The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 72, October, 1863

up the rooms; but the pressure of his ponderous attainments seemed only to compress yet more that handful of miscellaneous miserables in the fro

t psalmody with some of those Bacchanalian choruses with which they were doubtless too familiar. We felt rather wicked. We knew that we were stigmatized by that terrible compound, "Pro-Rum"; we were held up as the respectab

ny excellent methods, it would sweep society to a definite good? Are not the ardors of the imagination better working-powers than the cold judgments of the reason? Should we ever be carping at controlling principles, when much of the

is trousers bound with straps to the bottoms of his boots. Colonel Prowley had thrust his neck into a stock of extraordinary stiffness, which seemed to proceed from some antique coat-of-mail worn beneath the waistcoat. The collar and cuffs of Miss Prowley were wonderful in their dimensions, and fairly creaked with the starch. The clergyman, indeed, wore his dress and manners in relaxed and even slouchy fashion; but this seemed not due to lightness

hich was, to let the mind muddle after dinner. He thought it strengthened the voice,-gave it timber, as he calle

eavored to impress upon my scholars that Socratic wisdom which condemned books as silent: a testimon

t at the present day," said Mr

Academy. "For, in the present excited condition of our river-towns, men do not strive to co

hed Mrs. Widesworth; "only I fo

r, "is properly the observation o

Dastick, decidedly. "I hold that the performances

it would hardly do to question th

corners of his mouth,-an affection which since his poetical add

he Ancients may have shown in observing the digestive apparatus of animals, it certai

for people who are perfectly well. At one time Mrs. Romulus told her that everybody should live on fruits which ripen at least six feet above-ground,-

osed his eyes, and sa

of the abiding sinfulness of our inherited nature. When I was a boy, the minister offered us the good old remedies of Baptis

's lips for its utterance. Under undetermined conditions certain minds are capable of employing a physical organization alien to themselves. If I had doubted this

extremity of the arc of oscillation, and that neither spiritual

he procession was passing.

earing a shield inscribed "TRUTH." (N.B. The inscription in German text by the school-children.) The Progressive Guard with javelins,-papier-maché tips gummed over with shiny paper. A Transparency,-at least it could be used as such in lecturing emergencies,-representing the interesting medical illustration to which Mrs.

us revivals, limited by fresh air and g

with a non-committal "humph"

could not recite Homer without falling in

le," said Colonel Prow

could justify their eccentric proceedings b

me effects could not rightly be attributed t

he was! Don't you know that recent scholarship has demonstrated Homer to be nobody in particular? The 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' are me

al excellence which a mere modern could produce,-had they not lived and died in respectable allegiance to the Homeric personality? To say nothing of a mystical admiration of the Greek hexameters which he could not construe, Colonel Prowley was a diligent reader of Pope's sonorous travesty. He felt like some si

or Owlsdarck will tell us that the preponderant evidence is in favor o

na, perhaps at Cos, perhaps at neither. It is not easy t

them," urged Dr. Dastick. "There was Shakspeare, whose genius culminated i

gomena," which was lost in a dull rumble of thunder,-as if some giant

he storm

darkened

re lay thick

ecessary to omit the triumphal progress thr

y the lilac-bushes were fanned into fantastic shapes. The sumach perked its red pompon like a holiday soldier, and then flung skywar

he children, and those having charge of them, had withdrawn. The Committee-men had sought shelter. The

ridge the exercises. We saw Mrs. Romulus mount a barrel and harangue the seceders with furious gesticulation. A book was passed up to

n visible. Then there stood by the Deacon's cider-mill three figures. Mr. Stellato waved a torch about his head, and flung it int

ther, and threw them heavenward for relief. The relief

dden plunge upon the earth, drenching all thi

the room, the lightning

in,-nothing but rain. No ever-varying light and shade, as in c

e ladies might have passed for transcendental relatives of Fouqué's Undine. Stellato, with his hair and face bedaubed with a glutinous substance into which his helmet had been resolved, did not stro

