It appears that a great number of persons had assembled to witness the re-casting of the cannon taken by the Duke of Marlborough from the French; and there happened to be among them, a young German artisan in metal, named Schalch. Observing some moisture in the moulds, he pointed out to the spectators around him the danger likely to ensue from an explosion of steam, when the moulds were filled with the heated metal; and at the instigation of his friends, this apprehension was conveyed through Colonel Armstrong, major-general of the Ordnance, to the Duke of Richmond, then in attendance, as the head of the department. This warning was, however, disregarded; but Schalch retired from the spot with as many of the bystanders as he could persuade to accompany him. They had not proceeded far before the furnaces were opened, and, as Schalch had foretold, a dreadful explosion ensued. The water in the moulds was converted into steam, which from its expansive force caused a fiery stream of liquid metal to dart out in every direction. Part of the roof of the building was blown off, and the galleries that had been erected for the company were swept to the ground. Most of the foundrymen were terribly burnt; some were killed; and many of the spectators were severely injured.
A few days afterwards, in answer to an advertisement in the newspapers, Schalch waited upon Colonel Armstrong, and was informed by him that the Board of Ordnance contemplated building a new foundry, and had determined, from the representations made to them of Schalch's ability, to offer him the superintendence of its erection, and the management of the entire establishment, when completed. Schalch readily accepted the appointment: he fixed upon the Warren at Woolwich, as the most eligible site for the new building; and the ordnance which were cast here under his direction were highly approved of. Thus, almost by mere chance, was the young German appointed to a situation of great trust and emolument, which he filled so ably, that during the many years he was superintendent of the Royal Arsenal, not a single accident occurred, amidst all the dangerous operations of gun-casting. He retired, after sixty years service, to Charlton, where he died; and his tomb may be seen in Woolwich church-yard.
TRAVELLING IN THE HIMALEH MOUNTAINS.
The perils of the heights and passes of the Himâleh are truly frightful. At Boorendo, 15,171 feet in height, one of the safest and most frequented of the passes, the guides point out a spot where upwards of twenty persons, returning from Koonacour with salt, a few years since, perished at once: they were overtaken by a fall of snow when on the other side, but they preferred trying the pass to making a circuit of six or seven days' journey; the wind got up, and they were so benumbed with cold by the time they reached the trees, that they were unable to strike a light, and slept to wake no more.
The road to Ludak is passable in the middle of winter, and is never shut by snow; but there are frightful accounts of frosts on this route. As protection against these perils, travellers clothe themselves in their journeys with a winter-dress, which is so heavy that it scarcely seems possible for them to walk. Putee Ram, a traveller, is described as wearing a garment of lambskin, called Lapka, with sleeves; the fleecy side was inward, and the exterior covered with sooklat, a kind of warm blanket, dyed blue. There were trousers of the same, long woollen stockings, and over them the usual kind of boots, the foot part stuffed with two inches of wool; and gloves of thick flannel reaching above the elbows; in addition to this, he had a blanket round his waist, another thrown on his shoulders, and a shawl wrapt over his cap and part of his face; such, he said, was the usual garb of a traveller in the winter season; adding, that he was always accompanied by a mule-load of blankets and another Lapka, all of which were required at night, when he was obliged to sleep under the snow.
GOLD IN SIBERIA.
The reign of the Emperor Nicholas has been distinguished by the important discovery, that portions of the great eastern regions of Siberia are highly auriferous; viz., the government of Tomsk and Teniseik, where low ridges, similarly constructed to those on the eastern flank of the Ural, and like them, trending from north to south, appear as offsets from the great east and west chain of the Altai, which separates Siberia from China. And here, it is curious to remark, that a very few years ago, this distant region did not afford a third part of the gold which the Ural produced; but by recent researches, an augmentation so rapid and extraordinary has taken place, that in 1843 the eastern Siberian tract yielded considerably upwards of two-and-a-quarter millions sterling, raising the total gold produce of the Russian empire to nearly three millions sterling!—Sir R. I. Murchison.