436 
THE SPANISH GUNFACTORY AND ARSENAL OF TRDBIA. 
91, the factory lias triplicated its productive power and can now manu¬ 
facture steel by the most approved methods. 
The primitive factory at Trubia was founded in 1797^ 11 kilometres 
(about 7 miles) to the west of Oviedo and close to the river “ Trubia.” 
This situation was chosen in order to be safe from the French, and also 
because of the mineral wealth of the neighbourhood and the proximity 
of two rivers. 
The factory as it was then started consisted of a small canal 6 feet 
wide, two furnaces which cast round shot, shell and bombs, and a few 
forges, all under the superintendence of a Colonel and Captain of 
Artillery, a Commissary, Paymaster and a few labourers, all of whom 
lived on the spot. The furnaces were closed in 1808 until 1844 when 
Trubia was merged with the Small-arms factory at Oviedo, and then 
only manufactured small-arms. 
In 1844 the place was aroused from its lethargy on the appointment 
of a new director, Colonel Elorza, who had charge of the factory from 
1844 to 1862. This officer possessed high scientific acquirements, had 
already studied metallurgy both in theory and practice in the Univer¬ 
sity of Liege, and was endowed with great administrative capacity and 
a marvellous aptitude for work. He introduced trained and experi¬ 
enced men from abroad and with their help rapidly brought the place 
into a state of efficiency, and diffused a knowledge of the iron and 
mineral industry through Spain. In 1849 the factory turned out a 
68-pr. gun (called the “ 11-foot gun”) and continued to provide many 
smooth-bore guns for fortresses, coast defence and for the navy, and 
in August, 1860, produced a M.L.R. gun of 16 cm (6‘3-in.) which suc¬ 
cessfully withstood 1365 rounds. 
From 1863 to 1878 the change from S.B. to rifled ordnance gave 
plenty of employment in Trubia, and improved machinery had to be 
introduced to meet the new requirements for rifled heavy guns, iron 
plate carriages and heavy projectiles. But the small sum voted by the 
Cortes kept the establishment from developing to the extent it was 
fully capable of. In order to make the most of the sum allowed, the 
method followed was to keep adding new machinery and fresh work¬ 
shops concurrently with the carrying out of the programme as to the 
output of guns, mountings and projectiles. 
During the period 1879-91 the value of the .war material pro¬ 
duced and in course of manufacture was over £815,000, and machinery 
and workshops were added to the establishment to the value of 
some £845,000: the total output in the above-named period (costing 
£702,600) was 537 guns, of which 374 were for fortresses or coast de¬ 
fence, varying in weight from 4 to 50 tons; 15 siege pieces, 108 field 
guns and 40 naval guns; 964 mountings, of which 389 were with under 
carriages and platforms, 63 siege and 507 field carriages; 56,497 pro¬ 
jectiles and a large number of various articles for artillery purposes 
such as limbers, wagons, gyns, cranes, sheers, brackets, axletrees, &c. 
The war materiel in course of manufacture at the commencement of 
the financial year 1891-2 was valued at £112,000 and consisted of 65 
guns and howitzers (45 being for coast defence), 166 mountings and 
13,206 projectiles. 
