The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-15 00:00:00

rg1:1 net cics of the ha? a
• _ _

zeing horcc a bi

clown atl u: barrel. TI i 5 advantage is one in which
experienced officers recognise a very important
value. There is also a facility in cleaning the
weancea, which is fully admitted by ti‘ose at all
conversant with the subject, and which is one
of those small trifles which, like the memorable
horse shoe nail, may materially affect a very great
result, On the whole, the superiority over the
present rifle seems so unmistakable that its adop-
tion may be lOoked upon as a necessity. There will,
however, also arise the necessity for consideration
as to details before an alteration so extensive as that
comprising our whole army can be confirmed. That
of keeping up a perpetual supply of ammunition to
troops when in action will be one objection present■
ing much difficulty. Nothing so effectually para-
lyses the British soldier as the finding himself with-
cut a cartridge in his pouch. Though he might
foresee no immediate use for it, and might have rea-
son to suppose that ere long he would he supplied
with it, the actual absence of it is likely enough to
create that irresistible spark—a panic. Sieee the
breech loader can be fired some five cr six times as
often as a muzzle loader, it is obvious that a pro.
portienate supply cf ammunition must be at hand.
At present each brigade carries its own, but it is
probable that the new system will necessitate each
regiment, if not each company, being responsible
for its own supply. In fact, there seems no doubt
but that a certain extra number of men must be told
off solely to supply the pouches from the tumbrils.
This, as it will seriously diminish the fighting
strength of each regiment, will require a good deal
of careful consideration from the authorities ere
they sanction the system demanding it.
It is but fair to admit that there still exists a very
formidable obstacle to the securing the entirety of
the advantage which a breech loading rifle would
confer on our troops. Those who use breech loaders
over the stubble or in the forest, have of course over
and over again congratulated themselves that the
cartridge is the charge per se, and the " bother of
caps" has been done away with. But the military
authorities have hitherto, with commendable prud
dente, invariably set their faces against the use in
the army of a cartridge which shall combine such
elements of danger as the presence of the perm.,
sion powder as well as that of villanous saltpetre.
Moreover, the cartridges which include the combid
nation are delicate of structure, and, would be very
easily liable to get out of order, and indeed to be.
come useless, under the roughge of the camp or
the barrack. It is obvious thatlhe brass pin which
stands out at right angles at the end of the cartridge,
and the blow on which causes the ignition of the
fulminating powder, would be extremely likely to
be bent from its position or forced out altogether in
the rough handling to which it would be subjected
in a campaign. The scrupulous care which sports 4
men are apt to bestow upon their contrivances for
preserving their ammunition from harm, even for
the bloodless campaign of a moor, of itself establishes
this drawback. It is, however, not insurmountable:

It seems that there is an American invention already
in practical operation which will obviate at least the
obstacle of facile derangement. The cartridge is to
all appearance similar to that in ordinary use, save
that it is without the " pin." But it seems that the
whole inside of the copper rim, which forms its base,
is lined with a paste of the fulminating powder, and
thus the hammer, especially formed for the purpose,
striking it through the aperture in the barrel where
the pin would have usually intruded, on any por.
tion of its circumference, will ignite the charge.
The facile derangement is therefore obviated, and
there is a minor difficulty (but still a difficulty) also
superseded—that of its being necessary to insert the
cartridge into the barrel with the pia accurately
fitting the groove prepared for it. There is, how-
ever, another advantage asserted for this cartridge.
It is dec'ared that nothing but the peculiar action of
the hammer will ignite it. It has been shaken.,
struck, thrown down violently on stones, and IWO-.
jected to the most elaborate rough handling, 'cvith
the avowed intention of accomplishing its explosion,
but all to no purpose. The inventors explain that
to do so it requires a squeeze as well as a sharp blow,
and that, unless it be inserted in a close-fitting
barrel, its elasticity preserves it from the combiwl-
tion of the two.

The question of expense is one which, heAvever
formidable, as it will undoubtedly be, is one
which we submit should never be weighed by this
country for one moment. There are occasions when
no expenee is extravagance, but when thrift is ruin.
The expense with which next year's estimates are

thus threatened is one which should be regarded
only by the advantages gained in return for it, or
rather by the overwhelming consequences contin-
gent upon its retention. If those competent and.
authorised to decide pronounce an unhesitating
opinion that the improvement is desirable, we can•
not conceive a singlo guardian of the public purse
demurring to the expenditure. That the authorities
will very carefully weigh the considerations oa
which the committee have founded their report, we
make not the slightest doubt. But we earnestly
trust that pounds, shillings, and pence will not be
allowed to turn the scale. That it vcould eventually
prove the fairest economy conceivable, is as clear as
the sun at noonday. The benighted economy that
cost us so dearly in the Crimea should preserve us
from a repetition of it for centuries. In fact, we
must needs march with the times, however fast they
may progress. It stands to reason that if rival
nations can invent a rifle giving them a superiority
over us, though they cost a hundred pounds a piece,
we must unquestionably lay out another hundred.
in their counterpart. If not, we shall retain but
brief possession of the hundred pounds we think we
have saved.

