feet higher than the monu- ment), the enormous blast furnaces belching forth sheets of savage flame, the din of the steam hammers. the rattle of gear and
 wheels all about us, and the coaly, sooty
 aspect of the place generally, were very much
 moro suggestive of Lancashire or bit of the
 Black country than of peaceful, pastoral
 Kent
 Today the boundary walls embrace an area
 Of 333 acres, not including the proof marshes
 and torpedo creels, and the number of men
 and lads in daily employ reaches often to
 l4,oO0 even in these piping times of peace
 
 thing hke G2O,OO0 The men are divided
 into two shifts, anL they take day and night
 turns in alternate weeks, so that the ma
 chinery of the arsenal may be said never to
 rest
 MECHANICAL APPLIANCES.
 The mechanical appliances in use at Wool wich for the manipulation of the masses of molten steel and hammered metal used in gun making are perfect specimens of rare constructive skill. They have, indeed, been pronounced by experts to be the best eIam- pies of operative ingenuity in use anywhere at the present time. We were amused, and at the same time astonished, for instance, at the abSurdly easy manner in which the huge travelling cranes moved hither and thither in the rolling and boring shops, picking up and | carry ing about tons of metal just as easily | as a child carries about ball Both these | departments, where the metal Is prepared | for the gun factory proper, were working at | high pressure. In the shell turnery, shrap- nel, PalliSer and other prOjectiles of divers | weight and pattern were shown us in vas. | qU .i 'lties.
 Pas ing vn to the gun factory proper. .whict I ;n- sT"at center If attraction just pOw to | -.si:or~. whether rull .ary 0r civilian, We I IL oIrs -.es sugTOGntei ty huge unaSses q. 'owiGg metal in rrocs of forging. weld;ng | nd shrlnling. cr undergoing a curiCus | process .i dissnbcweiias ty means Of pow srf1ily constructed bcrer. Gangs of work men were busily engaged in heating, saving | and blaming sections of guns of all sizes and shapes, which are intended for the navy, the Geld us occasion may require and harbOr and home defense. The great object in view Lere at the present time is to provide as soon ES possible for the needs of the coaling sta tions, upon the security of which so much would depend in time of war. The guns are Jhippel of from the arsenal pier as they are turned out. bIt tie work of constructing n 'WoOlwich infant is by no means as exps- litious us could be desired. This new form Jf weapon is not mado out of one solid cast ing, but of several distinct hoops or rings of solid and carefully prepared steel The Oase of the gun is upended, and one ring after an- other is fitted upon it while the metal is in red hot state, each hoop slightly overlapping the other and shrinking as it cools. The careful prs! !arGtion of the metal and the con Srructlon oI Ine sldonriiu macninery for the | adjustment of the rings of which the gun IS | built up are matters about which the arsenal authorities are wisely reticent. In fact, next to no information is given in these depart ments to visitors, and it is scarcely to be ex- pected in these days of international compe- tition for the possession of the best weapon which can be made at any cost.
 wOOLwIcH's FAMOUS "INFASTs"
 The speciality of WOolwich is it's big guns, Its now famous and historic infants This | particular class of gun is made nowhere else, and, m fact, is local production altogether of tho brains and sinews of the arsenal hands | themselves, the inventor of the most import ant process connected with it's manufacture | being foreman in the works. In the weld ing of these hugo monsters of destruction, | which will carry ball of ton weight over a distance of seven and a half miles, tho lar gest steam hammer in the world, with a striking force of thousand tons, is em- ployed
 The bullet machine is always an attraction b visitors. IL Is worked in the simplest way by lad, who, b. turning e handle, hour after houl produces an intending stream of these gli,-ering messengers of death, which drop from the lips of tho clever contrivance without cessation from morning till night. I heard curious fact in connection with our English bullets-namely, that one only in every hundred and seventy-four finds its billet" in tho body of the unfortunate enemy. Tie German average is even lower. It is comforting. therefore, to think, as Dne gazcs o1 the silver death shower, raining from tho lips of tho hundreds of bullet ma chimes in the arsenal, that after all, every bullet we saw gleaming So viciolsly in the heaps before us did not represent the life of 6 human being, be he German, Turk or Kaffir. l. is striking sight to watch the manipula- ton of the tiny bits of metal by the iron fingers and supple lands of the deaf ma chinery in tho cap and cartridge making shops Each of these delicately constructed tools will turn out it is said, OO0 OOO caps per week The minutest portion of each cap and is carefully examined (aS, indeed, Is every detail of the output of the GrsenaD 10 ,ee that nothing iInperfec. finds its way into the pouches or hands of our brave soldiers in | the moment of danger when face to face with tL. enemy ''in the deadly breach" or on the 6sld of battle. The cartridges which jamned and the bayonets which bent in those terrible struggles in the Soudan were supplied by contractors and not by the arsenaL-Pa1 Nall Budget