The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 26, 1860.

LIFE ASSURANCE.—Messrs. DAVIES & CO.,
No. 1, Finch-lane, Cornhill, having ineffectually en-
deavoured to induce a Reform of that Want of Equity and
Advantage to the Assured which prevails in Life Assurance
Institutions, have matured a plan for carrying out " Life
Assurance as it ought to be." The prospectus, sanctioned
by the entire approbation of one of the most eminent Ac-
tuaries, will appear in a few days.

TEPOSIT DEPARTMENT.—The CONSER-
VATIVE LAND SOCIETY.—Sums may be deposited
daily at the offices, No. 33, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.C. In-
terest allowed is now four per cent. per annum, payable half-
yearly. Withdrawals of deposits paid every Wednesday,
under £lOO ; from £lOO to £5OO at 21 days ; and £5OO and up-
wards on one month's notice. Investors under the deposit
department do not become members of the Society. Prospec-
tuses sent free.

CHARLES LEWIS GRUNEISEN, Sec.

UNIVIN and ALBERT'S COLUMBIAN HAIR-
DYE changes red or grey hair to a permanent and na-
tural brown or black. Its application is most easy ; it is
harmless as pure water, and yet its extraordinary power upon
the hair is so effective that the hair is coloured permanently
the moment it is touched by the dye. In cases, at 5s 6d, 10s 6d,
and 21s, at Unwin and Albert's, 24, Piccadilly. Xxperienced
assistants in attendance to apply the dye.

INVESTMENTS FOR CAPITAL.—Messrs.
HARRIS & CO., accountants, 10, Poultry, City, E.C., un-
dertake to invest money for parties irom £2O and upwards to
any amount, by which from 5 to 20 per rent. can be obtained
on the following bona fide securities—Bills of Sale, Freehold
and Leasehold Property, Policies, Reversions, Annuities,
&c., &c. Office hours, 10 to 5 o'clock.

5000 READY TO BE ADVANCED
on Freehold or Leasehold Property,
Policies, Reversions, &c., also several sums on household
furniture (without removal) personal aid other approved
securities. Bills discounted. Apply to Me,•srs. Harris and
Co., Accountants, 10, Poultry, City, E.C. Enclose stamp for
reply.

O°TTAM'S PATENT IMPROVENTENTS in
STABLE and lIARNESS-ROOM FURNITURE.
Ori,Tinal inventors of the underfeeding patent enamelled
manger, water trough, and rack as one fixture ; patronized
by the English and French Governments ; in use at her Ma-
jesty's stables, Aldershott. Illustrated price catalogues and
drawings free on application to Cottam and Co , No. 2, Wins-
ley-street, Oxford-street, opposite the Pantheon, where a
large wareroom h fitted with full-sized stalls, loose boxes,
and everything appertaining to the stable and harness room
displayed at one view.

Mails.

THE

Edited by W. IL RUSSELL, Esq., LL.D., (late Special
Correspondent of " The Timea").
THE
ARMY AND NAVY GAZETTE.
Published every Saturday, in time for the Morning

Office (where Advertisements and Subscriptions are re
ceived), 18, Wellington-street North, Strand.—Sold by al
Newsmen and Booksellers. Price Gd., stamped 7d.

PA E.
Illustrated. Pece 2d. The February Number will ito
ready on the 28th inst.

CLOUDS WITHOUT SUNSHINE.
By J. GREENWOOD, joint author of " Under a Cloud."
Chap. I. Concerning my Sister,'my Grandmother, and My.
self.

Chap. H. I Marry my Grandmother.
A Portentous Telegram.—Fashion.—A Respectable Firm,
—The Letter-Box.—Love.—and The Stocking Frame, &e.
- -

Lea, Warwick-lane, and all Booksellers.