THE BOMBAY AND MAURITIUS MAILS.

The heavy portion of these mails, in charge of Mr
Ronayne, of the General Post-office, arrived at Southamp-
ton yesterday, at 10 a,m., in the Peninsular and Oriental
Company's screw steamship Ellora, Capt. W. C. Angove,
which left Alexandria on the Ist inst., Malta the sth, and
Gibraltar the 9th. The Ellora had fine weather all the way
home, with head winds,

On the Ist inst., in lat 33 53 N, long 21 40 E, the Ellora
spoke the steamers Thessalia and Euxine ; on the 4th, lat
35 17 N, long 17 29 E, the steamship Dwina ; on the 6th.
lat 37 31 N, long 9 32 E, the British brig Martha ; on the
9th, lat 35 57 N, long 4 15 W., the steamship Baroda on
the 12th, lat 46 5 N, long 7 36 W, the steamship Adrian; on
the 13th, off Ushant, the steamship Massilia.
The French steamship El Dorado, the usual Egyptian
fleet, and a large quantity of shipping were in harbour at
Alexandria when the Ellora left.
Iler Majesty's ships Marlborough, Meeance,LiffeY, Royal
Oak, Magicienne, Pelican, and Psyche were at Malta, and
athdeeßspeadtpcholeboaantdwPerroeclryisinagt
aGtiGbriablrtalart.arA. French sloop and
The Austrian steam ram Kaiser Max, 31 guns, Captain
the alornofing of the 4th to coal Gibraltar on the 3d
Morelli, and the paddlewheel steam frigate Santa Lucia, 10
guns, Commander Nauta, from the Adriatic, and last from
inst They
e Tr sh,
ey passedpu t
itnhtrooucgandi:loil ei straits
and left on the 6th to reinforce the Austrian squadron,
under the command of Admiral Wullerstorff, in the North
Sea.
anish squadron in Peru, The Spanish Minis-
has appointed Capt.
Advises received in Madrid from the Island of Cuba state
that the inhabitants had bought an iron-clad frigate to re-
mand the squadron which is about to proceed
Miguel Lobo y Male-
it ne Minis-
ter o rebefae
Bitt
oha
roc
ionSmep
gam
to the Pacific to reinforce Rear Admiral Pinzon,
The following British merchant steamers had arrived out
Lc oi
on
tdilodna, Capt
Capt..
Way,.6lldaaylls,
London—the 6ait Gibraltar—July
days
from
L 0
from London for Genoa and Leghorn—the Rhone, Captain
J, Owens, six and a half days from Liverpool for Malta and
Constantinople—and the Livorno, Captain T. Livingstone,
12 days from Glasgow and 40 hours from Lisbon for Genoa
and Leghorn-Bth, the Italian, Captain M. Fitt, 6 days from
Liverpool for Genoa and Leghorn. The following sailing
vessels, all laden with coals, had also arrived out :—From
Liverpool, the brigantine Jane, B. Owens—the schooner
Champion, J. Machell—the schooner Ada, T. Williams—
the brigantine Dreadnought, J. Roberts—and the cutter
Pride, S. M'Perran. From Newcastle, the bark Expert,
\V, Badsey. From Swansea, the cutter London, C. Rabey—
the schooner Penelope, W. Roberts—and the schooner
Jessamine, J. Rider. From Newport, the schooner Jane,
J. Williams, From Cardiff, the schooner Fayaway, A.
Selean—the schooner Adam White, J. Kee man—aud the
schooner Eleanor and Jane, J. Griffiths. On the 6th inst.,
in the Gut of Gibraltar, the Eleanor and Jane spoke the
brig Gerandine, of Carnarvon, bound from Newcastle to
Alexandria, 24 days out, all well.

MEYERBEER'S SUCCESSOR AND MEYERBEER'S
MEMOIRS.—Signor Verdi has been elected by the Academy
of Fine Arts, at Paris, as successor to Meyerbeer. The
Gazette Musicale informs us that M. George liastner is to
write a life of the composer.