USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > Springfield directory 1851-1852 > Part 10
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Extra cones for issue with muskets,
119,757
Compound screw drivers for issue with do. 93,908
Percussion hammers (for other posts,)
41,682
Arm Chests and packing boxes,
295
Tilt hammers for welding barrels,
2
Components of muskets for other posts, equal to Percussion muskets, 55
Col. Ripley, the commanding officer at the Armory, received an order to alter the flint lock muskets to percussion, if practicable, at a cost not exceeding one dollar per musket. This work was commenced in July, 1849, and the whole number, 113,406, were com- pleted by February, 1851, at a cost of 50} cents each. At the close of the year, there were on hand a grand total of two hundred and fifteen thousand nine hundred and fifty muskets.
The largest number of men employed during any one month last year was 431 ; the smallest, 320-av- erage number per month 3813. The average pay of these men, making no account of lost time, and reck- oning in all, from the highest to the lowest, was $40 per month.
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SPRINGFIELD TRADE
In the month of June, just past, the division of office, labor and laborers, was as follows :
On Salaries or Wages- One Superintendent, one Master Armorer, one Military Storekeeper, 4 Clerks, eleven Inspectors, sixteen Machinists.
At Piece Work-Eighteen barrel forgers, seven lock forgers, eight bayonet forgers, two ramrod forgers, ten mounting forgers, five appendage forgers, one iron maker, nine assistant forgers, six annealers, fourteen borers, twenty-six millers, eleven drillers, three turn- ers, three grinders, eleven barrel filers, twenty-four lock filers, six bayonet filers, fourteen mounting filers, three appendage filers, sixteen polishers, sixteen stock- ers, one barrel finisher, three mounting ยท finishers, three lock finishers, one arm finisher, two appendage finishers.
Jobbers-Five smiths, two filers, nineteen carpenters one mason, and thirty-six laborers, all on wages.
The above give a total of three hundred twenty men, employed in June, which is the smallest number employed in any month during the year, with the ex- ception of May, when the number was the same.
At the Lower Water Shops, there is now compara- tively little business done. The work formerly done here was some years since removed to the Hill, for convenience, and the introduction of a steam engine in the Hill buildings was made to do the work for- merly done by water power. A principal part of these shops and their water power are leased to Messrs Ingersoll, Doolittle & Co., and constitute the establish- ment known as the Massasoit Flour Mills. The Gov- ernment, however, carry on a rolling mill here, where every scrap of iron, iron filings, &c., produced in the process of manufacture, are melted and rolled into stock to be re-consumed, so that not a pound of iron is thrown away or sold at less than its value. This roll- ing mill is furnished with a complete set of machinery for rolling and slitting iron, two tilt hammers, one
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cutting shears for bars, and three water wheels, as the driving power.
At the Middle Water Shops, the process of forging barrels, ramrods and bayonets is carried on. There are here eighteen tilt hammers, carried by twelve wa- ter wheels. These shops, with the Lower, employ thirty-four men. A new invention has just been com- pleted here, and one which will be of great importance to every large forging establishment in the country. The old method of driving a tilt-hammer is by a water wheel to each hammer, or to every two hammers. The necessity compelling this arises from the fact that if the hammer were driven by a belt, from a regular moving power, the speed of the hammer could not be increased or decreased suddenly at will. The new in- vention consists of a loose driving belt-so loose that when it is not tightened by bearing against it, the dri- ving drum has no action upon it. A pulley is at- tached to a compound lever half way between the drum and the pulley where the power is applied to the hammer, and, by acting upon the lever, the pulley presses upon the belt, until it is so far tightened as to drive the hammer at the utmost speed of the drum. When a smaller speed is required, the lever is par- tially released, allowing the belt to slip, and in this manner, by increasing or diminishing the tension of the belt, any required speed is attained. The result of this simple and beautiful invention is that a thousand tilt hammers, if necessary, may be driven by one water wheel, or by a steam engine.
