COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS. 133 



the fact tliat bell making is of very ancient origin and to the great demand for 

 bells, the technical side of the industry has attained great development in Russia, 

 and has reached a state of perfection unequalled by foreign manufacture, especially 

 in the making of large bells, ranging in weight from 500 to 1,000 and more pounds 

 each. The principal foundries are in the governments of ]\Ioscow, Novgorod, Penza 

 and Poltava. 



Peasants make only small bells and the so-called bithentchiJc, which are principally 

 worn on the Russian harness and are universally used in summer and winter by the 

 peasants on all sorts of vehicles. The principal lu-oduction of such bells is in Valdai, 

 government of Novgorod, where also large bell foundries are located. All the bells 

 for the Great Isaac Cathedral in St. Petersburg were cast in the foundries of Val- 

 dai. There are bell foundries also in the village of Sosnovo, Semenovskoe and 

 Lyskovo, government of Nizhni-Novgorod, and in Popovskaia, government of Riazan. 

 The best bells known for the mellowness of their tones are made in Valdai. In 

 general, bell making is very little developed amongst peasants as a household 

 industry. 



Table, clock and electric bells, although produced in some establishments of 

 St. Petersburg, Moscow and Valdai, are generally imported. 



The dimensions of the bell industry in Russia have undergone no changes dur- 

 ing the last twenty j^ears. In the 29 fabrics established in European Russia, Siberia 

 and the Vistula regions, the total of the production in 1890 amounted to 923,000 

 roubles ; there were 286 workmen occupied in the foundries. Including the household 

 branch of the industry the total sum of its production amounts to 950,000 roubles. 



The making of bells from steel, which is highly developed noAv in western 

 Europe, is not yet introduced into Russia, although trials have been made to produce 

 steel bells for railroad signals. There is no doubt that this branch of the bell in- 

 dustry will also take root in Russia very soon, at any rate for bells of small dimen- 

 sions, as steel foundries have attained great development in the Empire. However, 

 steel bells will scarcely replace bronze church bells; but at all events steel is a 

 great rival of bronze in bell fabrication. 



The production of household utensils of copper has existed in Russia since 

 ancient times and was probably introduced simultaneously with the silver industry, 

 as the methods of manufacturing both of these metals are quite the same* Amongst 

 the different household utensils made of copper and latten, the first place is occupied 

 by the samovar (tea urn), principally made in Tula and its neighbouring villages 

 lying within a circle of about forty versts from the town. 



The samovar industry began in Tula at the end of the first half of the past 

 century, has been gradually developing since then and is now very considerably 

 extended. Although in Tula itself there are several large fabrics, the bulk of 

 samovars are made in villages by the kustars, and in small workshops. A distinctly 

 organized distribution of labour in the manufacturing of samovars exists among the 

 kustars; they generally do not work on their own account, but receive orders from 

 manufacturers or from more or less reponsible workshops, where they also receive 

 the requisite raw material. In the manufacture of samovars only the lower part the 

 so-called poddou, or stand, as well as the faucet and handles are moulded, all the 

 remaining parts, namely, the body of the samovar, the neck that joins it to the stand. 



