The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-05 00:00:00

CONTRACT FOR BEECH WEDGES.
Contract Department, Admiralty, Somerset
House, 14th Dec 1866.
T" COMMISSIONERS for., EXECUTING
the OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of the
UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and IRE-
LAND, Do hereby give NOTICE, that on TUESDAY,
the Bth January next, at Two o'Clock, they will be ready
to treat with such Persons as may be willing to Contract
for supplying Her Majesty's Dockyard at Portsmouth with
Hewed Wedges of Beech, under a Contract for twelve
calendar months certain, and further until the expiration
of three calendar months' warning.
The average annual consumption, together with a Form
of the Tender and Conditions of Contract, may be seen in
the Lobby of the Storekeeper-General's Department,
Admiralty, Somerset House. No Tender will be received
after Two o'Clock on the day of Treaty, nor will any be
noticed unless the Party attends, or an Agent for him duly
authorised in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words
" Tender for Beech Wedges ;" and must also be delivered
at the Department of the Storekeeper-General, Admiralty,
Somerset House, accompanied by a Letter signed by two
responsible persons, engaging to become bound with the
Person tendering in the sum of 4100 for the due perfor-
mance of the Contract.

By Order,
ANTONIO BRAY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public
Securities.

CONTRACT FOR FRESH OX BEEF AND VEGE-
TABLES •AT FOYNES.
CONTRACT DEPARTMENT, ADMIRALTY.
Somerset House, 27th December, 1866.
rr HE COMMISSIONERS for EXECUTING
lt the OFFICE of LORD HIGH AMIRAL the
UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN andof IRE-
LAND do hereby Give Notice, that on Tuesday, the 15th
January next, at Twelve o'clock at Noon, they will be,
ready to treat with such persons as may be willing to con-
tract for supplying all such quantities of
FRESH OX BEEF and VEGETABLES,
for the u;e of her Majesty's ships and vessels at Foynes as
may be demanded from the 15th January to the 30th June,
1867, both days included.
The Contractor is to supply good fat well-fed Ox Beef,
as no Heifer meat will be admitted.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty reserve to
themselves an unlimited power of selection in accepting
the Tenders.
Tenders must be made at rates per 100 lb., and no atten-
tion will be paid to any offers not so made.
The Contractor, in claiming payment for the supplies, is
to make out his invoices in pounds at per 100 lb.
The Contractor to reside on the spot, or to have an
agent resident there. If non-resident, the name and ad-
dress of the agent must be inserted in the Tender.
No Tender will be received unless made on the printed
form provided for the inp-pose, and which may be obtained
on application in the Lobby of the Department of the Con..
troller of Victualling, Admiralty, Somerset House or to
the Postmaster at Foynes, where also the conditions of
the contract may be seen.
No Tender will be received after Noon on the day 'of
treaty, and it will not be a
rquired that the rty tenden
or an agent on his behalf,e should attend p
at the Officeri ong, the day of Contract, as the result of the offer received from
each person will be communicated to him and his proposed
sureties in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and must also be delivered at the department
of the Comptroller of Victualling, Admiralty, Somerset
Rouse, signed by two responsible persons, engaging to
become bound with the person tendering in the sum of
.000 for the due performance of the Contract for Fresh Ox
Beef, and £l.OO for the Contract for Vegetables.
The Contractor to pay half the amount of the stamps on
the Contracts and Bonds.
By order, ANTONIO BRADY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public Securities.
m
AKERS and Others.
The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR is desirous of
receiving PROPOSALS from Gunmakers and Others for
BREECH-LO &DING RIFLES, either repeating or not
repeating, which may replace the present Service Rifles in
future manufacture.

The following arII.
e
military non- the conditions considered essential in
repeating Rifles:—
W Not to exceed 91b. SA. EIGEfT•
oz. without bayonet.
n. LENGTH.
To be 51 inches, with short stock, measured from the
hollow of the butt-plate to muzzle.
c. WEIGHT OF AMMUNITION MADE Up.
Must not exceed 61b. 4oz. for sixty rounds as packed for
service.

Must D. CARTRIDGES.
carry their own ignition.
. GLI
The foresight mustß S I
113 such Ts. asS. to admit of a bayonet
fixed according to the pre,ent system.
" STOCK.
Must be such as to carry a light metal eleaning•rod, and
g to
allow a slip
be used.

G. Must not exceed that of RECOIL.
the Enfield Rifle by more than
10 per cent.
Must
it. THE ARM AS A WHOLE.
be as little liable to injury bylong-continued firing,
rough usage, and exposure, as the naval rifles converted to
breech-loaders reech-
bans on the Snider system. To be as capable,
aof men used Without accident by imperfectly trained
form ,
qual and
ity of being manufactured in quantities and of uni-
.
L THE AMMUNITION AS A WHOLE. •
Must be as little liable to injury by rough usage, damp,
and exposure in all climates, as the Boxer cartridge for
Snider's converted Enfield rifle —also as little liable to acci-
dental explosion as the same cartridge, and as capable of
being manufactured in large quantities, and of uniform
quality.
Optional. K. CALIBRE.
L. THE TWIST AND FORM OF GROOVE.
Optional.
Optional. M. THE LOCK.

