WAR ROCKETS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 70, 22 March 1877, Page 4

WAR ROCKETS.

It is not generally known that among all the destructive instruments of war now in use, there" is ouly one nation (England) thftt haa^actuaUy' used The Ball' Wai" Rocket, although' "ita' termor and destructiveness have often been felt By the' ' enemies Yof^ the British. Many bave read how effective tbey were at Magdala in She Abyssinian expeditfon;; with Sir John 'Glover And Major Sartorius through the dense forests of Africa,' where nothing else would drive ithe negroes out of it; in our late^attacka at Perak; aod again, a short time; since, with Sir William Hevvlt, up the river Congo. These' war rockets are portable, have great precision and range, and are far cheaper than any other weapon of war, offensive or defensive, in existence. The ' extreme t-ahge of a' twenty-four pjdutider rocket baa been ascertained beyond' a doubt, to be 6,200 yards, and first-rate practice^, has . been made at targets at 5,000 1 yards; their shells can he filled with any combustible matter. -The stands for firing; the 1 rockets from afie varied. The field stand for %(?_ aingle. rockets; small mountain stand, iwhich can be carried up a mountain'l under the arm; sea-service stand, wliichCis fast'ehed to the gunwale or side of the giih-bo^t or cutter; and the rocket mitrailleuse. The latter is an instru ment from which tiie instantaneous discharge of seven rockets is made. The 'destructive and demoralising effect of such a volley among troops is truly appaifing'; it also spreads like a fan, and seven these are ugly rockets is delivered into , seven different places at the same moment. yThey, have recently been adopted by the Xjovernment of Portugal in lieu of the Congreve rocket, and have also been supplied to China, Siam, Afrjca, the Transvaal Republic,, and ot_er States; but no recommendations can be more valuable than those qf such distinguished officers as Lord Napier de Magdala, Baker Pasha, Major Sartorious, V.C., Ste, who praise greasy their portability and precision of fire. The last-named officer writes: 4^ They are the best, if not the only sort of artillery tt&t could be used in such a campaign or march as that made by Sir John Glover from the' Voita to Coomaasie; two men could carry the trough (stand) and twelve rockets, we only put six to one load. Ibave fired them up to 1,200 yards with the greatest accuracy, and have-never had aa accident or even a miss-fire."