The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-11-05

The London Times, in discoursiug on . Les
SONS OF the War in Egypt" says:
The FIRST Thought in the mind Of every soldier must
be how seriously Disappointing was the elect OF the
Infantry fire. We have more than once drawn at
tenton to the unsatisfactory nature OF the muskcty
training Of the British infantry soldier and the truth
al our remarks has been amply Justified In this war
u Is perhaps, not too much say that If the ntau
try had been skirn with their weapons, as We know
the Beers to he, the losses of the enemy would have
been ten times more than they The English
were fortunately opposed 10 an enemy whose shoot
ing was far worse than their OWL aud superiority,
both natural aud produced by discIpIine WAS able 10
assert itself. We firm believers the strength,
courage aud endurance Of the British soldier, and
feel sure that If ever these qualities brought into
to place the British Infantry in the high position
which 1t formerly held throughout the world. But
they VIII be- of little avail unless radical improve
meut Is made in rifle instruction and rife practice.
There IS no existing army which might not be vastly
improved in this respect. Until now foreign
nations nave granted much more ammunition
FOR the annual practice than that allowed To
English soldiers, and Tie training has been carried
cut In more practical manner. Each Continental
soldier costs u very small annually and, As he
more ammunition the proportion of its cost to
his is very much greater than is the case In this
country. II would not he surprising, therefore, II
critics of the military budget in France, Austria,
Germany were to object to an expenditure upon
mnnition which, multiplied by the large number Of
men kept under arms must amount to very conslh-
cradle figure, But here In England, where We have
few men, every of them repre- scnng not only his
cost at home but also the additional cost Of carrying
him to India the colonies 1t is pure rccklessuess
aluwa single individual soldier To remain unVeTsud In
that kind OF shooting which Will he useful to him
the battlefield. There Is nothing inherent In Eng
iShmeu 10 prevent them from being the best rifle
shots In the world; indeed our picked men so.
has Just been demonstrated in America. But such
SKIN Is only obtained by constant practice, ana no
chance has yet been given TO the infantry Of becoming
expert In this the OF their greatest power.
The lines Of Tel-el-Kebir Were carried mag
nihcently In old-fashiOncd style; but let us
not deceive ourselves. All the gallautTy Of
Grahan's AuisOn's brigades would have failed
10 take the position in that manner II II had been
Cuped by the troops Of any Continental army. The
regiments would only have dashed themselves to
pieces against such fire was delivered by the
Turks from the parapets Of Pleyna by the French
army during the attack on st. Pryat, when S, 600
Germans fell, Killed or wounded, In few minutes
Without detfacting for instant from the splendid
Eallantry of the brave lads VINO carried the Egyptian
works at Tel .el-Kehir 1t becomes us rs nation To
to remember with mOdesty that the enemy s troops
were Oriental, halt-tainet, and apparently hardly
trained at all in the practical Of the rifle. The
necessity Of far higher training In shooting is IN.
doubleday the first and greatest technical lesson to
be drawn from the campaign Of the Nile. 1t Is also
clear that to provide for the probability of rapid FIRE
the barrels OF the rifles should be surrounded at the
point where the left hand comes with guard made
of some non-conducting substance. In the heat Of
action men cannot always remember TO prevent their
hand from touching the barrel, and II they come To
DayOnet work the barrel must be grasped.