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MIR Tl'IIXIfWOUTH JIIME
( 1'rom.tue Mccnamca' MaoazineA
The Whitworlh riflo has now afforded such ample
proofs of its superiority to tho Enfleld arm that the '
single adverse consideration of its cost cannot bo allowed
to oner ato much longer against its introduction. The
costliness of tho Armstrong- gun, extreme as it was and
is, proved no insuperable obstacle to its adoption ? nor
can that of the now riflo bo allowed to prevail against it,
When Col.. Eardley Wilmot recently reminded Sir Vf
Armstrong (at the Institution of Civil Engineers) that
it was unfair to compare tho cost of tho new rifled can
non with tho cost of a brass gun, because after the latter
as ever to sell ns old brass, Sir William replied that he
trusted his guns would prove ' almost everlasting.' Mr. '
Whitwortb may surely employ tho samo argument, and
with even greater reason. It is fallacious to compare
tho cost of ono of his rifles with that of an ordinary En.
field. Mr. Whitworth uses tho best material that can
be obtained — material that costs no less than LGO per
ton, and which is very bard and tough, and difficult to
work, but which is also correspondingly Btrong and dur
able That it is so thero can bo no doubt. In illustra-'
tion of its great strength, tho fact which wo mentloaed
last week may bo taken. Mr. Whitworth put Into
a rifle barrel, ono inch in diameter at the
breech, with a boro of ?49 inch, a leaden ydug 18 inches
long, as tightly as it could bo driven homo upon the
charge. It was fired with an ordinary chargo of powder,
and the leaden plug being' expanded by tho cxplosioa
remalnad in the barrel, tho gates generated by the guu
powd«r all passing out through the touchhole. Tin
same experiment was repeated four times with the same
result. It is evident, therefore, that gunpowder cannot
burst the Whitworth rifle. With such strength, great
durability miiBt, of necessity, co- exist, unless tho quick
turn of the rifling should tend to its rapid deterioration.
wui b,.*o i. nuu mn I.IUB, in,. .L*uu}£ i lug^u i, uiuuuruiQ in
vestigations having proved that the amount of the force
expended upon tho rifling ol tho Whitworth rifle
scarcely exceeds two per cent, of tho total force of tha
powder. Perhaps the most remarkable testimony wbich
has been borne to tho merits of this riflo Is* that of
General Hay, tho director of musketry instruction at
Hythe. After admitting tho superiority .'of tho Whit
worth to tho EnSeld in point of accuracy, General
Hay saUl (at the meeting already mentioned) thero was
a peculiarity about the Whitworth small-boro rifles
which no other similar arm« had yet produced. They
not only gavo greater accuracyof firing, but treble power
of penetration. For special purposes any description
of bullet could bo used, from lead to steel. Tho Whit
worth riflo, with » bullet ono-tcnth of tin, penetrated 3t
planks, whereas tho Enficld rifle, with which a soft bul
let was necessary, only penetrated 12 pUnks. Ho had
found that at a range of 800 yards tho velocity added to
the hardened bullet gave a power of penetration in pro
portion of 17 to 4 in favour of tho Whitworlh rifle.
