The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-07 00:00:00

THE AR.311,

A series of very successful entertainmn ts to the
troops is in progress at Woolwich, uncle the sanc-
tion of Major-Gen. Sir R. Dacres, comman-
dant. Thev are made instructive to t men by the
introduction of magic lantern figure nd diagrams,
furnished under the direction of the Council of
Military Education. Judging from the large num-
ber of men who attend it is quite evident that there
is sufficient attraction to suit the soldiers' tastes and
obtain the main object for which they were planned,
that of diverting their attention from the public-
houses.

Some fresh light has been thrown on the recent
commotion at the Royal Military Academy at Wool-
wich by the announcement of the grievances to
which the cadets consider themselves to have been
subjected. One ground of complaint is the unjust
manner in which they consider the "special class"
to have been promoted. This class consists of 29
gentlemen draughted from Addiscombe, who, al-
though 13 of them failed to pass the requisite exa-
mination for admission to the practical class, were
put up in a body over the heads of a number of
cadets who were senior to them, and had qualified
for the step. Again, the mode of dividing the
classes lately introduced by the Governor, without
the knowledge of the Council of Military Education,
and his refusal to forward any remonstrance on the
subject, gives general dissatisfaction. The chief point
at issue, however, is the general tone of the regula-
tions and their unfitness to the present age of the
cadets. Some instances are necessary to illustrate
this. The average age of cadets is 19, and the regula-
tion punishment for the use of tobacco is " dismissal
or discharge,"coupled with a notice that such punish-
ment will prevent the offender for entering any
branch of the pablic service. Although this rule is
not practically carried out instances have occurred
of gentlemen of 21 years of age being subjected to
solitary confinement, on bread and water, for smok-
ing a pipe of tobacco. No cadet is allowed to have
in his possession a greater sum than £2, unless he
hold the rank of corporal, in which case he may
possess £3. Again, in summer and winter, cadets
are obliged to undtess and go to bed in the dark,
any violation of this rule being visited with severe
punishment. The inferior quality of the rations
has been the subject of frequent complaints for some
time, but without effect, until the demonstration of
the 23d ult., which was immediately followed by a
marked improvement. With regard to the distur-
bances, the damage done to the Governor's windows,
Col. Wilford states, may very possibly not have
been committed by the cadets. The cadets main-
tain that they would never have resorted to extreme
measures had it been possible to obtain redress
through any legitimate channel, and that they have
repeatedly attempted to direct the attention of the
authorities to several of their grievances, but with-
out success.

The select committee of officers in Woolwich
Arsenal have beeen engaged for some days past in
carrying out experiments in ricochet firing with
the Armstrong guns, and in each case the result has
been exceedingly satisfactory.

GENERAL RATS ANNUAL REPORT
ON MUSKETRY:

The annual report of the Inspector-General of
Musketry for the year ending March 31, 1861,
which has just been laid before the Commander-in-
Chief, consists mainly of tabulated returns of the
rifle training of each regiment in the service, and
shows the Ist Battalion 22d Foot as the best shoot-

.ng battalion of the army (it was also the best in

the year 1859-60), its "figure of merit" being 51.66
and the No. 6 Company of the same battalion as the
best shooting company in the army, its " figure of
merit" being 55.46. "The shooting in the army,
as a whole, has improved," General Hay remarks ;
" and another year's experience proves the sound-
ness of the system now in operation to train the
various corps and battalions to the efficient use of
the rifle, not only in the United Kingdom, but in
the several colonies and possessions of the empire
where Her Majesty's troops are quartered."
At the Hythe School of Musketry 116 officers,
including six of the Irish constabulary, have under-
gone instruction; of which number 112, or 64 per
cent., became first-class shots, and 56, or 32 per
cent., second-class shots, leaving 8, or only 4 per
cent., in the third class.
731 sergeants and rank and file have been instruc-

ted at Hythe, of which number 416, or 57 per cent.,
became first-class shots, and 292, or 40 per cent.,
second-class shots, leaving only 23, or 3 per cent.,
in the third class.

247 Volunteers from different corps have been
exercised at Hythe through the modified course ap-
proved for that force, of which number 133, or M
per cent., became first-class shots, and 112, or 45 per
cent., second-class shots, leaving only 2 in the third
class.

