SIDE AKMS AND CITLEKV. 155 



Herein must be included also 1,700 ponds of finished brass fixtures for 

 side arms. 



The household industry of side arms is carried on in the village Pavlovo, 

 government of Nizhni-Novgorod, near Tula, and in many of the localities of the 

 Caucasus and in Turkestan. The largest of the factories, with a production amount- 

 ing to 30,000 roubles yearly, is situated in St. Petersburg. The importation of side 

 arms according to customhouse data has amounted in recent years from 125 to 

 205 pouds annually, valued from 15 to 25 thousand roubles; thus upon the aver- 

 age import, namely 165 pouds, tlie value would be 20.000 roubles. The manu- 

 facture of cutlery, that is, the making of all kinds of knives and forks, razors, 

 shears and scissors, is chiefly centred in the Gorbatovsk district of the Nizhni-Nov- 

 gorod government, and in the Muromsk district of the Vladimir government, where 

 over 80 villages are occupied with the industry. 



The origin of this manufacture in the above mentioned region, tiie centre of 

 which is the village Pavlovo, popularly called Russian Sheffield, relates to the 

 second half of the last century, when Count Slieremetev the proprietor of the region, 

 having established iron works, conceived the idea of teaching his peasants to make 

 cutlery, especially fish knives, which were in great demand for the fishing industry 

 on the lower readies of the Volga. The blacksmith industry had been in existence 

 a long time in the village Pavlovo and in other places of this locality; the peasants 

 were equally acquainted with the locksmith trade, and these facts led Count She- 

 remetev to believe that the manufacture of cutlery could be firmly established at 

 Pavlovo and in that belief he proved to be correct. 



At the present time the neighbourhood of Pavlovo makes all kinds of cutlery, 

 the quality and prices of which are in sucli variety that they can easily answer 

 to the requirements of all classes, the poor as well as the rich. The high degree of 

 finish of the best knives, especially in the beautiful and durable polish given to the 

 blades, has caused these goods at international expositions to be admired and won- 

 dered at, even by English specialists. During the last 15 to 20 years, besides a great 

 variety of wares, a beautiful choice of designs has added to their otherwise fine qual- 

 ities. Some of the special knives, such as bread knives, cheese knives and butter 

 knives, bear very often handles that are artistically carved and ornamented. 



The making of cutlery in Eussia, as is also sometimes the case abroad, shows 

 the most characteristic types of household peasant industry with all the peculiarities 

 relating thereto. Thus, even very large factories as has already been mentioned, do 

 not as a rule work all the successive steps in the manufacture, but give out sepa- 

 rate parts to special workmen living in villages sometimes at great distances from 

 the factory, some of whom work the blades, others face and shape them, while others 

 again make the handles and still others put the parts together, when the more 

 artistic workmen finish them off. There are villages wholly occupied at some of these 

 special features of the manufacture. The casting of the blades and especially the 

 affixing of the marks are done at the manufactory itself. 



The cutler}^ in Eussia is chiefly made by hand. Stamping is sometimes used to 

 give form to the thicker part dividing the blade of the knife or the tines of the 

 fork from the shank or the handle. In the making of pocketknives, the cutting of 

 the small blades is sometimes done by machine; but on the whole, the work is 



