ARMY CLOTHING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 55, 5 March 1878, Page 4

ARMY CLOTHING.

The English Army has loug enjoyed the reputation of being the most expen-sively-dressed army iv Europe, says the Echo, and an examination of the am >uut paid annually for the clothing of each man in the service tend;) to confirm this notion, The most costly uuifonn is that of a Staff Sergeant in the Poofc Guards, to clothe whom entails upou <ho country a sum of £J S 4s 2d per man per annum. Clothing for the Sergeants of th : s branch of the servfco amounts to £7 8a 9d each, aud for the privates to £4 Ss 2d. The Life Guards cost £8 15s a year for each non-commissioned officer aud trooper; r i he .Royal Artillery vary from £8 4s Id for a Stuff Sergeant to £3 lGs lid for a gunner. Each Dragoon, Lancer, or Hussar coats £4 Gs Id and tho Staff Sergeant of the Cavalry a-e set down at £9 14a Id each, A private soldier

of the Infantry of tho Line figures for the moderate sum of £3 0a sd ; but the cheapest man to equip is the negro private of the "West ludia Hegiments, whose picturesque Zouave uniform is provided for £2 8s per annum. The total amount vo!ed for clothing the Army is £1,150,587 for the current year. This includes all expenses of the Army Clothing Factory and is liable to a deduction of £345,000 for clothing and necessaries supplied to the Indian G-overnment, the Volunteers, the 1 ustom House, the Foreign Office, and the Admiralty, which are paid for by those Departments; but, even with these deductions, the bill amounts to £804,5.87 — not a small sum to pay for " the pomp and circumstances of glorious war."