TEETH REPLACED.-DECAYED TEETH
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lasting rnchanged for years (a most important discovery in
Dental Science !). Loose Teeth fastened, .t c. Hours, Ten to
Six. Consultation free. Charges strictly moderate, 314,
REGENT-STREET (opposite the Polytechnic), and Ben-
nett's-hill, Birmingham.

QURE CURE. - LAMBERT'S ASTHMATIC
BALSAM., without confining the bowels or affecting the
head, truly efficacious and pleasant, is admitted to be the best
medicine for immediately relieving coughs, colds, confirmed
eases of asthma and consumption. It frequently cures per-
sons whom the.fantlty pronounce incurable, admirably allays
the tickling which provokes frequent coughing. In approach-
ing consumption its effects are truly beneficial. Persons de-
prived of sleep, or even lying down for fear of suffocation,
may depend on relief in a few minutes after taking it. Pre-
pared only and sold by W. Lambert, chemist, 20, Jermyn-
street, Haymarket, and by all druggists, in bottles, 130.,
2s. 3d. and 4s. Cid. each. Be particular and ask for Lambert's
Asthmatic Balsam. The name and address is engraved on
the stamp.

MEDICAL FRIEND AND MARRIAGE GUIDE.
To
THE NERVOUS AND DEBILITATED.
—sent free on receipt of two stamps, for postage, ice,
by Dr. RAP KEY,27, Alfred-place, Bedford-square, London,
W. C., "THE GUIDE TO SELP,CURE."
" The first man of the day in these complaints."—Medical
Review. _

" Those about entering the Marriage State should peruse
the Author's invaluable little work, as the advice he gives on
health and disease reflects dutch credit upon him as a sound
medical philosopher."—Critic.
" The true Guide to those who desire a speedy and private
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" The NEW AMERICAN DISCOVERY' demonstrates
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and easily regain pristine health by adopting the means pre-
sented."—Evening Star.
CAUTION.—As a duty due to the profession and the
public generally, Dr. Rapkey advises all persons having
doubts et the legal qualifications of their medical attendant,
or parties whom they may be about consulting, to procure
Irons the Royal College of Surgeons, London, the Official List
of Registered Members, price ls., or Dr. It. will, on receipt of
the price in stamps, gladly assist and protect the afflicted
public by forwarding the same

PLYMOUTH, Tuesday—A heavy gale from S.S.W.
Was blowing all last night; it is now more moderate from
W.S.W. The ship Annandale, belonging to Messrs.
Nicholson, of Annan, has just put into the Sound. She is
117 days from Whampoa, with over 9,000 cheats of tea for
London. When approaching the Azores, on the 10th
inst., Captain Aitchesen died of dysentery, and Mr. Green,
chief officer, took charge from the 14th to this date. She
experienced strong westerly gales, and on the 21st, in lat.
48 50 N., long. 14 16 W., was struck by a heavy sea, which
carried away yards and sails, bulwarks and stanchions, and
two boats, and swept overboard two seamen, Edward Stan-
lsy and John CampLell, who were unfortunately drowned.
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En tins, at Is. Gd. ; Ilb., 3s. ; 21b., ss. 9d. ; 51b., 125.; 121 b.,
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at Liverpool, Nixon and Thew; at Manchester, Sharp and
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ampton, itandall and son,