At the Upper Water Shops, there are 57 men em- ployed. Here, the boring, turning, grinding and pol- ishing of barrels, ramrods and bayonets are effected, and here, also, the tempering and polishing of the lock-work is done. The machinery in these shops consists of 13 boring banks, 9 turning engines, 7 large grind stones, 4 turning lathes, 10 milling machines, 2 barrel polishing machines, 1 for buffing bayonets, 2 screw cutting machines, 1 punching press, 1 wood pla-
11
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SPRINGFIELD TRADE
ner, 1 circular saw, 1 machine for splitting leather, and all are driven by four water wheels. The polish- ing shop and the shop on the South side of the stream have been condemned, and are to be re-built. We noticed in the polishing room a most ingenious con- trivance, of comparatively recent introduction, for sparing the lungs and lives of those who would other- wise live (or die) in a constant atmosphere of emery dust. A long box runs the length of the room, by the side of which are stationed the polishing wheels .- Tubes with mouths opening upon each wheel proceed from this long box. In the room below, a blower is arranged in such connection with the long box as to exhaust the air within it, and, of course, there is a strong current of air passing from each wheel into its appropriate tube. The consequence is that all the dust of the room is drawn into the box, and delivered out of doors in a constant cloud.
The filing shop is located on the Hill, and employs 93 men, a larger number than are engaged in any oth- er department. The machinery in this department consists of 1 boring bank, 1 turning lathe, 2 turning engines, 45 milling machines, 3 machines for cutting screws, 1 for tapping cone-seats, 3 for drilling and fin- ishing cones, (the part of the lock receiving the per- cussion cap,) 2 for checking hammers, 11 drill presses, 1 punching press, 2 machines for straightening ham- mers, and 2 for grinding cutting mills.
There are 31 men employed in the machine shop, and it is here :hat the machinery and the principal in- struments of manufacture for the other departments are made. The machinery of this department, as well as that of all the other shops located on the Hill, is driven by a double engine of 30 horse power, man- ufactured by Tufts, in Boston. This engine is one of the most perfect and beautiful ever built in the United States, and, from its exquisitely perfect operation and high finish, is always a prominent object of attraction to all visitors. The machinery of this department
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does not vary materially from that of all first class machine shops. It consists of 1 cutting engine, 9 turn- ing lathes, 2 milling machines, 1 machine for shaving " bridles," 5 planing machines, 4 machines for groov- ing, pointing, sawing and planing plank, 1 for making arm chests, 1 for making packing for muskets, 1 for splitting leather, 1 for sawing tenons, 1 for cutting tenons, 1 for cutting bolts, 4 punching presses, 3 drill presses, 5 turning engines, 1 straightening machine, and 1 slitting machine.
The most beautiful machinery in the whole estab- lishment is that in the stocking room. The machinery here is operated by 20 men, and consists of 14 ma- chines, which would be best described by simply men- tioning the work that they perform. Into this depart- ment the stocks come, in the form of blanks. They are rough forms of gun stocks, sawed out of black walnut plank. They first pass through the widely celebrated Blanchard turning machine, which turns the form roughly in the shape required, and are then passed from one machine to another, in rapid succes- sion, receiving every depression for the reception of the lock and mounting, the grooving for the breech- pin, barrel and ramrod, holes for the reception of screws, turning, &c., until the stock is complete. All this ir- regular mortising, boring, &c., is effected with most unerring precision, and every piece of the lock and mounting fits into its appropriate place in the most perfect manner. The machinery here is absolutely poetical, both in structure and operation. It is preg- nant with intelligence, rolls out its rhymes in beautiful measure, and sings of human ingenuity and the al- most unlimited control of the human intellect over brute matter and the natural forces, with an eloquence which none but a clod of humanity can listen to with- out emotion. The inventor of a majority of these ma- chines is Mr. Cyrus Buckland, a gentleman of eminent mechanical genius, long connected with the Armory.
