CHATHAM ARSENAL. Chatham is worthy of our attention for the government works there established. The naval and mili tary establishments consist of a dockyard, nearly a mile in length, which has four wet docks capable of receiving vessels of the largest size, and several building-slips; metal mills : an extensive arsenal ; barracks on a large scale for artillery and engineers, infantry and royal marines ; a park of artillery ; ma gazines and storehouses ; besides a handsome dock-chapel and a number of habitations for the civilians who are employed. The princi pal mast-house is 240 feet long by 120 feet wide. The rope house is 1,128 feet in length, and 47i feet wide: in it cables 101 fathoms in length and 25 inches in circumference are made. The machinery used in all the depart ments is of the very best kind. A duplicate of Brunel's block-making machine is kept here, ready for use in case the machine at Portsmouth should get out of order. The engineer barracks are built in a plain and simple style, and are extensive and convenient. Near the dock-yard gate is a large naval hos pital, which was erected at the suggestion of William IV. when lord high admiral.
In 1848 a committee of the House of Com mons inquired into the navy estimates and the works and expenditure for which they were required. Chatham dock-yard was included among the naval establishments investigated. The estimates included salaries 17,4591. ; and wages 101,3001. The authorised or established
workmen were 1,727 in number, and the hired workmen 233. There were said, in the Report, to be four docks, viz. : two for first rates, and two for frigates ; and nine slips, of which six were for first rates. After the fire at Devon port dock-yard in 1840, which was greatly extended owing to the tarred wooden and paper roofs which covered the building slips, the admiralty began gradually to replace such roofs with others made of metal. Of these three have been constructed for Chatham, and placed over the slips Nos. 1, 2, and 3, at a cost of 32,5901. Nearly all the slips have been recently either rebuilt or strengthened and repaired. The metal mills at Chatham are more extensive than at any other of the dock-yards. At the time of the inquiry (1848) the metal mills produced 700 tons of sheet copper, 400 tons of bolt copper, and BOO tons of remanufactured iron per annum. All the old copper sheeting from the various dock yards is re-melted here into sheets.
There are saw-mills at Woolwich, Chatham, and Sheerness : brit those at Chatham are the most complete. The Chatham mills could, indeed, it is said, cut timber enough for most of the yards. It is merely straight cutting : the machinery employed is not fitted for cutting the curved pieces required in a ship, which are still cut by hand.