150 MANUFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



iloreover a cousiderable quantity of artillery goods are yearly produced in the 

 government of Perm at the Kamensk Crown Manufactory where the casting is done 

 by the high furnace method. Finally, the guns requisite for the army are made at 

 three manufactories, namely, the Sestrorietsk, in the government of St. Petersburg, 

 the Tulsk, at Tula, and the Izhevsk, in the government of Viatka. These works are 

 provided in all their sections with the best machines of the newest construction, so 

 that the different parts of the lock are made so accurately as to outlines and dimen- 

 sions that they can be easily replaced if need be. 



The armory in Eussia dates from long ago ; in the sixteenth century the gun- 

 smiths of Tula were already renowned; they made side arms and guns of the iron 

 provided by the peasants of the locality, who worked it in their doushnitsi (a kind 

 of oven) directly from the ores. This kind of gun manufacture existed probably at 

 the same time at Veliky-Oustyug. In 1595, by order of the tsar Feodor loannovich, 

 thirty smiths of Tula were settled in a small village which may be regarded as the 

 foundation of the gun industry in Tula, as well as of the corporation of the armorers 

 obliged to work for the Crown and enjoying therefore special franchises and privi- 

 leges. It would be well to mention that in the second half of the seventeenth century 

 one of these smiths distinguished himself by his capacities, namely, Nikita Demidov 

 Antoufiev, or Antoufeev, the progenitor of the renowned family of the Demidovs, and 

 was chosen by the genius of Peter the Great for the organization of the first high 

 furnace and iron works in Tula. These works were required to supply the army with 

 balls, and the gunsmiths of Tula with the necessary iron. Later on, Demidov trans- 

 ferred his business to the Urals where, due to his energy and knowledge, he rend- 

 ered great service to the iron works industry. 



At first the armorers made guns at home, and only in the years 1705 and 

 1706 the first armory yard was organized, with sixty furnaces for the welding 

 of the barrels. The boring and finishing of them was still done by the smiths at 

 theii" homes. These last operations were introduced only in the new stone armor}^ 

 yard built in the year 1718, and supplied with a water propeller; but after a short 

 time this yard was closed at the request of the armorers, who were allowed 

 to execute all the works at their home as before. Although the manufactory or 

 armory yard was reopened afterwards, yet the greater part of the Crown smiths 

 continued, notwithstanding, to work in their own home shops. This course lasted 

 even after the emancipation of the armorers, in the year 1864, from the obligatory 

 relations to the manufactory. Only in the year 1873, when the works were entirely 

 reorganized and supplied with new machinery, the execution of Crown orders at the 

 manufactory was stopped. 



At the beginning of this century an essential reform was introduced in the 

 works of the Tula manufactory, namely the stamping of the hammer and of the 

 different pieces of the lock instead of forging them, the latter method proving to be 

 too slow and difficult because of the small dimensions and exactitude of tlie articles 

 prepared. This reform was introduced about 1817 by a special gunsmith brought from 

 England and resulted not only in the improvement in the quality of the gun and 

 the reduction of prices of labour, but also in the teaching of the smiths a new method 

 of shaping and working iron, the latter directly influencing the development of other 

 branches of metallurgical industry, for example, the manufacture of locks and fixtures. 



