THE ItOYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
211 
8. Puddled steel—which is introduced for comparison in the last line, 
and which is frequently met with in Iron-plate and other Beports of the same 
date—was at the time a new material; so far, at least, as regards its appli¬ 
cation in England to constructive or artillery purposes, and was considered 
to possess very remarkable properties. Mr. Mallet regarded it as “ precisely 
the material wanted for the production of artillery of the largest calibre;” 
and the anticipation has proved correct if we regard the material and not 
the mode of production. The puddling process has long been abandoned. 
Bessemer*s and other processes produce a mild steel which is essentially the 
same thing, but far more uniform in quality, and cheaper in manufacture. 
9. The late firm of Mare, of Black wall, tendered on May 7, 1855, to 
supply the two mortars in accordance with Mr. Mallet*s drawing and specifi¬ 
cations, within ten weeks of the date of order, for a sum of £4900 each, 
including the mortar beds; any weight in excess of 35 tons was to be paid 
for at the rate of £140 a ton. The offer was accepted by the Board of 
Ordnance the very next day—an instance of promptitude for which we 
probably have to thank the vigorous interposition of Lord Palmerston, as 
related at p. 203. But alas for good intentions and contractors* vows ! The 
mortars were only reported on the eve of completion in March, 1857, nearly 
a year after the unexpected termination of the war, and ninety-six weeks 
after the order. They were really delivered in May. The bankruptcy of the 
contractors, and the physical difficulties encountered in the execution of 
parts of the order, combined to produce this great disappointment. They 
were then partly the work of Mare & Co., partly of Horsfall & Co., of 
Liverpool, and partly of Eawcett, Preston & Co. The latter did the turning, 
boring, and finishing of the large forgings supplied by Horsfall & Co. Some 
delay was due to the unsoundness detected in one of the largest of these 
when it came to be bored. No one who recollects the constant failures in 
the Boyal Arsenal some years later than this, while the use of Yorkshire 
iron was persisted in, will feel. any surprise at such mishaps; on the 
contrary, it is to the honor of all parties that the mortars were produced at 
all. 
10. With them-—or, properly speaking, before them—were delivered 
fifty shells, contracted for by Messrs. Hood at £16 a ton, and a couple of 
steel gauges at a cost of £25. The shells were tested, by Mr. Mallet*s 
advice :■—- 
(1) As to their gauge, and marked H.G. or L.G. The windage varied 
between 0*38 and 0*40 in. 
(2) As to the perfect sphericity. 
(3) As to soundness of casting, by trial with blows of a heavy hammer, 
especially at the parts opposite the fuze hole. 
(4) As to weight. 
