Evening star., 1900-07-23

arsenal could tirn out three times the
amount Of work 1t does now for the samo
budget.
In this arsenal there is a mint. with two
modern machlneA- They can. II necessary.
turn out sc, 900 dollars q day When was
there they were' making 1900 dollars Q
day.
Close to the arsenal there is a govern
ment powder fa1toryI. 1t has good machi-
merry and is well and carefully organized
by German.
A Naval. School.
I visited the naval school which Is located
here. It is in excellent order and appa-
rently very well managed. There were six
ty students. the sons Of gentlemen between
the ages Of sixteen and twenty. They re-
| main at the school for five years, and pro-
coed to a training Ship. AS the Chinese
navy Is reduced to such very small dimen-
| sions. it is difficult to say what will become
Of them when they have served their time
in the training ship. All these students are
taught ENGLISH The Pekin government
finds the budget, which is a very liberal
one, for this college. The school is under
Chinese management.
Next door to the naval college there is a
school for thirty Chinese students, under
Russian supervision. They are learning to
become Russian interpreters. The Pekin
government finds the money to maintain
this school
At Shanghai.
The Shanghai arsenal Is under the pro-
vincial government Of the viceroy of Nam
king. 1t is full of modern tools and ma
chinery, stores and material of eyery de-
scription. Everything is extremely we'll
found, and the arsenal is in perfect order
If properly organized under entirely Euro
pean control and with some extra expendi-
ture 1t alone could supply war material for
the whole Of the naval and military forces
OF the Chinese empire. There are two En-
snshmer at this arsenal who act as ad-
Vlsers to the Chinese authorities under
whose administration the arsenal is placed
Mr.. Bunt is in charge of the engineering
works and Mr.. Cornish is in charge of the
sunmaking and gunmounting. If these gen.
tiemens 8 advice was always followed a
great economy would result, and the output
would be enormously increased. The Chi
nese authorities informed me that they
quite appreciated the invaluable services
these Two Englishmen have rendered to
them. There Is water transport to the ar
senal, small dock, and steam purcha se
oo-ton Shears. The whole arsenal is tram
lined The tools and machinery are of Brit
ish manufacture, supplied by a German
nrm l found that this practice was com
mon In China, and have seen the names of
foreign agents stamped British ma
ch1nery. AS the agent would probably ms ke
from 10 per cent upward, asked several of
the Chinese authorities why they did not
ouy direct from the British firms. They ex-
pialned mat II anything proved unsatisfac-
tory with the machinery they could easily
obtain compensation from the agent who
was IN China, whereas. If machinery were
purchased direct from England If ANYTHING
went wrong. compensation could only be
obtained after great trouble and expensive
lawsuits.
Extensive Work in Hand.
There are facilities for casting I'D to
thirty tons. To show the associated cham
bers of commerce what this arsenal is ca
| pable of. I append the work going on when
L happened to be there. There were in
hand: Two 80 guns, to be mounted on hy-
dro-pneumatic disappearing carriages: two
" guns for garrison batteries; eight six
iEch guns, quiek-fring; twelve Al guns,
Guick-hring twenty twelvc-pounders. quick
firing: twenty isix-pounders quick-firing:
hfty threc-pounders, quick-firing These
guns were of the latest Armstrong patterns.
All the steel for these guns is made in
me arsenal chieffy from native ore. The
gun factory does not accept this steel until
II has passed through the same tests as the
British government uses, and each gun is
proved by the tests the British use, before
IL leaves the arsenal.
saw machinery for making guns Of every
cal'ber up to the twelvc-inch fifty-ton gun
Several of theselastinamed guns have been
manufactured in the arsenal and 1 saw
some ,nl OF them mounted in the forts visited.
The rifle factory Of this arsenal is turn
ing out large number of first-rate maya
zine rifles. the LATEST Mauser pattern. The
cartridge factory could turn out millions Of
cartridges year, 3nd there is excellent
machinery for fnakiEg ap the cylinders for
cartridges for the Heavy guns There Ia
also plant for casting and turning protec-
tiles of all calbers. Many hundreds of
thousands could be made in the course of a
year
The powder factory Is making three kinds
OF powder-smokeless, black and brown. All
IN Inc coal used comes from Tongshan. near
There is a machine designed and made
here by Mr.. Bunt OF a most serviceable
and economic character. BY means of a
system Of clutches the same engine can
drive an hydraulic press 2. 900 tons pressure.
or rolling mill which can roll a ten-inch
plate.
Large Capabilities,
The arsenal can manufacture steel guns
Of all calibers. both for naval and military
purposes: rifles. powder and all classes of
ammunition. Amid all this splendid work T
saw the steel barrels for the useless gin
gals being made, incredible though 1t seems
Great economy could be effected In the ad
mlnlstration. All leather equipment for the
az rhles OF the Chinese empire Is bought in
Europe. If machinery were put up in the
Shanghai arsenal leather equipment could
be made there easily
In a conversation with the director Of the
arsenal, Chinese mandarin. he expressed
much anxiety as to what going to be-
come of China In the near future He said
that he hoped Great Britain would assist
China to keep her integrity. I informed
him that did not think the British people
would feel inclined to assist China unless
China showed some signs of assisting her
self. l also pointed out to him the large
and useless expenditure of money Incurred
by the manufacture of heavy artillery,
which could have nothing to do with the
maintenance Of the integrity Of China under
present conditions: whereas If the same
money was devoted to equippng a service
able army 1t would provide that security
for trade and commerce which foreign ma
tions perceived did not at present exist
He seemed to think there was some force
In these remarks.
Blind WOrkmanship.
The Nankin arsenal is under the provincial
government Of the viceroy Of the LANG
Kiang provinces. 1t Is well found in ma
chinery and tools. principally Of British
manufacture. but some German and some
Swiss. There is no European adviser or
foreman. The Chinese manager and off,
cials did not appear to know what they
were making. or why they were making it.