The manufacture of one single musket is effected by
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four hundred different operations, and the majority of the men employed engage in only one of the opera- tions. A larger number of muskets were manufac- tured, last year, than any year previous, and a calcu- lation based upon the number turned out shows that throughout the year of 313 working days, of ten hours each, a musket was completed every 8 minutes and 56 seconds. The various parts of the musket pass, dur- ing their manufacture, through the hands of inspect- ors, who, with their guages, determine the exact di- mensions of every piece, and reject every one that is not exactly what is required. Thus, a hundred thous- and muskets might be taken to pieces, and thrown promiscuously into a pile, and the whole taken up and put together again without the mis-fit of a single com- ponent, to its appropriate place. Thus, too, when the arms are in use, there is never need of sending them to the Armory for repairs. Hammers, screws, springs, &c., furnished from the Armory, as extras, will take the place of any damaged part, precisely as if they were made for the arms to be repaired.
The process of manufacturing the musket barrel is one of the most important and difficult in the whole range of the Armory operations, and one which is guarded with multiplied tests, at every step of its pro- gress from the bar to the finished tube. The bar, which is of the best Salisbury and Ancrom refined iron, is first cut into lengths, weighing 10 3-4 pounds each. These are rolled into shapes, and then edges rolled up, lapped upon each other, and welded. They are then inspected, and the imperfect ones rejected .- As they pass along through turning, boring and grind- ing, they are subjected to inspection at each step, and the workmen are held responsible for the full value of any barrel they may spoil, at the stage in which it is spoiled, and the amount is deducted from their earn- ings ; and, we may say here, that the same course is adopted in regard to every component of the musket. The barrel having been reduced to the dimensions re-
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quired for proot, (by powder,) which dimensions are three hundredths of an inch greater, in the exterior di- ameter of the barrel, and three hundredths of an inch less in the diameter of the bore, than the finished bar- rel, leaving an ounce and a half to be worked from each barrel in finishing, it is then subjected to the powder test. Fifty-five barrels are usually loaded and discharged at the same time, in a building made for the purpose. Each barrel is discharged twice, the first charge consisting of one eighteenth of a pound of pow- der, one ball and two wads, each wad occupying three fourths of an inch of the bore, and each ball weighing one fifteenth of a pound. The second charge consists of one twenty-second of a pound of powder, one ball and two wads, and each charge is well rammed .- These barrels are laid on a cast iron, grooved bed, and the balls are discharged into a bank of clay which is occasionally washed for the lead it contains.
The inspection of the barrels is so rigid before they come to the proof, that very few of them burst. After proof, they are again inspected, as before, to see that there are no ring-bones, cinder-holes, flaws or cracks, or defects of any kind, that will not disappear in the finishing.
The number of condemned barrels, in the last year's operations, was, for defective workmanship, 451, and for defective material, 5,323. Of these, 183 of the first class were condemned before reaching the stage of proving, and 1,971 of the last. In proving, 251 were condemned for workmanship, and 1,815 for material. In the whole number of barrels proved, only 142 burst, and an instance of a barrel bursting at the second dis- charge, has not been known for several years. Be- tween this stage and the finishing of the barrel, 17 were condemned for workmanship, and 1,537 for ma- terial. Thus, in making 21,000 muskets, only 451 barrels were spoiled by the workmen, and the value deducted from their earnings, while 5,323 were a loss to the Government, from imperfect material.
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SPRINGFIELD TRADE
The smallest piece value of a component of a mus- ket is one mill ; the highest, $3,50.
The following is the weight of a musket, in detail and total, expressed in pounds and hundredths of a pound :-
Weight of barrel, 4,25
Weight of locks and side screws, 0,85
Weight of bayonet, 0,68
Weight of musket without bayonet,
9,14
Weight of musket complete, 9,82
It will thus be seen that a complete percussion mus- ket weighs ten pounds, lacking eighteen hundredths. This weight is less than that of the old flint musket.
