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

Sq. yds,
2,770
.. 2,001
2,099

Total

e• •• 8.
MUZZLE-LOADING ARMSTRONG.

Solid shot .. ..
Segment shell ..
Common shell ..

Total

•• . , 9,128

Solid shot ..
Segment shell
Common shell

WHITWORTH,

Sq. yds,

1-9649

.. 3,940
.. 7,683

Total • • • • • • • . 13,523
It is not too much 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 vary 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 verysmall, 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; but, on the other
hand, its range with common she;l 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 oaght 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. Without some
such guide the amount of difference between the
prtormances of each piste would be inappreciable,
and the real lesson to be derived from these costly
experiments rendered almost worthless.
Naval and Military Intelligence,

A *War-office circular, 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 Bev. 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 months. 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
wnich they were in receipt at the time of their
discharge. The same regulations are, at the same
time, to apply to men who purchase their discharge
and re-enlist. 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
months allowed them in this country.
A general parade of the whole of the officers and
ymeesnteordaylftle Royal Engineers was held at Chatham
for the purpose of hearing read a compli-
mentary order which had been forwarded to Colonel
W. D. Harness, CB., by General Sir J. Burgoyne,
G.C.8., Inspector-General of Royal Engineers, on
the highly satisfactory manner in which the officers
and men of the /loyal Engineers had acquitted
tithemselv Chathes on tam.
he
oocasion of the late siege opera-
The first of the rei n for coefmesanvt:i
ry proceedingartier
,artillery,
athis
ons at
season to India, consisting
Alurnbagh for Madras.
yesterday
infantry, embarkewdasategeGertaevdesuennader
General Eyre's
board the chartered troopship
The embarkation
superin-
tendstaff,enfrcoemofcnthaethaomffi,cearnsdotfheMAajiuorra-
bagh
will take
her departure from the Thames tomday.

A War Department order 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, uud were
furnished by Commander Scott, attached to the
flagship Fisgard at Woolwich.
The sailing transport Transit, laden with 35,800
shot and shell, guns, carriages, platforms, &a., from
Corfu, has arrived at 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 1114Clintock, from Ireland, arrived in
Plymouth Sound 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