THE IRON' INltUSTKV. 1-tl 



The hanil-making of chains is, as mentioned above, widely spread in the govern- 

 ment of Nizhni-Novgorod, namely, in the church village of Besvodnoe and the ad- 

 joining villages, as well as in some parts of the Semenovsk and iJalakhninsk districts 

 of the same government. The output here of this manufacture is placed at 100,000 

 roubles; the industry constantly improves, although with no such rapidity as could 

 be expected in view of the great demand for chains for ships, and for sea and 

 river boats. 



The absence of regular chain tests for want of proper machines for that pur- 

 pose compels many of the ship owners to buy chains at higher prices from the Crown 

 manufactories, and even of foreign make. 



At the village Besvodnoie, chains are exclusively hand made; for the finest rod 

 iron of a quarter of an inch in diameter is used ; the thickest are made of the same 

 iron, but of a diameter of one and three-quarter inches. The price varies according 

 to the diameter, from 3 to 5 roubles per poud, their length averaging from 15 to 20. 

 very rarely 30 sagenes. 



Large anchors are manufactured exclusively at the Crown works, Kolpinsk and 

 Votkinsk, where special machinery for the w^ork is in use, especially heavy steam 

 hammers; each anchor is throughly tested as prescribed by law before it is permitted 

 to leave the works. The official data show that the Kolpinsk manufactory produces, for 

 the requirements of the navy, anchors of Martin and Trotman patterns, the heaviest of 

 which is 450 ponds: the price for such anchors varies from 14 to 29 roubles per poud. 

 The prices at the Votkinsk works are considerably lower. Of the private manufac- 

 tories the Dobriansk, owned by Count Stroganov, makes good anchors of small dimen- 

 sions for local navigation. Hand-made anchors are chiefly confined to Gorodets and 

 the village Bor, both in the vicinity of Nizhni-Novgorod, but the quality of these 

 anchors is far from being satisfactory, as a poor kind of iron and all sorts of scraps 

 are used in their manufacture. They are made of a w-eight of 6 to 47 pouds, and 

 their price varies from 2.20 to 3.80 roubles per poud. 



The manufacture of spades, hoes and kindred implements is spread in different 

 localities; the best equipped works are, no doubt, the Crown arsenals, where various 

 mechanical contrivances have been introduced, especially for the working of spades. 

 Lately a very well equipped factory has been founded at St. Petersbiu"g by Spiegel, 

 which produces chiefly spades and some other farm implements. Furthermore, the 

 house-building articles, such as stairs, window frames, rafters and the like, are made 

 at mechanical manufactories together with various machinery, or at trade establish- 

 ments found even in the smallest tow'ns. 



By reason of the extreme variety of the blacksmith wares in general, and espec- 

 ially as the household industries are greatly diversified, it is impossible to give, 

 even approximately, the value of their production. However, it can be stated that 

 the general output of the blacksmiths is something more than 20,000,000 roubles 

 annually. Of w^ares of sheet iron and steel, plate~and~pacMng cases must be 

 given the first place. Plate is generally made of black 'iron, and then tinned or 

 enamelled, or of white iron, the latter being preferred for light wares. Packing cases 

 boxes, cans and the like are exclusively made of tin. 



A very large production of black and tinned plate has long since been estab- 

 lished at Kassimov, government of Riazan, by the merchant Salaskin : due to the 