71.1 E ARMSTRONG GUN.

(Concluded from The San of the 24th.)
The article which appeared in our columns of
Tuesday last merely described the routine of pro-
cesses followed in perfecting the manufacture of this
remarkable engine of modern warfare. But the
public, in order to appreciate the value of the in-
vention fully, have yet to learn somewhat of its
relative weight, cost, range, accuracy, and the rate
at which it can be produced compared with the
old-fashioned, smooth-bored artillery—in short, all
its essential qualities as a working gun. These
qualities, of course, are the main facts of import-
ance connected with ordnance of every kind; in-
formation, therefore, concerning them may not be
without interest at a time when the indefatigable
activity of the War-office is bringing about a scien-
tific revolution even in our old muzzle-loading
artillery. Now, as to the rate at which the Arm-
strong guns can be produced, it has been already
stated that the , Government, 10 months ago,
pledged itself that the united exertions of the fac-
tories at Elswick and Woolwich should enable them
to complete 100 guns within the last year. Before
the close of 1859 upwards of 100 guns had been
completed at Woolwich alone, where the work has
been so constantly and so successfully urged for-
ward that the rate of manufacture has risen from 5
to 23 gunsper week. Up to the present time 113 12-
pounder field guns are already finished there, and
in all 220 are more or less advanced towards com-
pletion. All of these are 12-pounders, but as be-
tween Elswick and Woolwich a sufficient number of
guns of this calibre has either been already manu-
factured or is nearly finished to re-arm the whole
of our field batteries, no more of this size are to be
made, and both factories will in future concentrate
their efforts on heavy, or at least much heavier
ordnance. Supposing Woolwich to be able to con-
tinue at its present rate of 23 a week, we ought to
have from this source alone upwards of 1,100 of
the new guns before the close of the present year.
Allowing for the delay consequent upon the
heavy forging of the 25, 40, 70, and 100-pounder
guns, such as are now soon to be begun, still
Woolwich ought, and we have not the least
doubt will, complete its 1,000 guns before next
Christmas. From Sir W. Armstrong's own works
at Elswick, in addition to a few heavy guns, two
complete 12-pounder field batteries have been sent
to China, with 21 12-pounder guns for boat service,
for which from their extreme lightness they are
most admirably suited. In addition to this 40 12-
pounder guns for the field batteries are ready and
only waiting to be forwarded to Woolwich for
mounting. Two 40-pounder guns are being made
per day ; while the manufacture of the heavy ord-
nance has commenced with a 100-pcunder, 10 feet
6 inches, gun, which is expected to obtain a range
of 61 miles. Like Woolwich, the Elswick works
have risen also in their rate of production, from
about three," per week to 14, and there is no doubt
but that at a pinch, even with their present staffs,
Elswick and Woolwich could easily :turn out 40
completed guns each week.

To double or even to quadruple this weekly num-
ber the War-office would simply have to increase
the machinery employed in every stage of the ma-
nufacture, which might so be extended to an almost
unlimited amount. The rate of production at Wool-
wich is one gun for every three and a half working
hours, and one for each four and a half hours at
Elswick. At both places, however, a single gun,
from the time the rolling of the No. 1 coils com-
mences till the finished piece is proved and passed
examination, requires from six to seven weeks of
constant and skilful labour. A great deal has been
both said and written as to the expense of the
Armstrong gun, which, it has been urged, is so
excessive as almost to preclude its general adop-
tion throughout the services. Such reports are
quite unfounded. It is, and always will be, an
expensive process to supersede an immense amount
of comparatively new artillery merely to substitute
in its place a more efficient weapon ; but this is
a tax always entailed on progress in any branch
of manufacture. Guns of all kinds, no matter
whether cast iron, an Armstrong, or a -Whitworth,
are manufactured solely to attain certain essential
results, and the piece which attains these in
the greatest proportion must of necessity
always prove the most economical in the end.
But, setting aside this obvious truism, the
Armstrong gun is in every point of view, except,
perhaps, that of mere first cost, the cheapest
weapon that has yet been produced. Thus an ordi-
nary 12-pounder field battery gun costs, in metal and
labour, about £2OO. Its utmost really accurate
range is 1,400 yards ; its weight is 19 cwt., requir-
ing six horses to draw it in the field. It is capable of
firing 800 rounds of shot under favourable circum-
stances, after which number, if it survives so long,
it is always condemned and broken up, realising
about half its cost as gun metal. The Armstrong
12-pounder gua costs about £250; its aim is accu-
rate at much more than 5,000 yards ; its weight is
only 8 cwt., and it therefore only requires four horses
to move it with the utmost rapidity. Some of those
already made have actually fired upwards of 3,500
rounds of shot and shell, and are still new guns.
For the number of shots in proportion to the cost of
the gun, the old muzzle-loader cost ss. for every dis-
charge, the Armstrong only ls. 3d., though the
former is ineffectual at three-quarters of a mile, and
the latter unerring at two. The chief and most
important saving, however, is in the smaller number
of men it requires to work it, and, above all, in the
saving of horse labour. Only those who have seen
the difficulty with which artillery is transported
with an army can properly appreciate the import-
ance of reducing this the most formidable of all its
many impedimenta. While still retaining the same
strength the Armstrong gun could easily be reduced
to almost half the weight at which it is now manu-
factured but there are limits to the amount of light-
ness which is desirable in these guns. The back-
ward recoil of the gun is in exact proportion to the
velocity and force with which the shot leaves the
breech, and even the 8 cwt. 12-pounder " kicks" to
an extent that may render it necessary to strengthen
considerably the present form of carriages for field
artillery.
It may sound strange to our readers, though it is
nevertheless strictly true, that up to the present
time Sir W. Armstrong has not manufactured any
gun with a view of attaining a long range. The
range of all the guns on this principle is of course
immense, but Sir William's main and almost only
object has been to secure perfect accuracy of aim.
That this is attained, to an extent almost incre-
dible to those who have not seen the practice with
it, is now admitted even by old artillery officers—
the very last and most reluctant to confess that the
gun was worth anything at all, or that a civilian
could know much more than the difference between
the breech and the muzzle of a cannon.