The cost of each musket, manufactured last year, was $7,75}. The cost, the previous year, was $9,03}, showing a reduction of cost, per musket, of about 28 cents. In ten years, the cost of manufacture, per mus- ket, has been reduced nearly one half, it being, in 1841, $17,44
The exquisite order and neatness which reign through- out the whole establishment, are always subjects of re- mark to those who visit it, and the perfect system of accounts by which every item of stock is followed and checked in its passage from the hands of the store- keeper to its final and perfect transformation into the finished arms, is enough to beatify one whose organ of order is dominant in his cerebel development. This intimate system of accounts is as prevalent in every other department, as in that of stock, and is necessary in the making up of the quarterly returns to the de- partment.
It has already been made public that an iron fence is to be built around a portion of the Government grounds, an appropriation having been made by Con- gress for this purpose. A specimen section of this fence has been completed, and put up, and is decided- ly beautiful and appropriate in design, and neat in ap- pearance. It is to stand upon a running pedestal of Longmeadow free-stone, and will be precisely 8 feet
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and 8 inches high. It is now to be put up only the length of the Government grounds on State street, and across the Eastern end. The standing portion of the fence is composed of posts and two styles of pickets. The post terminates at the top with the representation of a battle axe, corresponding more nearly to the old Roman fasces than to any other design with which we are acquainted. Each alternating picket is less in height than the others, the long ones representing hal- berds with the cross curving upwards at the points, and the short ones, spears.
Since the commencement of the superintendence of COL. RIPLEY over this extensive institution, there has been a marked change in its general character, for the better. The grounds have been reformed, terraced and beautified, and every department of manufacture is now carried on with such order and efficiency that the world may safely be challenged to produce, in ev- ery respect, the equal of the Springfield Armory. We do not believe that there is so well and so efficiently a conducted Armory, one so perfect in its machinery and so uniformly perfect in its productions, on the face of the globe. We wish it might be set down inside the Crystal Palace, and we would be perfectly content- ed to stake the National reputation upon its competi- tion with the assembled skill and ingenuity of the world.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE CO., SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
Office, No. 8 Foot's Block, cor, Main & State Streets. Incorporated May 15, 1851.
GUARANTEE CAPITAL, $100,000.
OFFICERS. CALEB RICE, President. E. D. BEACH, Vice President. FRANCIS B. BACON, . . Secretary. HARVEY DANKS, . ... General Agent. ALFRED LAMBERT, M. D., Medical Examiner. J. M. SMITH, M. D., Consulting Physician.
DIRECTORS.
Caleb Rice, Wm. B. Calhoun, A. H. Avery, Samuel S. Day, Wm. W. Boyington, Henry Gray, George Dwight,
William Rice, Geo. Ashmun, Waitstill Hastings, Edmund Freeman, E. D. Beach, P. B. Tyler, Harvey Danks,
Rufus Chandler, George Merriam, John Hamilton, Henry Fuller, Jr., E. F. Moseley, Alfred Lambert, M.D. A. D. Chapin.
This Company having been organized according to the terms of its Charter, is now prepared to issue policies on lives, on terms made espe- cially favorable to the assured.
The greatest risk in a single life will be $5000.
Surplus distributed among the members every fifth year from Aug- ust, 1851, according to the provisions of the Act of Incorporation.
Premiums, when desired, may be paid semi-annually or quarterly.
Information given, and circulars containing important and useful information furnished gratis, to those who call at the office of the com- pany, or of its accredited agents, or will be sent by mail, if written for, post paid.
170
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Wilson & Co.'s Dry Goods Warehouse.
WILSANS BOOK 5 H08 PRINTING OFFICE
PRINTING OFFICE & BINDERY.
WHOLESALE & RETAIL DRY COODS WAREHOUSE.
MERRIAM CHAPIN & Co. BOOKS & STATIONERY.
WILSON & Co.
C.W.WILSON.
E
T.CHUBBUCK'SC.
SPRINGFD
-
E. G. BURNHAM & CO.,
BRASS OUNDRY And Brass Workers,
Lyman Street, West End Car & Engine Shop, (UP STAIRS,) Springfield, Mass.
