The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-16 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The Under Secretary for War, Sir Benjamin
Hawes, K.C.8., has issued the annexed circular re-
specting remittances from India on account of in-
valids, addressed to Paymasters of her Majesty's
regiments and corps and officers commanding troops
and companies of Royal Artillery and Royal Engi-
neers in India : _ _

" With a view to establish a uniform system of remitting
balances, &c., due to invalids and others returning to this
country, all such sums, instead of being reported, as at pre-
sent, in the Quarterly Remittance Returns, or separate re-
turns, should in future be stated against the names of the
men in the monthly casualty returns in which they may be
reported non-effective; or in the earliest possible succeed-
ing return. The names of invalids should follow, and be
kept distinct from those of deceased men, and the requisite
separata receipt of the treasurer for the sums should be an-
nexed to the return.
"It is at the same time strictly enjoined that all claims
of invalids quitting their corps in India should, if practica-
ble, be settled before they embark, to obviate the serious in-
convenience which frequently results from the men having
quitted the service before the intimation of the sum due to
them is received in this country."
It is understood that an increase will shortly be
made in the force of Royal Engineers now serving
in the Mediterranean, the authorities at the War
Department having it in contemplation to station
an additiOnak company at Corfu, and also one at
Malta. The companies of Royal Engineers already
stationed at Malta, Gibraltar, and Corfu having
fallen considerably below- their required strength
by promotions to home companies and other casual-
ties, orders have been issued for the companies at
those stations to be raised to 100 men each. The
corps of Royal Engineers has now been recruited up
to its establishment.
Detachments from the several battalions of the
Brigade of Guards will leave their different bar-
racks on Monday next for Aldershot, to commence
ball practice for the season.
The important disclosures which have recently
been made public relative to the •alleged defects in
the Enfield rifle used by the Britishtroops in India
have been the means of directing the attention of
the authorities to the vast superiority, as a weapon
in the hands of troops, of the Lancaster rifled car-
bines, with which the corps of Royal Engineers is
now armed. From the reports which have recently
been received by the authorities at the Horse Guards
crom the officers now serving with the Royal Engi-
,
neat,. in India, there can be no doubt that the Lan-
is in every respect superior to any small
caster rift,'"
repeated proofs of which were
arm in the ser,lice,
ufficts with the mutineers in
given during the c‘:.
of the Royal Engineers
India. Four companies ~
during the rebellion,
have been employed in Ina,,,
rbine and the same
all armed with the Lancaster cu.• , proving it to
tests which applied to the Enfield
be defective, have resulted
in the La.? caster rifle
maintaining. its efficacy. The officers rep; rt that
there has not been u single complaint of fou..ling,
difficulty of loading, or want of accuracy and power,
brought against it ; but, on the contrary, it has
proved in every respect superior to the Enfield rifle.
During the frequent conflicts with the mutineers
in which the men of the Royal Engineers and the
troops of the line have been engaged together, with
the same amount of ammunition issued to all the
troops engaged, the men of the line regiments have
been compelled to cease firing for the purpose of
wiping out the barrels of their Enfield rifles after
firing from 10 to 20 rounds, whereas the Royal
Engineers, with the Lancaster rifle, have continued
their fire, loading their carbines with perfect ease.
On the 21st February, in last year, the 4th com-
pany of Royal Engineers, consisting of about 100
non-commissioned officers and men, was stationed
at Fort Jellalabad, before Lucknow. The enemy
attacked the fort in great numbers, and went close
to the walls. They were, however, repulsed by the
Royal Engineers with great loss, no less than 90
men being left dead on the ground, the whole being
killed by the Lancaster rifles. No idea could be
formed of the number of killed and wounded
carried off, but no doubt it was considerable.
The Royal Engineers sustained no loss ; not
a man was even wounded. This fact is most
important, not" sb much as showing the accuracy of
the arm, but from the circumstance that during the
six hours the Royal Engineers were engaged with
the rebels until relieved by Sir J. Outram's force
each man fired on an average at least 60 rounds,
and yet not the least difficulty was experienced
during the whole of that time in loading the car-
bines. The only thing observable was that with
some the bullet became a little tighter than usual
as it approached the breech when rammed down
the barrel, and with others that there was an in-
creased recoil. If the defects pointed out in the
Enfield rifle and the difficulty with which it is
loaded after several rounds have been fired from it
resulted from the expansive action of the barrel
against the bands, or against the bayonet socket
and its ring, causing an indentation of its outer
surface, and consequent contraction of the bore at
those places, the defect would be
permanent, and
nothing but a mandril or cutting tool forcedinto the
barrel could remove it. It is, however, well known
-that,after an Enfield rifle has been wiped out with
a wet or greasy rag it loads as easily and fires as
well as when first used, thus proving that the
defect alluded to is not a permanent one pro-
duced in the metal of the barrel by expansion,
but a temporary one resulting from the pecu-
liarity of bore retaining the maximum amount
of deposit from the powder charge. On the
other hand, the peculiarity of the Lancaster bore,
judging from its performance under the same cir-
cumstances, and with the same. ammunition, ap-
pears to 'be such that it retains only the minimum
amount of deposit, while at the same time its range
and accuracy are greater. In the last-mentioned
qualities it has been frequently proved to excel the
Enfield rifle in England as well as in India. Both
rifles may now be considered to have had a fair
trial in the very best school for testing their re-
spective merits—namely, actual warfare, and from
the unanimous testimony of officers and men, both
in India and elsewhere, there can be no doubt that
as a weapon in the hands of troops. engaged in war
the Lancaster is in every respect superior to the
Enfield rifle.

THE CIVIL SERVICE.—East India Department.—
Mr. E. Frankland has been appointed lecturer on chemistry
at the Royal Military College. The Board of Trade.—Mi.
Robt. Laws has been promoted to be a senior supplementary
clerk ; Mr. J. M. Reed has been appointed a junior supple-
mentary clerk ; Mr. Edward Roscoe has also been appointed
a junior supplementary. clerk. War-office.—There are
several vacancies for junior clerks, commencing salary,£loo
per annum• There are vacancies for eight second-class
clerks to military storekeepers. Commencing salary, £BO
per annum. The Dockyards.—There is a vacancy for a
temporary clerk at Pembroke yard. Mr. John Fenton
Taylor has been appointed to a clerkship in Sheerness
yard, after a competitive examination. Customs.—Mr. N.
E. Browne, Comptroller at Bristol, has been promoted to
be collector at Plymouth, in the room of Mr. Robert Daw,
retired on superannuation, after a lengthened service. The
office of Controller at Bristol is to be abolished.—ciVa
SerViCe Gazette.