The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-01 00:00:00

7HE ARMY.

The following circular has been issued from the
War-office by direction of Sir G. C. Lewis, Secre-
tary of State for War, and addressed to all com-
manding officers of Volunteers:—
" The attention of the Secretary of State for War has
been called to certain fatal or serious accidents which have
lately occurred at rifle ranges belonging to Volunteer corps,
and he regrets to learn from the reports which he has re-
ceived that in several cases those accidents arose from ne-
glect of the precautions prescribed by the regulations for
the instruction and practice of musketry by the officers and
non-commissioned officers whose duty it was to enforce
them. Sir G. Lewis therefore requests that you will im-
press upon the adjutants and the sergeant-instructors under
your command the necessity of observing strict regularity
and discipline when in charge of firing parties ; and that
you will point out to them that they will in future be held
seriously responsible for any deviation from the regulation
of the service in which they may be concerned. lam also
to inform you that, while Sir G. Lewis desires that every
facility should be afforded to.persons of all classes to acquire
a knowledge of the use of the rifle, he is of opinion that the
safety of the public requires that indiscriminate practice at
Volunteer rifle ranges should not be permitted ; and he
therefore requests that you will take steps to regulate the
practice at the ranges under your control, so as to insure
the presence of an officer or non-commissioned officer on al
occasions when firing is going on. lam further to observe
that the practice of employing boys as markers at butts is
highly dangerous and improper, and to request that you
will take care that none but non-commissioned officers or
experienced Volunteers act in that capacity at the ranges
belonging to the corps under your command.
DE GREY AND RIPON."

In consequence of instances having occurred of
members of Volunteer corps having been enrolled
in a second corps before they have legally quitted
the first, instructions have been issued from the
War-office to all commanding officers of Volunteer
cotupttnieb directiug that no member of a Volunteer
corps should be enrolled in another corps until he
has fulfilled the requirements a the 44th George
111., cap.-54, sec. 30 31, and has therefore legally
ceased to be a member of the corps in which he was
originally enrolled. Persons dismissed from a
Volunteer corps can in no case be permitted to enrol
themselves in another corps without the special
sanction of t he Secretary of State for War.

By direction of Field Marshal the Duke of Cam-
bridge, the Ist oivision of the Depot Brigade,Royal
Artillery, is to be at once put through an entire
and systematic course of instruction in musketry,
which, in consequence of the annual practice with
garrison and field artillery, has hitherto been much
et inc
te ha v
year,i ng however,
practice
every effort
nneeagrielyetteedrininTahteedarftoirilet
hrye
is to be made to give effect to the directions of the
Commander-in-Chief. In the absence of a trained
musketry instructor from Ilythe, the duty has
been intrusted to Sergeant-Major M'Bride, an effi-
cient and painstaking non-commissioned officer.
On account of the large number of invalids and
time-expired men discharged from the Royal Artil-
lery during the past year, orders have been issued
from the Commander-in-Chief to the various head-
quarters of the regiment to give instructions for
increased diligence at all the recruiting stations in
the metropolis and throughout the whole of the
provincial towns in England. The standard for
young men to be entered as gunners from 16 to 18
years of age is sft. 6in., and over 18 sft. 7in. The
numbers discharged during the past year at Wool-
wich have averaged about 80 per month.
Lieut.-Col. Knox, C. 8., of the 67th Regiment,
has been appointed to the command of the 9th depot
battalion at the camp at Colchester, in the room of
Col. Dixon, C. 8., who has retired.