FANCY AND STAPLEZDRY GOODS AND CARPETS, At the very lowest prices, Wholesale and Retail.
ADVERTISEMENS. 171
FRANKLIN Fire Insurance Company,
OF NEW YORK, AT SARATOGA SPRINGS. CAPITAL, $ 200,000.
DIRECTORS.
CADY HOLISTON, HIRAM PARKS,
WILLIAM DOTY,
SIDNEY VERBECK
JAMES VAN BUREN,
SEYMOUR GILBERT,
JEREMIAH WHITLOCK,
JOHN L. PERRY
DAVID ROWLEY,
ISAAC FREEMAN,
FRANKLIN HOAG, WILLIAM MCKINLEY, WILLIAM L. AVERY. OFFICERS. CADY HOLISTON, President. WILLIAM L. AVERY, Secretary. E. W. THAYER, Agent.
Fire
HUDSON RIVER Insurance Company, WATERFORD, N. Y. Capital, $200,000.
H. WHITE, President. J. O. AVERY. Secretary. JOSIAH BLOOD, Vice President.
The above companies having a FULL CAPITAL, paid in and se- cured according to law, are prepared to insure buildings, merchandize, household furniture, and manufactories, againt loss or damage by fire, on the most reasonable terms. All losses promptly adjusted and paid.
Office No. 11 Foot's Building, E. W. THAYER, Agent.
172
ADVERTISEMENTS.
FIRE INSURANCE.
THE PEOPLE'S MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
Office No. 8 Old State House, State Street, Boston ; No. 12 Foot's Building, Springfield, Mass. ;
Continue to Insure Buildings, Stock, Furniture, Machinery, and other property, against loss or damage by fire.
In two Classes, each paying its own Losses.
Springfield Directors. - Elijah W. Bliss, Eliphalet Trask, Erasmus D. Beach, Waitstill Hastings, George Dwight, Samuel S. Day, T. Stebbins, S. Webster.
J. SOUTHWICK, President. GEO. DWIGHT, Vice President. C H. WHITE, Secretary.
DORAS L. STONE, Secretary of Springfield Office.
Mechanics' Union Association,
Office No. 1 Goodrich's Building, Springfield, Mass. Accumulated Cash & Guaranty Capital over $50,000. M. B. DEAN, President. William Patton, G. C. Wood, Financial Committee. - H. B. Judkins,
This is an Association of Workingmen and others, for the mutual assistance of each other in case of sickness or accident.
By the payment of the following annual deposits, you will become a life member, and will be entitled to a weekly benefit during life, if you should be disabled by sickness or accident, from attending to your ordi- nary business or occupation. Females Insured against sickness common to both sexes.
Yearly Deposits of Members under 50 years of age.
TABLE OF RATES NO. 1. Those drawing for the first week's sickness, by paying
$3 00 per year draw $3 00 per week. $7 00 per year draw $7 50 per wk.
4 00 4 00 8 00 8 00
5 00 5 00 9 00 9 00
1
6 00 6 00 10 00 10 00
TABLE OF RATES NO. 2.
Those not drawing for the first week's sickness, by paying
$2 00 per year draw $3 00 per week. $5 00 per year draw $7 00 per wk.
3 00
4 50
6 00
8 75
4 00
6 00
7 00
10 00
Those over fifty years of age will be charged 25 per cent. extra. $1.50 admission fee will be charged in addition to the above, the first year, and must be paid at the time of making application, and the first year's deposit within thirty days.
173
ADVERTISEMNNS.
HAMPDEN MUTUAL
fire Insurance Co. OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
Insure in two Classes Hazards by Fire on Real and Personal Property. Office, No. 6 Foot's Block, Main St., Springfield, Mass.
OFFICERS. Hon John Mills, President; Hon William B. Calhoun, Vice President ; George W. Rice, Secretary ; William W. Lee, Treasurer.
DIRECTORS.