Yet, in spite of this unfavourable opinion, so
loudly pronounced at one time, the gunners who
are used to the Armstrong declare that with it they
would undertake never once to miss a man at a mile !
At one of the factories a strip of board is shown,
22in. long by 9in. broad, which, when the gunners
were practising, was whitened over and put up as a
target at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.
Though only just visible at this great range, it was
hit three times in four shots. At the Elswick works
at Newcastle, a 100-pounder, about 11 feet in
length, is being manufactured with almost the ex-
press view of attaining a long range. This piece, it
is anticipated, will have an effective range over six
miles and a half. All these tremendous results, it
must be remembered, too, aro accomplished with
little more than one-half the charge of powder used
with the present muzzle-loading cannon. This is
due not only to the size of the shot itself, which al-
lows no windage, and so receives the whole explo-
sive force of the powder, but to the peculiar mode
and pitch of the rifling. The Armstrong shot is of
course conical, and about 21 diameters in length.
At the shoulder of tl'e cone is a ring of lead dove-
tailed into the iron, and a similar one at the base.
These are both made about 1-16th of an inch larger
than the diameter of the bore of the gun, so that
the finest lines of the rifling arc fi led up, and no
windage whatever takes place. With an ordinary
muzzle-loading 32-pounder, weighing 56 cwt., it
requires 101 b. of powder to hit at 3,000 yards' dis-
tance. An Armstrong 32-pounder, weighing 20
cwt., only takes 51b. of powder to send its ball
nearly 10,000 yards.
About this time twelvemonths the Government
had a very large factory at Woolwich for the pur-
pose of casting the ordinary iron guns, which had
previously been mostly obtained from private firms,
more particularly from the Low Moor and Gospel
Oak works, the guns from which were always con-
sidered the very best. Misled by false economy,
the Government in an evil hour undertook to com-
pete with the private trade, and of course, they did
so with precisely the same result that has always
attended such competition in this country, from the
time of Elizabeth's monoplies down to the present
day. £90,000 was spent in erecting a factory at
Woolwich, which was opened amid a tremendous
flourish of trumpets as to what it would accomplish.
But at the very outset the Government factory
found, to its dismay, that it was not in possession
of the secret of mixing iron used by the Low Moor
people in making their guns, and that in conse-