nts of Europe with draughts of these valuable
works had then in contemplation the monstrous rebellion which now
desolates our beautiful land, and took this means of weakening us by the
universal dissemination of the valuable secrets whereby we were enabled
to surpass the rest of the world in the rapidity of construction, and
the beauty and executive power of our rifled musket.

When the several parts are finished, they are taken to an apartment in
the arsenal to be put together. This operation is called assembling the
musket. There are a large number of workmen whose occupations are
confined to the putting together of the various parts of the
musket,--each one having some distinct part to attend to. Thus, one man
puts the various parts of the lock together, while another screws the
lock into the stock. Another is occupied in putting on the bayonet, and
so on. Each workman has the parts upon which he is employed before him
on his bench, arranged in compartments, in regular order, and puts them
together with marvellous dexterity. The component parts of the musket
are all made according to one exact pattern, and thus, when taken up at
random, are sure to come properly together. There is no special fitting
required in each individual case. Any barrel will fit any stock, and a
screw designed for a particular plate or band will enter the proper hole
in any plate or band of a hundred thousand. There are many advantages
resulting from this exact conformity to an established pattern in the
components of the musket, such as greater facility and economy in
manufacturing them, and greater convenience in service,--spare screws,
locks, bands, springs, etc., being easily furnished in quantities, and
sent to any part of the country where needed, so that, when any part of
a soldier's gun becomes injured or broken, its place can be immediately
supplied by a new piece, which is sure to fit as perfectly into the
vacancy as the original occupant. Each soldier to whom a musket is
served is provided also with a little tool, which, though very simple
in its construction, enables him to separate his gun into its
forty-seven parts with the greatest facility.

The most costly of the various parts of the musket is the barrel, which,
when completed, is estimated at three dollars. From this the parts
descend gradually to a little wire called the ramrod-spring-wire, the
value of which is only one mill.

A complete percussion-musket weighs within a