ried good Mrs. Widesworth, forgetting all

r,'" murmured the clergyman, in bitter quotation, "'Storm and s

darck; "one would say that our friends mus

vide some dry garments for her unexpected guests. Also, I think it my duty t

f I can find anything to put on to them. As to the last suggestion,-I have, to be sure, a

g perceptibly. "'Except when prescribed by a medical attendant,'-I believe

ng the decanter from the closet; "you will all cat

rious make and texture, and might be considered representatives of any age, past, present, or future, to which the beholder might take a fancy. Mr. Stellato had been got into the only article of male attire which the establishment afforded. This was an ancient dressing-gown, very small in t

of the Doctor's prescription, were still noisily progressive. They at

ered away opportunity just upon the edge of indictable knavery; your ambition has been to be well with the wealth and sleek respectability of the day, to make your son begin life the sordid worldling that you end it, to marry your daughter to the richest fool,-and this you call sanity and common sense! Is it not some Devil's subtlety that deludes you? If Man is an immortal soul, to be saved or damned forever, then he only is sane who welcomes privation, toil, contempt, for a spiritual idea. "Attacking windmills!" you say. That is, they seem so to you. But it may be that your brother's clearer eye and practised intelligence show them the giants which they truly are. But, be they giants or windmills, mark you this: his life illustrates some grade of man

pose," said Miss Hurribattle, pleasantly; "we have this da

ly," I replied; "we might not quite agr

which should be the fruit of our New-Engla

d dead men, and observed that there was great obscurity

those of Mrs. Romulus and Mr. Stellato, much has been made clear to me. They have devoted their lives to t

u known these two

reform. But these more worthy guides of humanity soon reduced matters to first principles. They showed that all Moderate Drinkers and the Church which sustains them must be exposed and denounced. Th

at length

raggled in, looking rather sheepish. The singing,

ladiators into the very camp of the enemy. Mrs. Romulus, wholly ab

ians used to warn her sex, wished to return to her boarding-house. It being by this time

moking after all this drenchi

sor Owlsdarck, after rummaging about a little for an historical parallel. "And here we seem to find

deed, that he shook hands with us absently. Mrs. Wideswor

d up the

air was purified by the storm, as society is purifi

w mean was the thirst and struggle for a merely professional eminence which filled my common days. As in a mental mirage, which loomed above the thickening twilight, I saw how our paths diverged, and whither each must surely tend. No doubtful way was hers, the single-hearted woman of lofty aims, of restless feminine activity, of holy impatience with sin. She might, indeed, miss the clue which guides through the labyrinth; but then

Miss Hurribattle, and turned o

aid Clifton, bitterly; "yet it is a hard necessity to sacrifice our individual fac

feeble maladies, we grow into the violent inflammatory disorders which troubled our forefathers. The doct

unciation of the great purpose which once swayed my life, I must renounce every symbol less profound, less poetic. I must make my boast of an intellect which will never let any affection pass the line of demonstr

g to the parsonage, I ventured to say

rtue. I could have besought some fanatical warlike spirit to take possession of Clifton and make him capable of hate, and so,

s as it has. But on that autumn night he walked up the gray pathway a broken man. The spiritual part was dead;

ED STATE

he Springfield rifled musket is justly regarded as the most perfect arm of its kind which has ever been produced. To attain this desirable point of excellence has required the skill and perseverance of the best mechanical minds which this country-always prolific in inventive genius-has produced during a period of more than half a century. It would be impossible to estimate the value of these works during the existence of the present Rebellion; but

anan to meet the great struggle which Southern demagogues were precipitating upon us. Indeed, the number of muskets manufactured during the last year of his administration was less by several thousand than these works turned out during the

establishment being run day and night,-and none but the most

as a laboratory for cartridges and various kinds of fireworks. The oldest record in the armory relates to the work done in this laboratory during the month of April, 1778, showing that about forty men were then engaged in the business.