In all the practices that establish the " figure of
merit" there was an improvement on the preceding
year, with the exceptions that in the file firing the
Volunteers came down from 11'68 to 11.26, and in
skirmishing from 4.06 to 4.89. The figure of merit
was—for officers, 46.24 ; for non-commissioned offi-
cers and privates, 44.86 ; for Volunteers, 45.67. Last
year the figures of merit was 44.18,41'37, and 43.72
respectively.
General Hay remarks that " the Volunteers are
specially drilled by the first-class sergeant instruc-
tors of the establishment, which circumstance,
coupled with the great attention they give to the
subject, will account, in some measure, for the pro-
ficiency they acquire in so short a time." And we
may add that the Volunteers are generally men of
good physique, well set, and in their prime of strength
and endurance—men who have elected to go to Hythe
whose success or failure in the course of instruction
is of importance to their standing in their respective
corps, success at the school often carrying regi-
mental promotion, and who, therefore, willingly and
zealously labour to obtain success, and who are,
moreover, incessantly studying and practising in
that limited course of instruction that is open to them
in their 14 days' sojourn at the school ; while, on the
oontrary, of the officers of the Line who go to
Hythe, a considerable number—nearly two-thirds—
are young subalterns in ferior in stamina to the Volun-
teers, and who, having no choice or election, have
simply obeyed orders in accompanying their de-
tachments to the school, without any special liking
to the coarse of instruction, or desire or stimulus to
attain excellence, even where there may not be, as
there is in some cases, an aversion to the instruc-
tion, or a sense of its inutility in consequence of an
intention to retire from the service. And though
the officers of the Line are two months at the
school, while the Volunteers are there but a fort-
night, it should be taken into consideration that
the Volunteers themselves simply learn to shoot,
and are diligently occupied in acquiring profi-
ciency, while the officers of the Line are taught
also to convey instruction to others, and during
their two months' residence are only one-half of
their time engaged in rifle instruction, the other
half being given to ordinary garrison duties.
Of the 176 officers who passed through the school
in 1860-1, 72 entered the first class and 43 became
marksmen, making seven points and upwards in
the first class.

Of the 731 sergeants and rank and file, 288 en-
tered the first class, and 41 became marksmen.
Of the 247 Volunteers, 90 entered the first class,
and 38 of that 90 became marksmen.
The percentage of marksmen
num-
ber instructed is, therefore—Officers re
and rank and file 19, Volunteers
24, sergeants
num-
ber of persons in the first
class the percentages are
The three parties of Vol
respectively
school between May 9, 186
consisted of 78, 74,
f d to the total
9 5
60,
49,
4uonte were at the
and
who
nembMerarch 31, 1861, s
1
respectively.was4 .
.o t
a n ra 15 . T 0 the
The figure of merit of the first party
the percentage of first-class shots, 47. Of the
Bel
cond party the figure of merit was 47.11; the per-
centage of first-class shots, 45. The third party
took 45.02 as their figure of merit, and gave 66 per
cent. first-class shots. The figure of merit is the
average of points made by all the individuals in
each party in the first period (20 rounds at 150,
200, 250, and 300 yards—five rounds each), in file
firing, standing, at 300 yexcis; in volley firing,
kneeling, at 400 yards; and in A irmishing, between

400 and 200 yards. First-class shots aro those who,
having made 12 points in the second class (20 rounds
at 400, 500, 550, and 600 yards—five rounds each),
are admitted to fire at 650, 700, 800, and 900 yards.
It is worthy of notice that, notwithstanding the
general average of officers is higher then the ,gar.r-
ral average of soldiers, the greatest number of
points obtained by an individual at the several dis-
tances was in favour of the latter, at the 200, 250,
700, 800, and 900 yards distances, while at each of
the other distances the greatest number was the
same with officers and men. In the third and first
classes, also, the greatest number of points obtained
by an individual was in favour of the soldiers. In
the second class officers and men were equal in the
highest number. The greatest average points ob-
tained by a single "party" in the several classes
was—ln the third class, officers 21.18, soldiers,
23.77 ; in the second class, officers 14.76, soldiers
10.86 ; in the first class, officers 7.96, men 7.51.
The conclusion is that individual soldiers and the
" parties" of soldiers have the advantage over
officers at from 150 to 300 yards ; that, while indi-
vidual officers and men are equal at 400 to 600
yards, parties of officers have a great superiority
over parties of men at those distances ; and that
while individual men take a sensible advantage
over individual officers at from 650 to 900 yards,
the officers in parties have superiority of less than
a half per cent. over the soldiers.