then, while the fuse was burning, and before the
fire reached the charge, he had time to run away
and get out of reach of the recoil, which in these
large cannon is very considerable. An accident,
however, which occurred one day when some
practising was going on in the Woolwich
Marshes, and which might have cost several
lives, probably helped to direct the attention of
the authorities to the imperfection of this plan,
and in good time. Some men were firing at a
mark in the artillery ground, and the guns were
placed in the customary manner in a row, side by
side, and pointed over Woolwich Marshes. The
gunner lighted the fuses as usual, and skipped
off to a place of security. The first gun went
off in the proper direction harmlessly enough,
but, unfortunately, in its recoil, it knocked
against the gun next to it with such force, that
it turned it round with its muzzle towards Woolwich,
and, before anything could be done to prevent
it, had discharged a 68-pounder shot into the town.

That shot, which might have carried death and
mutilation with it, fell, by a merciful chance, in
the Dockyard, and was buried deep in a massive
brick wall, which it struck and shattered. According
to the new system, such an accident is
impossible: the gunner stands at a distance, and
fires each gun singly, by pulling a string.

Included within the province of the Royal
Gun Factories is the manufacture of brass guns
as well as iron. They are made almost in the
same manner. The great advantage of brass
over iron guns is in their superior lightness: a
very valuable quality where rapidity of locomotion
is desirable. The Royal Gun Factories
when in full operation are able to keep up a
supply of eighteen iron guns per week.

It will be remembered that in the account
just given of the mode of construction adopted
in the manufacture of iron guns, mention was
made of a certain receptacle into which the
liquid iron flows, and which is called by the
workmen a "sow." The manner in which
English artisans bestow these animal names on
inanimate things is sufficiently remarkable to
make the subject worth reverting to, for an
instant. They not only call this magazine of
liquid iron a "sow," but they have also gone
further with this elegant image, and given to the
iron which runs out of it the name of "pig.'
Again, the machine by which all the great
weights are lifted is, as everybody knows, called
a "crane," and in the travelling cranes which
move the guns from place to place, the part of
the machinery which does the practical work
bears the title of the "crab." It has been mentioned
in another part of this article that the
instrument by which the rockets are driven, is
called a "monkey." This tendency to apply
animal names is by no means confined to those
workmen who are connected with machinery,
but is prevalent among the lower classes generally.
There is an engine used by tailors which
is called a "goose;" and the British tar has
given to a certain instrument of punishment the
name of the "cat and nine tails."

The Eye-Witness was much impressed in
going over the Arsenal by the obvious effect upon
the different workmen, of the peculiar branch of
occupation in which they were engaged: insomuch
that each trade seemed to leave its stamp
upon those who followed it. Who has not observed
that engineers, as a class, are apt to be fat,
and that they are taciturn men, who, from long
iving in a clatter of machinery which renders
their voices inaudible, have got at last to give
up talking generally, as a bad job? The only
known instance of a loquacious engineer is Mr.
Albert Smith's, and it will be acknowledged that
he seems to find some difficulty in expressing his
ideas. Who has not remarked that carpenters
are ordinarily a cheerful and communicative
race; that superintendents of machinery are the
most intelligent persons in the world, and delightful
to talk to; and that smiths as has been
said before—are always picturesque, and that
whether they "strike while the iron is hot," or
idle against the bellows, there is always something
grandly careless in the way they work or
lounge?

Were the space at his command less
limited, the E.W. would gladly describe the
excellent arrangements connected with the
Infirmary, the Library, and the Schools
which are attached to the Arsenal, and
through which he was taken at the conclusion
of his second day at Woolwich. As it is, he
can only mention that these things exist, that
every comfort is provided for the workmen who
may be disabled through accident, and medical
attendance for the sick. The beds in the Infirmary
were so clean, the room so airy and cheerful,
that the Eye-witness almost felt inclined
(being much fatigued) to take a siesta there
himself.

The Schools attached to the Arsenal are of
great value, as the boys are trained on the spot
for their future labours; and though an attendance
of eight hours per week is all that is
exacted from them (in consideration of their
other work), they have yet, many of them, attained
such a proficiency as to have passed out
of arithmetic into mathematics and equation.

It is worthy of remark that the Library at
Woolwich is found to answer better than the
Reading-room. The men dislike to turn out
when once they have reached their homes after
a hard day's work, and the cheap newspapers
enable them to get what information they require
without leaving their own houses. This
operates against the Reading-room; but, the
Library, from which they may take books to
their own houses, by a subscription of fourpence
per month for labourers, and sixpence for
artisans and foremen, is very popular. Your
Eye-witness observed that the shelves where the
novels were kept, were almost emptied, so great
is the natural and wholesome enjoyment of
Fiction among these hard-worked men; he also
remarked that the demand for Locke on the
Human Understanding, for Choker on the Law
of Nations, and Shuttle on the Differential
Calculus, was far from brisk.