valley at a commanding elevation. The heavier operations of the armory are carried on in another part of the city, about a mile dista

height. These grounds are exceedingly beautiful, and present every variety of landscape. A beautiful slope to the south and west, covered with luxuriant verdure, and crowned with groves of deciduous

fficer, and the arsenal, and are arranged in a picturesque and symmetrical manner within the square. The grounds are shaded by ornamental trees, and the dwellings are adorned with gardens and shrubbery. Broad and neatly kept walks, some gravelled and others paved, bordered by finely clipped hedges, extend a

ently capacious to contain one hundred thousand muskets. The muskets, when stored in this arsenal, are arranged in racks, set up for the purpose, along the immense halls, where t

rsenal. From f

gan, rise the

silent pipes no

illages with s

and of them having been literally stolen from this arsenal by Floyd during the last year of his secretaryship at Washington, and sent South in anticipation and furtherance of th

agony, the e

Southern warriors

t and disma

ery part of our once h

thirty square, affording space upon the top for a large party of visitors. Nothing can be imagined more enchanting than the view presented from this point during the spring and summer months. At your feet are the beautiful armory-grounds, mingling with the treeskirted streets of

he troops. This edifice was constructed about a dozen years ago, and has, until recently, been designated as the new arsenal, there being two or three other buildings which were formerly used for the storage of finished muskets, called the old arsenals, bu

ings,-the former being eight hundred feet long, and one of

eading in the rear, the adjoining parts being uncovered, fronting on the brow of the declivity, and commanding an extensive and beautifully variegated landscape. At the present time, the armory is not only in the city, but the streets at the north, south, and east of the grounds are as thickly inhabited as

er, which exhibits, in a distance of less than half a mile, four or five of the most charming waterfalls to be seen in the State. In 1817 these

irable to assemble them all in one place, and the location of the upper shops was decided upon as the most advantageous. About eight years ago the work of constructing the new shops was begun. Extensive excavations were made for a new dam, the bed of the stream was changed, the sides being l

, and polishing are done for the entire establishment. The buildings are, for the most part, two stories high, and yet so immense are the operations carried on here that numerous temporary sheds

t in when the consolidated works were first constructed here, which it was supposed would prove amply sufficient for all emergencies; but, since the breaking out of the Rebelli

the establishment, let us now enter the works and witness t

rkman, after heating a small portion of the barrel in his forge, placed it in its bed upon the anvil, and set his hammer in motion, turning the barrel round and round continually under the blows. Only a small portion of the seam is closed by this process at one heat, eleven being required to complete the work. To effect by this operation a perfect junction of the iron, so that it should be continuous and homogeneous throughout, without the least flaw, seam, or crevice, required unremitting attention, as well as great experience and skill. The welders formerly received twelve cents for each barrel welded by them, but if, in proving the barrels, any of them burst, through the fault of the welders, they were charged one dollar for each barrel which failed to stand the test. This method has now, h

g with him to remain one year at a stipulated salary. At the expiration of the time engaged for, the workman demanded, instead of a salary, to be paid eleven cents for each barrel rolled by him. As he had allowed no one to learn the art of rolling the barrel in the mean time, his demand was acceded to; but after the breaking out of the Rebellion four additional rolling-mills were imported, and of course new men had to be taught, or imported, to work them. The art is now no longer a secret. There are forty men employed, day and night, running the rolling-mills, but, instead of twelve cents,

al in the various finishing-operations. When it passes into the roller, the scalp weighs ten pounds; when it comes from the roller, the barrel weighs a little over seve

, and terminating in long, stout rods to enable them to pass through the barrel. The barrels are fixed very firmly in the boring-banks, the shank of the auger inserted into the centre of a wheel placed at one end of the bank, and a slow rotary motion given to the auger, together with a still slower progressive motion at the same time. By this means the auger gradually enters the hollow of the barrel, and enlarges the

ol fixed firmly in the right position for cutting the work to its proper form. The barrel has a slow progressive as well as rotary motion during this process, and the tool advances or recedes very regularly and gradually, forming the proper taper from the breech to the muzzle, but the main

various parts of the musket are put together. As you enter the boring and turning rooms, you are struck with surprise at observing hundreds of workmen standing with musket-barrels in their hands, one end held up to their eyes, and the other pointing to some one of the innumerable windows of the apartment. Watching them

