The Press.
London, England, 1854-11-04 00:00:00

EFFECT OF CANNON SHOT.

Apropos of the siege works which the allied forces
have so laboriously constructed against Sebastopol,
the Siècle gives some interesting data regarding the
power which shot of different calibre have of pene-
trating from various distances the usual substances
employed in fortifications. It says
In settled ground, half sand and half clay, a ball of 38,
bred at a distance of 000 metres, with a charge of 6
kilogrammes of gunpowder, penetrates 2 metres 9 centi-
metres; fired at 800 metres with the same charge its
penetration is 1 m. 62 c. A ball of 24, tired by a charge of
4 kilog. of powder at the distances just named, penetrates
1 in. 84 c. and Im. 68 c. The charge lof guns of 36 is
almost always 0 kilog. of powder, but that of guns of 24
exiles down pretty often from 4 kilog. to 3. In that case
the penetration diminishes . at 600 metres it is 1 m. 78 c.
i►► place of 1 in. 81 c., and at 800 metres, 1 in. 57 c. in
place of 1m.68 c. The gun of 16 is fired with a charge of
4 kilog ; 2 kilog. 67 heel.; and 2 kilog. Its penetration
at 800 and 810 metres is 1 m. c. and 1 in. 42 c.
That force of penetration explains the remarkable effect
produced at 13omarsuud by guns of 16. In oak timber of
ordinary quality, a ball of 33, fired at 600 metres, penetrates
1 m. 12 c., and at 800 metres, 95 c. only. At these dis-
tances the penetration of a ball of 24 with a full charge is
90 c. and 78 c. ; and that of a ball of 16. 81 c. and u 5 c.
The penetration of a ball of 3) into good mason•work is, at
00J metres, 40 centimetres, and at 100 metres, 38e. ; that
of a bell of 24 is 42 c. and 34 c. Now, since so much is
said of bombshells, let us state their penetrating for.e at
the moment of their fall. Fired at 600 meters, a bomb (of
32 c. in diameter penetrates 50 c. into ground half sand
and half clay, 22 c. into oak, and 10 c. into masonry. This
is not altogether in accord with the effect generally
attributed to shells, but is, nevertheless, exact. We may,
however, state that it' the shell is fired at an angle which
allows it to acquire the greatest possible rapidity in its
fall, it may penetrate 40 c. into oak and 18c. into masonry.
Thus it is seen that even at 70J metres, on an average,
our artillery must produce absolute ravages in the fortitica-
tions of various kinds of Sebastopol. It must not, how-
ever, be supposed that the penetration will be doubled when
the distance is one-half less. A ball of 30, which at 000
metres has a penetration of 46 c. into good masonry, is only
07 c. when tired at 300 metres.

EQUIPMENTS OF THE FRENCH SOLDIERS.
The Constitutionnel, while reviewing the material
improvements lately introduced into the French army,
and arising from the experience of African warfare,
thus describes a variety of ameliorations which have
been found most advantageous in the East:—
Necessity is a good counsellor, and to it we owe the im•
provemeuts in the equipment and manner of .feeding the
soldiers, which have produced such good results in the
East, and which will produce important consequences,
if ever &conflict should break out in Europe. Experience
has shown how strengthening-food can be supplied with
diminution of weight. During the expeditions biscuit was
substituted for bread, rice was employed in rations, coffee
was substituted for wine, and the biscuit broken into the
coffee gave the soldiers strength to support the most painful
fatigues. Such was, with meat, the basis of the food in
Africa. The small volume occupied by it enabled six and
even eight days rations to be placed in the knapsacks, and
that diminished the embarrassments of the baggage train.
Blankets were found to be only a slight protection against
the pernicious effects of damp in the nights, and the hos-
pitals were encumbered with patients labouring under ague
until the 'cote abri was discovered. That was almost the
salvation of the army. The tente-abri is three feet high,
four and a half long, and is composed of three pieces of
canvass, attached by buttons or strings. Two sticks placed
at each extremity serve to support it, and it is fixed by
wooden pins to the earth. Three minutes suffice to set it
up, and two to take it down. Each tent accommodates
three men : each of the three carries a piece of the canvass,
and they divide the sticks and pins amongst them, and so
they march. The first thing they do on arriving is to fix
the tent, and to dig a trench to carry off the water in case
of rain. At night they sleep wrapped in blankets and
with their knapsacks for pillows. They are thus preserved
room damp or rain. The tente-abri permits an army always
to bivouac in the open fields, and does away with the
necessity of dividing it amongst different villages, so that it
is always united. A guarantee fur discipline, and a pro-
tection for health, it preserves the effective force, and as-
sures the durttion of an army. It is without contradiction
one of the great benefits lrcm Africa,and one of the things
which will have the greatest influence on the state of our
armies whatever may be the field into which they may be called
to combat. With his six days' provisions, his camping effects
his equipment, the piece of canvass for histent, his blanket,
and sixty ball cartridges, the soldier bears a heavy weight;
but experience proves that it is not too much for men of
average strength, and that it is better for the man to carry

THE PRESS.

more, and to recruit his strength by good repose. The
blanket and the little tent assure to the soldier refreshing
sleep.

THE MINIE RIFLE.

An eye-witness of the battle of Alma records his
impressions of the moral influences caused by the
Minie rifle :

Here I witnessed the first splendid effect of the Minie
rifle, not only as a superior weapon in itself, but also u
giving confidence to the soldier, causing him to rely upon
the efficacy of his fire, and making him at the same time
anxious to have every shot of his tell. The men, far from
raising their muskets hastily, and popping them off in the
blue air, paused before they fired, singled out the objects
at which they proposed to aim, and, taking their aim coolly
and deliberately, discharged their pieces. This tire did
dreadful execution among the Russians. It mude the tire
of their battery slow and irregular; for, while the great
guns were being served, if frequently happened that the
leaden hailstorm from our battalions picked off the men
that were pointing or priming their pieces; and though
the Russians were remarkably steady, and fresh men
stepped in to fill the place of the killed and disabled, and
though in this way all the guns of the battery were worked
to the last moment, still much precious time was lost from
the service of the guns being interrupted, though but for
a few moments, yet continually. When our troops en-
tered the batteries, they saw that their Miuie balls had
stopped many of the enemy's gunners in the act of point-
ing and printing guns. Some of them actually lay over
the guns on which they had fallen when they were struck
to death.