The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-28 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The deputy adjutant-general at head quarters,
Col. W. F. Forster, has recently issued the follow-
ing suggestions for performing the marchino-out
duty to officers commanding regiments and depot
battalions, by direction of his Royal Highness the
General Commanding-in-Chief :
“In marching out during the winter season commanding
officers should profit as much as possible by the opportuni-
ties afforded to them for instructing their battalions (espe-
cially the young officers) on those subjects which can be
more particularly and more practically explained on'oica-
sions of this kind than at the regular daily parades in the
barrack-square or at the orderly-room examinations.
" A great many officers are not even aware that it is
their duty to be provided with a map of the district in which
they are quartered, to study it, and to compare it with the
country it embraces, so as to acquire a practical knowledge
of its military features, roads, rivers, woods, hills, plains,
canals, bridges, and villages, and whatever, in fact, is cal-
culated to assist or impede troops in offensive or defensive
warfare (See "Field Exercises and Evolutions," page 313
and following.)
"In order to insure the officers acquiring as much as
possible of this kind of information, and for the sake of
practising them in committing to writing their observations
and opinions, every subaltern officer should take out with
him a pencil and memorandum book, to enable him to make
the necessary rough notes from which he should afterwards
frame a report of all the before-mentioned subjects, and of
the many others that will occur to him in the course of his
march. The details of these reports will greatly depend on
what is done on the march, and the above are only a few of
the common particulars which are sure to be required un-
der the most ordinary circumstanees. When battalions
practise the posting of pickets and placing of sentries, or any
such kind of instruction, the whole is to be described ;„ and
whenever an officer can illustrate any part of his report by,
making a rough sketch, even in the margin, he is recom-
mended to do so.

" A report of this kind cannot be too simply and too dis-
tinctly worded ; at the same time it should give all possible
information, the more minute and exact the better. For
example, the condition and width of roads should be stated,
and whether practicable for artillery ; whether the country
is close, open, flat, or hilly; the prevailing crops should be
named ; and canals, forts, towers, and every strong ground
capable of being made good military posts should be
alluded to.

" These reports should be sent to the commanding officer
of the battalion on the morning after the march, for exami-
nation by himself or by one of his majors. All errors and
omissions are to be pointed out and corrected, after whiola
the reports are to be filed, and kept in the battalion orderly
room for inspection, if asked for at any future time, and
those that have particular merit, either from the talent they
show or the pains bestowed 9n them, are to be sent to the
brigade office. .
" On these occasions of marching out the officers com-
manding companies are to practise their men in judging dis-
tances whenever the battalion halts, and each halt may be a
little prolonged for this purpose if necessary. The names
of the best judges of distances are to be taken down and de-
livered to the adjutant on the return to barracks, and such
of them as deserve it may be permitted to be absent from
the afternoon parade, or receive some trifling indulgence.
All companies in turn are to form advanced and rear guards.
"If commanding officers will take an interest in these
little matters, the exercise of marching out may be made
both amusing and instructive, in addition to being very
conducive to the health and physical condition of the men.
" In order to give the officers as much practice as pos-
sible, commanding officers are requested to march by a diffe-
rent route every time they go out. On all occasions care
must be taken that there is no trespassing on property."
Lieut.-Col. Sir W. Russell, Bart., M.P., who has
been serving with the 7th Dragoons during the war
in Oude, is expected to return home in the course
of April.
At the request of several of the officers of the
Royal - Engineers at Brompton Barracks, Captain.
Norton has just completed another series of experi-
ments at Chatham, for the purpose of subjecting
some of his inventions to a severe test, in order to
prove their practical utility, his former experiments
having attracted a high degree of interest among
scientific persons, and the officers of the Royal Ar-
tillery and Royal Engineers. One of the most in-
teresting experiments made during these trials was
that with the " liquid fire" rifle-shell, for the pur-
pose of demonstrating the tremendous effects which
would follow from the explosion of the shell against
the hull or side of a ship. In the experiments pre-
viously made with this " liquid fire" shell at
Chatham, by Captain Norton, the shell was fired at
some pieces of sacking suspended to represent the
sails of a ship, and notwithstanding that the can-
vas was soaked through with the pouring rain that
fell at the time, the whole burst out into a flame in
a very short time after the shell had exploded
against it. The further experiments made with this
were undertaken by Captain Norton for the pur-
pose of proving that any line-of-battle ship, or other
vessel, could be easily set on fire by firing one or
more of these shells into the hull. In order to de-
monstrate this, some pieces of thick planking were
erected at a convenient distance from the spot se-
lected for the firing of the shell, which Captain
Norton charged with the most minute portion—
certainly not more than an ordinary teaspoonful—
of his " liquid fire." The shell was then placed in
an ordinary large grooved rifle and fired at a short
range at the deal planking, against which it ex-
ploded, the glass containing the " liquid fire" im-
mediately bursting and scattering its contents over
the plank. The results were quite satisfactory,
the planking in a very few moments bursting into
flame, which burnt furiously until the plank struck
was consumed. There can be no doubt that a suc-
cession of these shells, charged with the " liquid
of lAvafrt,erwcoaupltdainbuNrnorhtoenr
fire" poured into a man
down to the water's edge.
had completed his experiments with his shell he
proceeded to test another invention of his called the
waterproof frictional igniting cartridge. This cart-
ridge which, from its superiority, and extreme simpli-
city, is better adapted for submarine explosions than
either the Voltaic battery or Pickford's fuze, con-
sists
of a small indiarubber bag or casing, which
holds a small quantity of powder, and also a simple
contrivance for igniting it by means of friction. A
•
cord leads front the frictional igniter within the
bag, and this may be carried to any length. The
waterproofbeing sunk, the slightest pull at the end
will, ignite. the powder, which explodes the:large
mass, again 4 which it is placed. The experiments
made by Captain Norton with this frictional igniter
showed the case and safety with which submarine
explosions can be carricd on in any situation and
at any depth. The remaining experiments made
by Captain Norton were for the purpose of demon-
strating the action of his concussion fuze, and his
frictional exploding signal, which, being attached
to a cord anti secured, the grenade may be thrown
the required distance, when it will explode in the
face of a body of assailants. The concussion fuze
is considered a very valuable missile, and has been
very favourably reported on to the Government as
being simple, safe, and efficacious, and well adapted
for horizontal firing with high velocities. As soon
as a Government commission has been appointed
Capt. Norton's missiles will be subjected to a variety
of tests.
Reserve detachments from the corps of drivers
and the battalions of Royal Artillery have been
despatched during the past week in large numbers
fiorn Woolwich to Portsmouth, Aldershot, Shorn-
eliffe, Shoeburyness, Devonport, Hilsea, Ballineoly,
Guernsey, Dover,
. Leith, Longford, Christchurch,
other'*ton§ ja. curio of 31.914'COMMIN• A1i91411