e. This method consisted in placing a small mirror upon the floor near the anvil of the straightener, which reflected a diagonal line drawn across a pane of glass in a window. The workman then placed the barrel of the musket upon a rest in such a position that the reflected line in the mirror could be again reflected, through the bore of the barrel, to his eye,-the inner surface of the barrel being in a brilliantly polished condition from the boring. When the barrel is placed at the proper angle, which practice enables the person performing this duty to accomplish at once, there are two parallel shadows t

olling-mill, the secret of one man, and he would impart it to no one for love or money. He was watched with the most intense interest, but no clue could be obtained to his secret. They gazed into the barrel for hours, but what he saw they could not see. Finally, some fortunate individual stumbled upon the wonderful secret,-discovered the marvellous lines,-and ever since it has been common property in the shop. Each workman is obliged to correct his own work, and afterwards it is passed into the hands of the inspector

hile he is grinding it, and thus bringing the action of the stone upon every part, and so finishing the work in a true cylindrical form. In the act of grinding, the workman inserts the barrel into a small hole in the cas

ay and night. These stones, when set up, are about eight feet in diameter, a

since, a new method of clamping the stone was adopted, by means of which the danger of bursting is much diminished. The last explosion which took place in this department occurred about nine years ago. The operation of gr

important saving in expense, as well as gain in the health of the establishment. No mode, however, has yet been devised for di

e proving-house, is specially devoted. It is very strongly built, being wholly constructed of timber, in order to enable it to resist the force of the

rge of powder and two balls, thus subjecting them to a far greater strain than they can ev

with each barrel, and passing out through a hole in the side of the building near the door. A bank of clay is piled up on the opposite side of the room, into which the balls are thrown. Only one fatal accident has occurred at the armory during the last two years, and this occurred in the proving-house. When the muskets are brought in, they

rial, although under the old process of welding there

ach one so failing. The name of the maker of each is known by the stamp which he put upon it at the time when it passed through his hands. As the workman gets but four cents for rolling a barrel, he loses the work done upon twenty-five for each one that fails through his negligence. The justice of this rule will be apparent, when it is taken into account that that amount of cos

gether, with the end of a flat bar of iron, out of which the article is to be formed, inserted between them, the iron is made to assume the form of the cavities, by means of blows of the trip-hammer, or of the drop, upon the upper die. About one hundred and fifty operations upon the various pieces used in the construction of the musket are performed by these dies. Some of the pieces are struck out by one operation of the drop, while others, as the butt-plate, require as many as three, and others a still larger number. The hammer is first forged, and then put twice through the drop. Four men are kept constantly at work forging hammers in the rough, while but two are required to put them through the two operations under the swaging-machine. Sometimes, however, the work presses u

ng the case with the triggers, which were found to use up the dies too rapidly when they were swaged while heated; but, as a general rule, the swaging is done while the

constantly at work making dies

e or less of surplus metal about them, which is cut off or trim

ed to the blade under a trip-hammer. It is then passed twice under the drop, then milled and polished, when it is ready for use. The ramrod is cut from steel rods about the size required. It

a white-heat. A small square block of iron, cut under a trip-hammer to the proper size, is also heated to a white-heat, and then welded to the barrel by half a dozen strokes under

They are then brazed upon the barrel, pieces of brass wire, half an inch long, being use

ake itself heard, and I doubt if even the loudest thunder would make any appreciable addition to the general clangor. Small iron carts, filled with hot iron, are incessantly whirling around you; red-hot sparks, or melting drops of iron, are flying about the room in all directions; the air is hot to suffocation, and sulphurous from the burning of bit

f iron steps to the water-wheels, which are situated forty feet under ground. These wheels are so arranged that they ca

grooved ends pressing by means of springs against the barrels, which are drawn between them by a very regular and rapid vertical motion. The barrels are also turned around slowly and continuously by a lateral movement, which insures a uniform polish. They are allowed to remain in the first polishing-machines fifteen minutes, and are then