This enormous penetration is of the highest importance
in a military weapon in firing through gabions, sandY
bags, and other artificial defences. General Hay thought
the merits of the small-boro had never been
sufficiently understood. It has been recently
stated that the small-boro Enficld beat th'e
small-bore Whitworth, but nothing of tho kind bas,
General Hay states, taken place. It was also proper to
staU, lie said, tho exact bore of tho Whitworth rifle has
been adopted at Enfield without acknowledgment; even
the samo twist has been given to tha rifling, ouo turn ia
20 inches; still the penetration of the Whitworth w&i
two-thirds moro than that of the Enfiold. ' Mr. Whit
worth has solved,' said General Hay in conclmion, 'the
problem ho nndcrtook, viz , how to project, to the best
advantage, a given quantity of lead with a given quan
tity of gunpowder, and there is no gun in England at
this moment which will fulfil that condition to tbo sums
extent as tho Whitworth rifle.' In reply to a question from
tho presidout, Mr. Bidder said tho Whitworth small-bore
riflo, fired with common sporting powder, would never
foul so as to render loading difficult. He had himself
fired 100 rounds ono day, CO rounds the. next, then
40 rounds, and so on, and left tbe gun without being
cleaned for 10 days, when it fired as woll as it did on
tho firat day. With these. fads before us, proceeding
from the very highest authority, it will bo impossible,
we BUbmit, for tho War Department to continuo tie
manufacture of tho Enflold arm to tho excluiion of the
Whitworth Every soldier in tho service costs
tho country from L50 to L100 for all
education, and L50 a-year for his maintenance, and to
hesitato upon a question of 5s or 10s, or oven L10, in the
cost of tho weapon to arm tho Boldier, certainly appeare,
as Mr. Bidder remarked, to bo carrying economy in too
wrong direction. The Enfield establishment is in tin
hands of very good nnd ablo men nt present, and we
hopo they will have sagacity enough to prevent them
resisting achnngo which bus now unquestionably become
inevitable. ? ^^
A lawyer, on his passago from Europo, observed a
shark, and asked a aailor what itwas.who replied, 'uors
we call 'era see lawyers.' ,
A scufllo between some Irish labourers took place on a
bridge, and nbattlo royal cnBUing, ono of tho Hibernians
was very natety tumbled ovortho bridge. Whilst ho wai
floundering in tho water, ho loudly exclaimed to mi
opponent, ' Och, ye Bpalpecn, como and hit mo now if ye
Tho last laird of Macnab, beforo the clan finally br&t
up and emigrated to Canada, was a well-known cbarno
ter in iho country, and, being poor, nsod to ride inio
Aberdeen on a most wrotched horso, which gavo occasion
to many gibes at the laird'a oxponso. A young wag, «J
way of playing him off, askod him, in a contemptuous
tone, ' Is that tho samo horso you had last year, la'riir
'Nn,' aaid tbo laird, brandishing his whip in tho inter
rogator's face in so emphatic a manner as to nreciuuo
further questions, 'No, but it's tho same whup.
Tub ScnooLMABTKn'B Pkohisr.— ' Bojs, saw «»'
old schoolmaster BinlUngly, ono dny, ' I am about i»
bargain with you for good bohnvlonr. I dCBiro that you
will conduct yourselves with decorum for ono wccK, aim
I will promiso to show jou n cnrioslty-what no man
evor saw, and, having shown it to you, what no m-n
will ovor seo «g»!n '' An anxious woek followed-»
wcok of curiosity, bewildormont, hopo, nnd ploasuro ''
ombrjo. Out of echool it was all tho talk-' what no
man ovor Baw, and what no man shall ovor seo agai n.
What oould it bo ? Another and another day, ''''*'
last Saturday downod upon our gladdened youi'g near-.
Nino o'c'ock camo ; overy urohin waB nt Ills post ; booKi
nnd slatci nil in roadinosi; every tank fully con raittM
to memory. Altogether a ohnrminj! Btato of »«?'??.'
oolivo mind, nob wedded too olosoly to orthodox Mew,
would divine nt onco tha great ndvaiitogo ol '-?»'.
nnd kindnoes over oppression and cruolty. ii'-» .[
tluklc!' sounded tho bell- that boll had a voice m w™
ns a tonpuo. Mr. Birchom ontcrod, sontod hlurcll, ij»
raised the lid of bin desk, and drow tho wonilwfiiMiiinfc
forth-adjusted his ominous-loklnK sMolacles ^fraMi»
hia nasal projection, nnd proceedod to tho solcinu cl.
mony, saying, 'Tho hour hns nt Jenp'' «7v0Ji|. fl°.
hold In my u .ralsod flogern elnglo filbert. Ii - ^ d
bert Is a kernel;' ceremoniously breaking «'0 ?ll,c1llTf ,
expoBlng tho tiny thing to view, ho continue. , ,,„
no man over saw ;' then oponing his c»pnoion»j» ^
thruBt in Iho mystorlom kcrnol, crushed and «w» no
it ! ' U jys I' ixolaimod ho, with great cuipb a
' boys, you will nevor^-I shall nevcr-no mimov r «
bco that kernel oBnin ! To your lesaons, you r»nc«i
evory dog of you I'
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