The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-03 00:00:00

have determined upon, Colonel Galiwey, Rao
and Captain Alderson, R.A., specially sent to ob•
serve the armament employed in the American war,
report great difference of opinion as to the value of
the breech-loader, and that it is but scantily used in
the armies, the American officers rather recommend-
ing that it should be only partially employed by
flank companies in a regiment. The Prussian
needle-rifle, so much spoken of in connection with
the taking of Dybbol, is certainly not much eulo-
gised by those who saw it in use, though it is ad.
mitted to be less liable to be put out of order than
the muzzle-loader ; but the Austrians had tried and
discarded it. Tried in our own cavalry and in-
fantry the breech-loaders of Mr. Weatley Richards,
of Mr. Sharpe, of Mr. Terry, have all been favour-
ably reported of, and in some cases commanding
officers have ventured to recommend the general.
adoption of a breech-loader. On the other hand, we
have officers stating that it would be attended with
great waste of ammunition, from the facility with
which the soldier could load and fire ; and this, of
course, would mean that little execution would be
done, because aiming with the breech-loader is quite
as necessary as with the muzzle-loader. On review-
ing the different opinions, however, we arrive at cer•
tain evident advantages which inherently belong to
the breech-loader. These are, greatly increased
rapidity of fire, easy loading without a ramrod—
which is a point of very great value, as a man might
often be in such a position that to use the ramrod
would be simply impossible—and the capability of
firing without the use of percussion cape. This last
gives another great advantage, and, although it
might not belong to every method of breech-loading
yet it seems to be one which should not be lost sight
of in selecting the kind to be adopted into the ser-
vice. A man may lose his supply of caps when he
has a pouch full of cartridges, and would, ofcourse,
then be a very useless rifleman. The abolition of
the ramrod and the percussion cap not only
fies the use of the weapon to a most important ex.
tent but in point of economy it would be a conside-
ration, and no doubt would go far towards meeting
the cost of converting the present Enfields into
efficient breech-loaders, as proposed to the gun-
making trade in competition, and which we have
already seen can be readily accomplished by the
Mont Storm and some other methods. There can
be no question as to the necessity for a breech-loader
rifle to put our army on equal terms with others,
and the feasibility of converting the Enfields into
efficient breech loaders ; the chief difficulty hit herto
has been to obtain a cartridge suitable in every
respect for military purposes. The Ordnance Select
Committee will have to exercise the closest scrutiny
upon this point. In the French service we hear the
Cent Gerdes are armed with a breech-loader using
a metallic cartridge that carries its own igniting
material, which the Emperor Napoleon, himself no
bad judge in such matters, has pronounced the
solution of the problem of a military breech-loader.
The result of Earl de Grey's invitation to the
gunmakers of England will, we have not the least
doubt, be that more than one will be found to an-
swer all the requisites. But having got our breech-
loader, the far more important question to be decided
is, whether it should be made the only arm of the
infantry ? It must not be overlooked that in adopt-
ing the breech-loader we sacrifice one great power
of the rifle—long range, which is only to be got by
the muzzle loader. That is to say, according to alt
the breech-loaders made as yet; if they can be per.
fected up to the standard of the -Whitworth large
bore, for example, then the defect would be sup-
plied. The value of a modern rifle is, that it can
kill at 2,000 yards or more; and with telescopic
sights, in the hands of first-rate marksmen, a single
company armed with it would be able to silence a
battery of artillery. The same advantage of range
would enable troops armed with such rifles to strike
the first blow, and in a very effective manner. It
is perfectly true that the tendency of modern war.
fare is to return to the old method of close quarters,
as a consequence of the use of long range weapons;
but the converse of this tendency is that the range
of both artillery and small arms will be increased,
so as to give an advantage to that side which can
first commence the work of destruction. The
breech loader would undoubtedly be an admirable
weapon at close quarters, as well as at from 1,000 to
500 yards; but while a column was getting within
this distance of the enemy it might be very severely
dealt with by riflemen armed with heavy, long-
range rifles. With all submission to the profes.
sional authorities, we think that, so far from dimi.
nishing the range of our rifles, we should increase
it, and arm a certai❑ proportion of a regiment with
weapons of much greater power than the Enfield,
or any yet employed. This—with probably the
employment of small and extremely light artillery,
one-pounders or even less—would seem to be one of
the innovations we have to contemplate in addition
to breech-loaders.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

LIVERPOOL-FRIDAY.

There was a fair attendance of buyers to-day, but they
acted with extreme caution, and we call wheat a shade
lower to sell than on Friday last, Flour still in fair de.
mand and prices unchanged. Oats and oatmeal steady.
Indian corn offered freely. Beans, peas, and barley not
quite so saleable.