ished at once. The bayonet is polished upon emery-wheels. These wheels are made of wood bound with leather, upon

e of paying-off, and upon this occasion it bore, from time to time, various placards, announcing which shop was being paid, according as the paymaster arrived in succession at the various departments. Within the densely thronged shops, and amidst the deafening noise of hundreds of trip-hammers, perambulated

ccasion require, however, a force of five thousand men, armed with the best of small arms, could be mustered at once from among the workm

may have no knowledge of the process by which another part is fabricated. This, in fact, is the case to a very large extent. Many persons employed upon particular parts of the work in this establishment have never even seen other parts manufactured, and in general the workmen understand only the process of making the portions upon which they are engaged. The different parts are of variou

ree diagonal protuberances of about one-sixteenth of an inch in height and half an inch in width, ground to a very sharp edge at the top. It is these which produce the rifling. The three cutters, when inserted within the iron cylinder, form upon their inner surface a small cavity which decreases towards the top. Into this is inserted a small iron rod attached to the machine and revolving with it, but so controlled by a connecting cog-wheel that the rod is pressed at every revolution a little farther into the ca

nd exteriorly, and then undergo a series of operations which leave them in a highly finished condition. The first of these is called broaching. A cavity is made under a huge press in which the band is placed. The broach consists of a steel tool about ten inches in length, and of the exact diameter and form of the interior of the band, and is armed upon its entire length with concentric rings composed of very short and sharp knives

t is completed. It is first forged, then dropped, trimmed, pun

struck in a die, then clamp-milled,-passing through a machine having clamps which hold short knives that shave the entire outer surface of this very irregular-shaped piece;

ns with the most wonderful skill, precision, and grace; but it would be impossible to convey to the

rt, in order that it may prove of precisely the proper form and dimensions. A weight is hung to the point of it to try its temper, and it is sprung by the strength of the inspector, with the point set into a block of lead fast

is the operation of stocking. This is done in the old arsenal-building,

vania, and was kept on hand in the storehouse in large quantities for the purpose of having it pro

it is sent to the armory. It then passes through seventeen differ

rk of fashioning it. The difficulties, however, insurmountable as they would seem, have all been overcome, and every part of the stock is formed, and every perforation, gr

but the great charm in these processes consists in the high perfection and finish of the machines, the smoothness, g

and guided by patterns, which are models in iron of the

e the stock for the exact fitting-in of the barrel. The next machine planes the top, bottom, and sides of the stock, and the succeeding two are occupied in shaping and bedding for the butt-plates. The next machine is designed for fitting in the lock, and is the most wonderful of all. It contains two bits and three cutters pendent from a movable steel frame situated above the stock. These cutters, or borers, are made to revolve with immense velocity, and are susceptible of various other motions at the pleasure of the workman. The inevitable iron pattern-the exact counterpart of the cavity which is designed to be made for the reception of the lock-is situated in close proximity to the stock, and a guide in the form of the borer is inserted within the pattern, and controls the movements of the borer. This is ejected by causing the tool to revolve by means of small machinery within the frame, while the frame and all within it move together, in the vertical and lateral motions. All that the workman has to do is to bring the guide down into the pattern and move it about the circumference and throug

lanchard, then a citizen of Springfield and now of Boston,-whose reputation as a mechanic has since become world-wide,-and was first introduced into the armory about the year 1820. Before this the stocks were all work

asts, axe-helves, etc.; and Mr. Blanchard has successfully used it in multiplying co

hment for the purpose of obtaining duplicate machinery for the works at Enfield, and copies of the most novel and important parts of the machine

sitors; but no portion of the works received so much attention from him as that occupied by the stocking-machines. In this departme

s, and, at any rate, not been freely given to a rival government like that of Great Britain, who might use the arms manufactured by American machinery against the very nation that furnished it. It is probable, however, that the arch-traitor who thus furnished the governments of Europe with draughts of these valuable works h

