154 THE ARMS TRADE OF BELGIUM. 
with these, even for first-class musket?. One hundred and fifty men 
are employed here. 
Good sporting barrels are always made of iron and steel rods, 
twisted together on various principles, and forming various patterns, 
called ribbon-twist, wire-twist, stub iron, Damascus, &c. The latter is 
the most expensive kind, being made of compound strips of iron and 
steel, forged into small quadrangular rods, which are first twisted upon 
their own axes, then wrapped spirally round a mandril and forged into 
a continuous tube. The two metals, assuming different colours (the 
iron white, the steel black), form little knots, called here " flowers," 
which are reproduced with greater or less regularity all over the surface 
of the barrel. These flowers are often counterfeited by a corroding 
substance applied externally. A pair of true Damascus barrels can be 
bought at Liege for from 20 francs to 25 francs ; the best for 35 francs 
and 40 francs. Bernard, of Paris, who has acquired a European reputation 
for these barrels, charges from 1 10 francs to 120 francs for a pair of No 16 
bore, and 135 francs for No. 12 bore. They are proved by himself 
alone. His mark passes current in France and Belgium in lieu of an 
official mark, there being no Government proof-house in Paris. He and 
three others in Paris make about 2,000 barrels per annum, which are 
generally sent to Liege to be mounted. 
M. Falisse has in his factory some admirable machinery for boring, 
rifling, and stockmaking, all manufactured on the premises, and some of it 
quite unique of the kind. Asapinto be made cheaply must be made by fifty 
men, so each stock is here made by twenty machines and thirty workmen, 
at a cheaper rate, he says, than the common stock made by one man. His 
rifling machinery is the most perfect in Liege. He has also established 
a manufactory of percussion caps and nipples at Beaufays, near Liege, 
which has now passed into other hands, and is still the only private one 
in Belgium. He has invented some machines employed in this fabrica- 
tion, and has organised similar factories for several foreign governments. 
M. Francotte makes breech-loading revolvers on a large scale by 
machinery, for prices varying from 40, 45, and 50 francs to 100 francs. 
Each of these pays a fee of 5 francs to the heirs of the late M. 
Lefaucheux, the inventor of the favourite system of breech-loading 
both for pistols and fowling-pieces. About 60,000 Lefaucheux revolvers 
were made at Liege last year, winch must have produced a revenue of 
300,000 francs to the patentee. The Lefaucheux patent for guns has 
expired. Few other guns are now used here for sporting purposes. 
Caps and ramrods are now things of the past. Empty cartridges of 
pasteboard and brass, with an interior fulminating cap, are made all 
over Belgium, but none so good as Eley's. The best fulminating powder 
is not made here. 
The progress of Liege is mainly owing to the incredible cheapness of 
its worhnansJiip. This cheapness has, of course, increased the demand. 
The increased demand has again reduced the cost of production. The 
