hey now receive but four
cents for rolling a barrel, with the same contingency of a dollar
forfeiture for each one that bursts. Four persons are employed at each
mill, namely: the foreman, who sees to the heating of the scalps and
barrels; the straightener, who straightens the barrel after it passes
through the roller; the catcher, who stands behind the roller to catch
the barrel when it has passed through; and the fireman. The rollers
weigh two tons apiece, and the five sets turn out one thousand barrels
per day, one per cent. of which burst in the proving-house.

The barrel when rolled is left much larger in the circumference, and
smaller in the bore, than it is intended to be when finished, in order
to allow for the loss of metal in the various finishing-operations. When
it passes into the roller, the scalp weighs ten pounds; when it comes
from the roller, the barrel weighs a little over seven; when completed,
it weighs but four and a half: so that more than one half of the metal
originally used is lost in the forging, or cut away by the subsequent
processes.

The first of these latter is the boring-out of the interior by machines
called boring-banks, of which the water-shops contain a large number, in
constant operation day and night. These machines consist of square,
solid frames of iron, in which the barrel is fixed, and bored out by a
succession of operations performed by augers. These augers are square
bars of steel, highly polished, and ground very sharp at the edges, and
terminating in long, stout rods to enable them to pass through the
barrel. The barrels are fixed very firmly in the boring-banks, the shank
of the auger inserted into the centre of a wheel placed at one end of
the bank, and a slow rotary motion given to the auger, together with a
still slower progressive motion at the same time. By this means the
auger gradually enters the hollow of the barrel, and enlarges the cavity
as it advances. After it has passed through, another auger, a trifle
larger, is substituted in its place, and thus the calibre of the barrel
is gradually enlarged to nearly the required size. Formerly, six borings
were given to each barrel, but at the present time only four are
permitted, aside from the rifling, which is a distinct operation,
performed at the works on the till, and will be described hereafter.

After the boring of the barrel, it is placed in a lathe, and the outside
turned down to the proper size. The piece is