n regular order, and puts them together with marvellous dexterity. The component parts of the musket are all made according to one exact pattern, and thus, when taken up at random, are sure to come properly together. There is no special fitting required in each individual case. Any barrel will fit any stock, and a screw designed for a particular plate or band will enter the proper hole in any plate or band of a hundred thousand. There are many advantages resulting from this exact conformity to an established pattern in the components of the musket, such as greater facility and economy in

mpleted, is estimated at three dollars. From this the parts descend gradually to

sket weighs within a sma

ese works, for the use of our armies in the field,-the most numerous of which are parts for the Enf

hem, however, equal our own in style or finish, while all of them-excepting the Enfield rifle-are very inferior in ev

s on the hill, one connected with the stocking-departm

lubricating the machinery, and the various pieces of iron and

ther belting in use, while at the works on the

n an average, about one thousand muskets daily, and the works may be increased to almost any extent,-a large square cast of th

ship of the muskets,-also a paymaster and storekeeper, whose duty it is to liquidate and pay all debts contracted for the armory by the superintendent, and to receive the finished arms, for which he is held accountable, as well as for all other public property delivered him. Each of these officers is allowed a numerous corps of clerks, to aid in keeping the accounts. There is also a foreman, or assistant master-armorer, to each principal branch of the work, and under him a foreman over every job. These are severally held accountable for all stock, tools, and parts of work delivered them for their respective departments, an

dispute on the subject of the government of the armory, which was kept up with much heat and acrimony for many years, culminated, in 1854, in the passage of a law by Congress, in favor of the civil administration. This continued until after the breaking out of the Rebellion, when Congress restored the military superintendency. The question of civil or military government, however, is of no practical importance to an

work-shops, stores, and buildings of every description, together with repairs, were estimated at $155,500. The other expenses, exclusive of the cost of stock and parts of work

eader will be surprised, perhaps, to learn, that there were 1,020 more muskets manufactured at these works during the year 1811 than in the year 1854. In 1850 and 1851, 113,406 muskets were altered in their locks, from flint to percussion, in

Trenton, N.J., Bridesburg, Pa., and New York City, Watertown, and Ilion, N.Y. Besides these, there are more than fifty establishments where separate parts of the musket are manufactured in large quantities, and purchased by Government to supply the places of those injured or destroyed in the service. It is estimated that the private armories alone are manufacturing monthly upwards of sixty thousand rifled muskets. The Government contracts for these arms extend to January next, and the

a sufficient number of new rifled muskets of the best qualify stored in the various arsenals to arm the entire levy about to be called into the field,-and should the war continue so long, there will be enough manufactured du

PE

g Dryads hus

re thick, and

ibbons flutt

mbroidered,

s lifted t

ittle fo

t hem of si

hollow sha

spirit, o

d from Ede

calling to

re her mate

Pe-ri!

y clefts the

our, that sca

quiet les

s fresh an

eaflet to

lessly: with

unbeam brush

ing bright

a butte

t in his

ly: while th

o far-off pl

! pe-re

t in its g

ong the bou

still the wan

choly an

violets yearn

a sorrow i

s immortali

e woods and

t long, sa

seen in du

e pipe some

wn cadence th

! pe-we

nd clear its

hand of Mu

robe of S

of golden

flute the

ed princes

ags the bir

s, lordly c

the sturd

ackets patch

ng spellboun

trancing no

! pe-we

search, and

e brook,

a little b

live, soft

he maple-bra

gold its ves

cap was e

ale its wing

eyes were t

I said, "what

he mournful

d far, and

! Pe-we

ound my fo

f the lonel

r in these

robin's whis

bluebird's p

g through th

trills his tw

th: sometim

rls fresh showe

es of the lo

e forest's

l day compl

! pe-we

o, in thy li

ings for a h

life, thou kno

, and a va

still which

f some beni

ed, crying

lorn, and wa

ured, by lo

t with her

little wi

chill and

! dear m

h piercing

life of ch

leaves his

sporting i

t light that

poet he

t places st

spark of he

undying, sw

ings; and s

not by the hu

to the p

pewee!

. L

IN THR

RT