The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-28

ubJesty's New BaNOnetS For India's
Use-Her WOrsted Troops Demand
supply of swords Instead of Fine
Rihes-Tested on an Elm Block.
London, Nov 20.-The recent English de-
feats in India have so alarmed Lord Sal
isbury that he has prevailed upon the queen
to send a supply of fine Birmingham
swords to the English troops in India to
take the place of the rifles now in use
Fighting at close range the English have
been driven back from their strongholds,
| through the impotence of their bayonets,
which crumpled under a thrust; and the
| delicacy of their swords, that snapped
when IN use. The troops of India, on the
other hand, armed with native dirks and
| swords, made steady advances, and the
| result was defeat rather than advance.
Victoria has opposed the use of swords,
| but now consents to their use, and, proud
of her work. she has for the first time in
| the history of Great Britain thrown open
10 the public the Royal Small Arms facto-
ry at Sparkbrock, near Birmingham
Hitherto the queen has carefully guard
ed the making OF her rifles and swords,
| and those who We're in the secret have, like
| Hiram Maximawith his gun, kept to them
! selves The process by which Victorias
| small arms are made. But in these days
of war talk it is not a bad thing to know
how these pieces of steel are turned out
In the first place England does not pre-
| tend to use all the arms that she manu-
| features, but she goes on making them and
| storing them away in the big store houses
| for use some day if need be.
/ The process. BY which the rihss are made
! is not greatly different from that of other
| countries, but the swords have a process
| of their own, which is truly remarkable.
| Your correspondent had the pleasure of
| going through the small arms factory near
| Birmingham a few days ago, and of seeing
! the swords turned out. The bars &C crude
/ steel are brought in loads to the factory,
| with great rough blocks of wood ready to
| be made into swords The building in
which they are made is a long. low one,
| and each workman is impressed with the
| Importance of his position. In her majes-
| TVS workshops there is no such thing as
| sighting a piece of work, The men are
| paid large sums, even in these days of Eng
fish low wages, and each understands
| that he has an important part of the work
| resting on his shoulders.
The workmen in the first open shops
| were at work upon bars of rolled steel
which they We're heating and turning into
different shapes ready to be carried, red
hot out Of the furnace and deposited into
| a massive machine.
Here the steel was elongated and cut off
at the right length. 1t was then placed
| under a steam hammer which shaped il
in approximately the shape that finally
bears, the rifles were rounded and the
sword steel fiattened.
1t was then put through a bewilderine
mass of machinery, going from one ma
chine TO another, until is had passed
through 100 processes and been carried
by twelve miles of leather betting.
1t was afterward carried into another
building, where final work was put upor
it, and, finally, into the third building
where it was to be tested by machinery.
The most interesting thing of all is ths
final testing of the swords. This is done