N. RAPIDITY OF FIRE.
Capable of firing at least 12 rounds per minute, without
aiming, the cartridges being arranged on a table.
o. ACCURACY WHEN FIRED FROM A FIXED REST.
The arm must give a mean figure of merit of not more
than 36in. at 1,000 and bin. at 300. yards, 30in. at 800 yards, 12in. at 500,
shots e
e mac ean to be taken upon at least five targets of twenty
h.

Not to require at iO(TRn a
ArgEi?.nTeieltZion of more than 1
deg. 30 min. y

Q. FONG.
The shooting not to deteriTToraLlte more than 20
at 1,000 yards after firing 250 rounds. per cent.
R. PENETRATION.
The mean penetration of five shots not to be less than
that of the present service muzzle-loading Enfield Rifle—
viz., 12 half-inch elm planks, which have been soaked 48
hours in water.
Distance 30 yards.

s. LT: BR:MA:PION.
\Wax on billets is indisperuiable, but any other lubrican
may be superadded or arri,iied to the cartridge, if though
necessary by the corePrAitor.

No arms will 1-',O received without the usual proof marks.
Specifications, and drawings of the methods proposed,
stating the probable cost per arm, and accompanied by a
finished 'pecimen anr. with 20 rounds of suitable ammu-
nitinr., should be seni:to the " Director of Ordnance, War
Off.'ce, Pall-mall," on or ')afore the 30th March, 1867.
The specifications an:, spechnen arms will be considered
by the Ordnance Select Committee and its associate mem-
bers, who will be selected by the Secretary of State for
War, and who will, after firing the 20 preliminary rounds,
select and recommend for further t.ial such of the systems
as may appear to them sufficiently promising, rejecting all
such as may not be considered to offer sufficient merits to
warrant their being included in the competition, the con-
ditions of which are stated in this advertisement.
Each accepted conm,'Aitor will then be required to furnish
for experiment, at "'Woolwich, six arms in strict conformity
to the specimen arm submitted, with 1,000 rounds of am-
munition per arm, within four months after date of de-
mand Each co,mpetitor will be required to disclose to the
committee tbe exact nature of the lubrication he may em-
ploy. A sum o 7 £3OO will be paid to each of the accepted
competitoes, .;o cover the expense of the six rifles, and of
the sinp,pl7, o 7 enrrunition required.
Tne 'secretary of Suite offers a reward of £l,OOO for the
arm vihich, on combination of all qualities, is considered
by 3;ne committee to be the best submitted.
A second reward o; £6OO for the arm which, while at-
taining a satisfactory degree of excellence in other particu-
lars, is selected for merit in respect to its breech mechanism.
A third reward of £4OO for the best cartridge. The qua-
ities which will be principally taken into consideration in
awarding this prize will be economy of manufacture, power
of sustaining roue' usage, freedom from deterioration in
various climates, and general serviceability.
The shooting qualities of the cartridge must he fair; but
as they may depend upon the rifling of the arm with which
the cartridge is associated, they will not be so much con-
sidered as those above-mentioned.
It is clearly to be understood that under no circumstances
will a competitor be entitled to more than one prize ; but
such prize will be irrespective of any reward which may be
riven to the inventor of the arm finally adopted into the
fiervice.

•
MAGAZINE AND REPEATING ARMS.
Mae-azine and Repeating Arms for Infantry will ho
ceived and (•xaminerl in a manner similar to the Breech_
loading Pifles. They must not be less in length than 48
inches, including the stock.

The limit of weight for these arms is fixed at 911 b. ex-
clusive of the charges in the magazine.
It is indispensable that the arms be made 'to take a
bayonet.

The Secretary of State offers a rewn.lll of 300 for the best
Magazine or Repeating Arm produiled that fulfils the above
conditions ; and in the absence of experience does not at
present define the standard of accuracy or other conditions
to be fulfilled before such an arm can be adopted.
Those Magazine orltepeatingArms, which are accepted
for further trial, will be paid for at the rate of £6O each.
This sum is to include 1,000 rounds of ammunition per
arm.

The Secretary of State will take care that no ingenious
novelty produced in answer to this advertisement shall be
adopted into the service without proper acknowledgment,
and that the name of the individual with whom it origi-
nates shall be recorded in connection with it.
lf the into rifle to which the first prize is awarded is adopted
the service, it will hear the inventor's name.
J. 'ST. GEORGE, Major-General, Director
War Office, Oct. 22 o
1866 1 f Ordnance]