The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-21 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

A notification has been received at Chatham gar-
rison, from the War-office, that, on the recommen-
dation of the Ordnance Select Committee, the Secre-
tary of State for War, with the concurrence of his
Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-
Chief, has sanctioned a new method of marking
cartridges, in order to reduce the number of the
different descriptions of cannon cartridges, and
to simplify their issue. In future the cartridges—
with two exceptions only, are to be marked merely
with the nature of the gun for which they are in•
tended and the weight of the charge, without any
other distinctive mark, and they are to be employed
for any service for which the particular charge
which they are to contain is in use.
Capt. Howes has been appointed to take the com-
mand of the 39th company of Royal Engineers, at
headquarters, Chatham, in succession to Captain
Rimington, who has been ordered to do duty at
Portsmouth.

Parties of sappers and miners of the Royal En-
gineers have been employed for several days past
in submarine mining operations in the Medway a
short distance above Rochester-bridge. The ope-
rations are carried on under the superintendence of
Lieut.-Col. Lovell, C 8., instructor in sapping and
mining, and have for their object the instruction of
theljunior officers and men of the Royal Engineers
in diving and submarine operatims generally. The
principal work on which the Royal Engineers en-
gaged are now employed is the removal of the re-
maining portions of old Rochester-bridge, which
was taken down by them some few years since, but
the massive foundations of which have not yet been
entirely cleared away. The diving apparatus used
by the Royal Engineers is that invented by Mr.
Heinke, which is now adopted at all the Govern-
ment establishments where it is required.

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—The Council have directed me to request
that you would kindly insert the enclosed letter
and noticts in the columns of Me Sun.--I am,

sir, yours, &c.,
Aug. 20, 1863.

E. MILDmAY.

National Rifle Association, Aug, 6.

Sir,—Whilst the recollection of the recent Wimbledon
prize meeting is still fresh we are anxious, through the me-
dium of the press, to call public attention more directly to
the present financial position of the National Rifle Asso-
ciation.

The prize meeting this year has been pronounced a great
success. No doubt it has been a success in so far that the
attendance has been greater, the shooting better, and the
weather more favourable than in any of the three preceding
years, but on the other hand the expenses have been heavier,
and when all the bills and outstanding accounts have been
settled we fear it will hardly turn out to have been also
financially successful. The utmost indeed that we have now
reason to hope is, that after paying all the ordinary and
extraordinary expenses of the prize meeting, we may find
our receipts slightly in excess of the expenditure of the year.
Having no certain income, as we propose to show, of any
considerable amount on which to rely, doubt and uncertainty
as to our finances have hitherto attended and hampered our
operations, and we are now prompted to bring our financial
position thus immediately before the public, in the belief
that a knowledge of it may induce many persons to become
subscribing members of the association.
The National Rifle Association has been in existence four
years, its first prize meeting having been inaugurated by
her Majesty in 1860. Its annual income is £2,2107s lid;
of this £2,128 is 6d are derived from annual subscriptions,
county associations, and volunteer corps subscriptions, and
£B2 10s Id are received from dividends on investments. The
annual expenditure amounts to £8,06918s 3d, of this rather
more than £l,OOO are required to cover the office expenses,
including rent, stationery, and salaries ; whilst £2,130 are
given by the association in prizes, and £5,889 6s 8d are
required to meet the expenses attendant on the annual prize
meeting.
It will thus be seer. that if the association had none other
than its ordinary sources of income wherewith to meet its
current annual expenditure, the yearly deficit would amount
to no less a sum than £5,889 93 Bd. The difference happily
has hitherto been made up by prize entries, pool and sight-
ing targets, and admissions to the enclosure at Wimbledon.
These, however, are at best most uncei fain sources of in-
come, and we venture to think that an association such as
this ought not to be left thus dependant upon chance for its
continued existence, and that having been established to
give permanence to the volunteer force, and for the pro-
motion of rifle shooting, it ought not to be compelled as is
now the case to extract by all manner of devices from those
who come to Wimbledon the money necessary for its sup-
port.
The National Rifle Association, formed upon the model of
the Swiss Tir National, has laboured, thus far with success,
to make Englishmen of the 19th century as familiar with the
rifle as their forefathers were with. the bow. It is now a re-
cognised national institution whose importance, usefulness,