The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-06

shown equal to anything made in Europe
or America. and the projectfles for the
guns are made here. The Chinese. however.
like the other nations OF the world, now
believe that these immense guns are not
so good for defense and warfare on the
sea as the smaller varieties, and they WIN
build no more Of them at present Near
these / saw some twenty-fve-ton guns and
then visited the shops where about three
hundred Cinnamon were at work making
the latest improved patterns OF Armstrong
rapid firing guns. / looked at a 47-inch
gun of this kind which had just been com
pleted. and was shown its working. IL
moved so easily that a baby could have
almost worked IL. and the Chinese foreman
in charge told me that they had just IN
ished a dozen OF these weapons. n that
they were now working on some which
would fire 10O-pound shot.
NOT HAMPERED BY PATENTS.
China has no scruples as TO patents. and
she gets now all OF the latest improve
ments in war machinery and copies them
here. There is no doubt about the great
mechanical ability OF the Chinese Here
are two thousand men who have been
brought up on lines entirely different from
those on which they are now wosking, ana
they make as expert workmen as our me-
chanics who have had generations OF he
reditary descent and years OF experience.
A great part OF the machinery used here
was made by Cinnamon, and Mr.. Cornish
tells me that he found that parts which
he had thought IL impossible for a China
man TO turn out, and which he had ex-
pected would have to be Imported at great
expense from Europe. had been made by
these men from drawings. Some Of them
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and the knowledge OF the results required
need be given them. and they will straight
way make the designs and castings. / was
shown one machine-I think II was for the
rihing OF some OF the guns. though I am
not sure as to is-wh contained a
screw Of only three inches in diameter and
thirty-five feet long, which was designed
and cut by a Chinaman, and / took q time
exposure Of a yellow-faced Chinaman who
makes the finest OF the improved sights
Of the Armstrong guns. The work Is a.
delicate and as beautiful as that OF a
matchmaker, and there is an Improvement
on the original which this man has added.
The rifing machine for the big guns would
have cost $4,000 to import These China
men were shown the drawings, and they
made IL for half that sum- II Is so In near
ly every variety OF machinery. and among
liz LAllBc nOW aCLQalAy OC4AA6 IA
these works are all sorts Of modern pro-
I ~jectiles. from the revolver bullet up TO
great shots Of steel weighing enc thousand
pounds. They make cartridges from those
fitted for a revolver to the kind required
for a six-inch rife, and I saw Cinnamon
drilling steel, cutting out grape shot and
making brass cartridge cases from disks
OF metal. and paid a visit to the ware
houses, where 1 was shown thu two hum
dred different kinds Of shot and ~shrapnel
which are made here. They are now turn
ing out about thirty thousand pounds Of
shot a day, and they have made recent ex-
periments with Chinese iron which demon
strate its superiority in some respects over
any other iron in the world.
EFFICIENT WEAPONS.
No one knows much about the mineral re-
sources Of China But coal and iron ara
said to exist In nearly every one Of the
eighteen states or provinces OF the empire.
and there have been some iron mines which
have been worked for years. Up 90 this
time, China has been importing the raw
material for her arsenals. but she Is now
experimenting with her own supplies. and
the manufacturing China Of the future VIII
probably be entirely indepen lent OF the
rest Of the world. The coal and iron forma-
tions of the province of Chill are said TO
be the largest in the world, and the prod
uct is unsurpassed. The iron now used
here comes from the province OF Human,
in about the center of China, and some
idea OF its character may be learned from a
test which was recently made here. A shot
was cast Of this iron for a 3-inch rife,
and it was fired against a target with the
same charge and the same gun in compe-
tition with imported shot OF steel. The
target consisted of three iron plates an
inch thick, interleaved with boards OF
wood. The steel shot penetrated the tar
get, but none Of them went through II.
The Chinese cast-iron shot passed clear
through the target and was lost. The pro-
cess Of manufacture OF iron is not known
at the arsenal. 1t comes here in the shape
OF iron plates or slabs. from half an inch
to two inches thick, and / should say. at
e. guess, for ! did not measure them. fifteen
by twenty-five inches in size. 1 saw a
great quantity OF the ore lying outside OF
the foundry. 1t is OF a reddish-brown
color, and looks much like some which we
get from the Lake Superior mines. The
pigs or slabs are laid down here at about
$50 a ton. or so a ton in gold. thus costing
about half a cent a pound. Mr.. COrnisr
tells me that the Chinese make castings
OF iron which would be considered impossi-
BILE in America. They will cast kettles as
big as the largest American apple butter
kettle, holding about as much fluid as an
old-fashioned washtub, and only a six
teenth Of an inch thick. These kettles ara
wonderfully strong. You would think they
would snap like glass, but they are thrown
about as though they were made OF copper.
and are very hard TO break. In the expert
ment above mentioned Mr.. Cornish told
me that he had no idea that the shot would
go through the target. and he was dlsap-
pointed in not being able to find H. He
says the iron is far superior 10 the aver
age European iron. and that he is salts
fed that il is made with charcoal. II
does not melt easily. however. and the
foundries do not like it.
There are hundreds of steam engines OF all
kinds in these works, and they are all man
aged by the Chinese. / saw one OF four
hundred horse power which was in charge
OF a boy and a youth OF twenty-five. ard
/ noticed that numbers Of the Chinese me-
chanics are under age. Some OF them are
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