The morning call., 1894-05-06

cost $4,000 to import. These Cinnamon
were shown the drawings, and they made
it for half that sum. Ii is so In nearly
every. variety OF machinery. and among
the things now actually being made In these
works are all sorts of modern projectiles,
from the revolver bullet up to great shots
of sseel weighing 1000 pounds. They make
cartridges from those fitted for a revolver
TO the kind required for slx-lnch rlfie,
and saw Cinnamon drilling steel. cutting
out grape shot and making brass cartridge
cases from disks of melal and paid visit
to the warehouses. where l was shown the
200 different kinds of shot and shTapnel
which are made here. They are now turn
ing out about sc, 600 pounds OF shot day,
and they have made recent experiments
with Chinese iron which demonstrate It's
superiority in sOme respects over any
other iron of the world.
No one knows much about the mineral
resources of China But coal and iron are
said TO exist in nearly every one Of the
eighteen States or provinces OF the en-
pire, and there have been some iron mines
which have been worked for years. Up 10
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
will probably be entirely independent of
the rest of the world. The coal and iron
formations of the province of Chillx are
said to be the largest in the world and the
product 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 three-incL
rifle and it was fired against target with
the same charge and the same gnn IL COM
petition with imported shot of steel. The
target consisted Of three iron plates an
TIL inta ad yvi rd af
wood. The steel shot penetrated the tar
get. but none of them went through it.
The Chinese castiron shot passed clear
through the target and was lost.
Tho process of manufacture of the 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 "a guess, for did not meas
ure them, fifteen by twenty-five inches 10
size. l saw great quantity of the ore
living outside of the foundry. 1t is of
reddish brown color, aud looks much like
some which we get from the Lake Superior
mines. The pigs or slabs are laid down
here at about $50 ton. or $lO ion ID gold,
thus costing about half cent pound
Mr.. Cornish tells me that the Chinese
make castings of iron which would be con-
sidered impossible 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 sixteenth of aD inch thick. These ket-
ties are wonderfully strong. You would
think they would snap like glass, bat they
are thrown about as though they were
made of copper, and are very hard to
break. In the experiment above men,
toned Mr.. Cornish told me that he had no
idea that the shot would 90 through the
target, and be was disappointed al not be-
ing able to find it, He says the iron is far
superior to the average European iron, and
that he is satisfied that 1t is made with
charcoal. 1t does not melt easily, how
ever, and the foundries do not like IL.
There are hundreds of steam engines of
all kinds in these works, and they are all
managed by the Chinese. l saw one of
400 horsepower which was in charge of a
boy and a youth OF q, and l noticed that
NUMBERS of the Chinese mechanics are un-
der age. Some Of them are old men, but
it is hard to tell the age of a Chinaman, as
they all shave, and there are few gray
hairs. l spent some time looking at the
nien putting up an engine of 1000 horse
power. 1t is of the most modern variety,
and has cost fortune. The immense fur
naces burn gas. and look into them
would scare the religion of any modern
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego If the
Viceroy of Marking cared.to play the part
OF the cruel Babylonian king of the Scrip
lures. These furnaces are controlled BY
TWO easily moved levers. and mistake
would blow the whole into atoms. A
Chinese engineer, about 80 years old, has
entire charge of them, and he stood for me
beside the furnace doors while took his
picture.
The steel works of this arsenal cover
about four acres The men are now ex-
perimenting in making ingots for armor
plate, such as we turn out at Bethlehem.
and they are putting In steel furn ace