The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-20 00:00:00

CONTRACT FOR STEARINE CANDLES.
CONTRACT DEPARTMENT, ADMIRALTY,
Somerset House, 7th November, 1866.
THE 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 MONDAY, the
3d December next, at Twelve o'clock at Noon, they will
be ready to treat with such persons as may be willing to
Contract for supplying and delivering into her Majesty's
Victualling Stores at Deptford, all such quantities of
STEARINE CANDLES,

for the use of Her Majesty's Indian TroOp Ships, as may
from time to time be demanded under a Contract for
Twelve Calendar Months, certain and further, until the
expiration of Three Calendar Months' warning.
Samples (not less than 6 lbs. of -each description) must
be produced by the parties tendering, and none to be ten
dered the material of which is of a solidifying point below
125 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty reserve to
themselves an unlimited power of selection in accepting
the Tenders.
No Tender will be received unless made on the Printed
Form provided for the purpose, and which may be obtained
on application in the Lobby of the Department of the Con-
troller of Victualling, Admiralty, Somerset House, where
the conditions of the Contract may be seen.
No Tender will be received after Twelve o'clock at
noon on the day of treaty, and it will not be required that
the party tendering, or an agent on his behalf, should
attend at the office on 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 bear in the left-hand corner the words
" Tender for Stearine Candles," and must also be delivered
at the Department of the Controller of Victualling, Admi-
ralty, Somerset House, signed by two responsible persons,
engaging to become bound with the person tendering in
the sum of £l,OOO for the due performance of the Contract.
By order, ANTONIO BRADY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public securities.

TO GUNMAKERS and Others.
T.
The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR is desirous of
receiving PROPOSALS from Gunmakers and Others for
BREECH-LOADING RIFLES, either repeating or not
repeating, which may replace the present Service Rifles in
future manufacture.
11.
The following are the conditions considered essential in
military non-repeating Rifles:—
a. WEIGHT.
Not to exceed 91b. soz. without bayonet.
B. 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.

D. CARTRIDGES.
Must carry their own io• 'nition.
E. SIGHTS.
The foresight must be such as to admit of7a bayonet
fixed according to the present system.
r
Must be such as to car.rySaTlOigGhK.
t metal cleaning-rod, and
allow a sling to be used.
G. RECOIL.
Must not exceed that of the Enfield Rifle by more than
10 per cent.
H. THE ARM AS A WHOLE.
Must be as little liable to injury by long-continued firing,
rough usage, and exposure, as the naval rifles converted to
breech-loaders on the Snider system. To be as capable,
also, of being used without accident by impeiiectly trained
men, and of being manufactured in quantities and of uni-
form quality.
1. 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. K. CALIBRE.
Optional.
L. THE TWIST AND FORM OF GROOVE.
Optional.
M. THE LOCK.

Optional.
x. 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 yards, 30in. at 800 yards, 12in. at 500,
and 6in. at 300.
The mean to be taken upon at least five targets of twenty
shots each.
P. TRAJECTORY.
Not to require at 500 yards an elevation of more than 1
deg. 30 min.
(l
The shooting not to.FOULING.
deteriorate
ore than 20 per cent.m
at 1,000 yards after firing 250 rounds.
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-iuch elm planks, which have been soaked 48
hours in water.

Distance 30 yards.
s. LUBRICATION.
Wax on bullets is indispensable, but any other lubricant
may be superadded or applied to the cartridge, if thought
necessary by the competitor.
111.
No arms will be received without the usual proof marks.
Specifications, and drawings of the methods proposed,
stating the probable cost per arm, and accompanied by a
finished specimen arm, with 20 rounds of suitable ammu-
nition, should be sent to the "Director of Ordnance, War
Office, Pall-mall," on or before the 30th March, 1867.
The specifications and specimen 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 trial 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 competitor 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 competitor will be required to disclose to the
committee the exact nature of the lubrication he may em-'
ploy. A sum of 4300 will be paid to each of the accepted
competitors, to cover the expense of the six rifles, and of
the supply of ammunition required.
The Secretary of State offers a reward of 41,000 for the
arm which, on combination of all qualities, is considered
by the committee to be the best submitted.
A second reward of 4600 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 4.100 for the best cartridge. The qua-
lities which will be principally taken into consideration in
awarding this prize will be economy of manufacture, power
of sustaining rough usage, freedom from deterioration in
various climates, and general serviceability.
The shooting qualities of the cartridge must be 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
given to the inventor of the arm finally adopted into the
service.