The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-16 00:00:00

• II •
WHITWORTH.

Solid shot • •
Segment shell
Common ehell • .

•• ••

It is not too mutach to„ say that this multiplication of
areas gives the most illusory result of all, for accord-
ing, to these figures the breechloader shoots the
best of any, and twice as well as the Whitworth.
which is exactly the reverse of the fact. The truth
is that the breech-loader shoots very steadily, never
making a very large area of the space in which it
drops its shots, and, except in the case of shell, never
a very small one. The shunt gun is a far more
accurate gun than the breechloader, and nearly all
its areas are verysnaall, but it has made one or two
very wild shots with common shot, which bring up
the area of its parallelograms, or, what volunteers
will better understand, the area of its group, to a
larger space than an inferior gun, the breechloader.
The Whitworth has made beautiful practice with
common shot, with which, as will be seen, it has
made the smallest area of all; bat, on the other
hand, its range with common shed has been
monstrously wild, making a greater area with them
(7,653 yards) than all the areas of the breechloader
put together. How the committee will determine
what the figure of merit is it is impossible to say,
but in fairness it ought to be by some method which
will show the number of degrees by which Sir Wil-
liam has won 14 times, Mr. Whitworth 13 times,
and the breechloader seven times. Wabout some
such guide the amount of difference between the
performances of each piece would be inappreciable,
and the real lesson to be derived from these costly
experiments rendered almost worthless.
Naval and Military Intelligence,

A War-office eircular, embodying, a royal war-
rant, laying down an important code of regulations
relative to the pay and other advantages to the ten
years' soldiers and others who may re-enlist on the
completion of their period of limited service, has
been promulgated at Chatham garrison for general
information. The royal warrant cancels that dated
Oct. 30, 1861, which provided that a soldier taking
his discharge and re-enlisting after the expiration
of 12 months should only count half his former ser-
vice, and that soldiers purchasing their discharge
and re-enlisting should, in like manner, count only
half their former sere ice ; and that men who so re-
enlisted should be required to wait 12 months before
being allowed any good-conduct pay of which they
were in receipt before being discharged. The new
royal warrant prescribes that all soldiers who may
re-engage themselves on the completion of the first
term of their limited engagement may be allowed
to receive the value of a new kit, a bounty of £2,
together with re-engagement money £l, and £1
gratuity, receiving at the same time a furlough for
two mouths. Men who take their discharge and
re-engage within 12 months will be allowed to count
all their former service, instead of only one-half
their service as heretofore. They will at the same
time at once be allowed the good conduct pay of
vvnich they were in receipt at the time of their
discharge. The same regulations are, at the same
time, to apply tomen who purchase their discharge
and reenlist. The troops serving in India, China,
and New Zealand are to be allowed the sum of £5,
in lieu of their two months' furlough, on re-enlist.
ing on the expiration of their period of limited ser-
vice. Soldiers serving in the Mediterranean are to
be allowed £3 gratuity, and, if they wish for a
furlough, their passage to and from England will
be defrayed by the Government, and two clear
!tenths allowed them in this country.
A general parade of the whole of the officers and
men of the Royal Engineers was held at Chatham
yesterday for the purpose of hearing read a compli-
mentary order Which had been forwarded to Colonel
11. Harness, c 3,13.,
GenzlGoetneßraolySalirEgJn.Binueregrosy,noen,
fac
Royal
G.C.8., Inspector.
manner in which the officers
andtbe highly
satisfactory
of the
.7 Engineers had acquitted
tions
of the late siege opera-
tives on themselves
at Chatham.
the occasion
The first of the reinforcements e
proceeding this
season to India, consisting of cavalry,
artillery, and
infantry, embarked* at Gravesend yesterday on
board the chartered troopship Alurabagh for 'Madras.
The embarkation was effected under the sup
take s
erin-
Eyre'
tendence of the officers of 31ajor-Generai
staff, from Chatham, and the Alumbagh
her departure from the Thames tosday.

A War Department ()tier was yesterday received
in the Royal Carriage Department at Woolwich, to
commence the manufacture of an experimental
wrought•iron gun carriage, for working the heavy
broadside guns on board ship. The designs have
been supplied by the Board of Admiralty, and were
furnished by Commander Scott, attached to the
flagship Fisgard at Woolwich.
Toe sailing transport Transit, laden with 35,800
shot and shell, guns, carriages, platforms, &c., from
Corfu, has arrived et Woolwich, and yesterday
commenced discharging her cargo at the Royal
Arsenal pier.

The frieghtship Arabella has taken in 2,800 boxes
of shot and other war stores at Woolwich, and
sailed yesterday for Malta.
The screw steam frigate Aurora, 35, Captain Sir
F. Leopold APClintock, from Ireland, arrived in
Plymouth Scund yesterday morning.
The iron-cased corvette Wolverine and the Re-
sistance and Enterprise rams left Yarmouth Roads
on Tuesday for the north. It was understood that
they were going northwards as far as Leith.
The Louisa gunboat, in the first division of the