Hon Chester W.Chapin
Joseph C. Pynchon
Solyman Merrick
Hon George Ashmun Hon John Mills
George W. Rice
Roger S. Moore John Hamilton
Hon Wm. B. Calhoun
Henry Gray
Joseph D. Decreet
William Rice
Rufus Chandler - Edward F. Moseley
Executive Committee.
Solyman Merrick, William Rice, Joseph C. Pynchon.
WM. HATFIELD,
Importer and Dealer in
CROCKERY, CHINA,
AND GLASS WARE,
SOLAR LAMPS, Britannia Ware, Table Cutlery, &c., No. 1 HAMPDEN HALL, SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
William W. Lee
174
ADVERTISEMENTS.
CROCKERY, CHINA & GLASS WARE.
HAMILTON & CHAPIN,
No. 5 Burt's Building, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. IMPORTERS,
Wholesale & Retail Dealers in the above Goods, Having now direct intercourse with manufacturers in Europe, and thereby possessing superior advantages in their business, are able to offer new and unusual inducements to buyers.
J. HAMILTON having spent a portion of the past summer at the Potteries in England, for the purpose of purchasing goods to the best advantage, and select- ing the most desirable patterns and shapes of Ware, H. & C. have now coming out a most beautiful assort- ment of China, Crockery, and Fancy Goods, such as Parian Figures and China Toys in great va- riety ; also a most beautiful assortment of Birmingham Goods, such as Tea Trays, Curtain Bands, and Window Trimmings, of the latest styles.
H. & C. are agents for the sale of J. & E. Norton's superior Bennington Stone Ware, at the manu- facturer's lowest prices, and delivered by rail-road at any place within twenty miles of Springfield ; also the celebrated Flint Enamel Ware, made at Ben- nington, Vt.
They likewise deal in Chandeliers from 1 to 8 or 12 Light ; Candelabras, suspending and stand Solar, Fluid and Camphene Lamps, of every description ; Solar, Camphene, and Fluid Wicking, of all kinds, a large stock of which they have constantly on hand for sale to the Trade at Boston or New York prices.
Also, Camphene and Burning Fluid, of the best qualities, always on hand, by the barrel or at rerail, at the lowest market prices. .
JOHN HAMILTON.
HENRY A. CHAPIN.
175
ADVERTISEMENTS.
APOTHECARIES' HALL, pposite the Massasoft House, Springfield, Mass.
G. C. SEGUR, M. D., Proprietor.
In this Establishment may be found every variety f Drugs, Chemicals, Roots, Herbs, &c., necessary for ne removal of Diseases, if properly administered.
Trusses, Supporters, & Braces of the most approved atterns, always to be obtained, and if desired, fitted and pplied by one who has had twenty years' experience. Prescriptions will receive the most careful attention, ay and night.
Also articles for the Toilet, comprising an extensive .ssortment of German and French Colognes, Lubin & Furlam's Extracts, Shell, Ivory, Buffalo, and Horn Combs, &c. &c.
Brushes, comprising every variety and quality .- French Plate and Window Glass, at imported prices .- Paints, Chemicals, Acids, and Dye Woods, of every escription.
Invalids, who would avail themselves of a remedy, prepared with a single view to meet their particular ase, can be supplied from one of the many that I have een proper to offer to the public, as follows :-
Golden Seal Bitters Alterative & Purifying Extract Camphorated Catarrh Snuff Galbanum Plaster Pectoral Balsam Expectorant Restorative Pills Family Pills People's Friend Cough Conserve
Cherry Elixir
Certain Cure
Appropriate in cases of Jaundice and General Debility Diseases of the Blood
Dizziness, Lethargy, Headache, &c Pains, weakness in Breast, Back or Side Weakness or Irritation of the Lungs Croup and Inflammatory Coughs Indigestion and Irregularity of Bowels Billious Diseases ; are easy and efficient Cuts, Bruises, Burns, painful Swellings Debility of vocal organs, Hoarseness, &c Dysentery, Diarrhea, and Cholera Diseases of the skin
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