Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen. 201 
of these huge guns, which are to be about sixteen calibres 
in length and to weigh twenty-eight tons, are being manu- 
factured for the Russian Government, and will cost 7,000/. 
each. They are to be breech-loaders on Krupp’s principle, 
throwing a projectile of 540lb. with a charge of 5olb. of 
prismatic powder, and are intended for the defences of 
Cronstadt. They were when I saw them, in last Septem- 
ber, nearly completed, the rings only remaining to be 
shrunk on and the breech-loading arrangements finished. 
The original design has been considerably modified. A 
15-inch breech-loading gun has since been commenced, 
which will eventually belong to the Russian Government. 
It is to be exhibited in the Paris International Exhibition. 
The projectile will weigh about goolb. 
HAMMER. 
From the above description it must be manifest that 
hammers of many shapes and sizes are required. They 
actually run from Icwt.to 50 tons. One of the most in- 
teresting, of six tons, is in the form of a “schwautz 
hammer,” or “Belly Helve,’ as we euphoniously call it, 
thus saving vertical space ; but instead of a cam being used 
to lift it, a steam cylinder with piston is placed vertically 
under the middle of the lever, so that the helve head rises 
higher than the piston has to go. The largest steam 
hammer weighs 50 tons, and is single-acting with a ten feet _ 
drop. Itcost about 100,000/, of which two-thirds was for 
the bed. Very little depression of the floor was visible when 
I saw it at work, though this enormous weight has been 
thundering down day and night for about four years anda 
half. It would seem as if nothing could resist the force of 
such ponderous blows, but a large mass of steel, heated to 
the moderate temperature required for forging, is hardly 
affected by each stroke, and Krupp has obtained the 
necessary concession from the Prussian Government to 
permit him to build a 120-ton hammer, which is to have a 
13 feet drop, but whether single or double acting is not yet, 
I believe, determined. It is estimated to cost 200,000/, 
and as such a sum is not always at the command of a single 
person, there may yet be some delay before we hear that 
this monster is at work. Krupp has not yet undertaken 
the supply of ammunition, carriages, &c., as the Elswick 
Ordnance Company have succeeded in doing ; he will pro- 
bably be largely at work in this department before very 
long, and in the meantime has already supplied the Russian 
