THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE MARTINI-HENRY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2003, 30 May 1885, Page 2

THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE MARTINI-HENRY.

A field officer sends the following communication to a Home paper i-~ The failure of the Martini-Henry, and the Gardner in critical moments has unquestionably not only caused the unnecessary death of many a British soldier, but lias also made the defeats inflicted on tho Arabs less terrible and crushing than they othorwiso would have been, thereby, necessitating more fighting, and consequent delay, which eventually will enormously increase the labors and hardships of the campaign, with its corresponding death roll. The Martini-Henry was condemned by practical and scientific riflemen from the moment of its appearance. It was jocularly dubbed M.M. (Miserable Malformation) years ago at Wimbledon, where men at even the leisurely quiet of target shooting, soon learned its vexatious eccentricities, to say nothing of its want of accuracy at long ranges. The arrangement of the leverages on the ejector wero so flagrantly bad that even the official mind could not blind itself to the defects, and, after much expense in tinkering, tho action stands in that condition which is best described in the words of a war correspondent : " It is certain that from sto 25 percent.of therifles will jam afterfiring one or two rounds." The ammunition is so glaringly fragile that the veriest tyro at once recognises its weakness. But despite this, andthegencral fcoblerjess of the arm, the authorities, have gone on for years turning out these wretched abortions by tens of thousands, wilfully blinding themselves to the fact that the rifle, as a rjfle, has invariably been ignominiously beaten at Wimbledon in competitions such as tho f Duke of Cambridge's," while tho rifle thatalinosfc always wins tins Ipiorablo trophy was, in oxis.tonqo while op poldiers still had tho old Snider, This is no new revelation. Even the official mind, swathed in routine, and bound with red tape, had finally grasped the fact that our army was badly armed. During the last two years Enfield experts (heaven savo the term !) have been busily engaged experimenting in order to invent that which had been already invented some twenty years ago \ And aftor much labor and expense they have, 1 believe, produced a barrel that will shoot about as well as the rifle that has stood on the top of thetreeatWimbledonduringthepastdozen years. But, alas! rifles cannot bo manufactured like nursery-pinsjTommy Atkins, therefore, must perforce bo content with his Miserable Malformation, until such time a,B a cloudless horizon will onable the improved rifle to be manufactured and issued. Meanwhile, we must earnestly hope that we may be spared a conflict with a civilized foo, armed with mitrailleuses whloh may not bo as accommodating as our own maohine guns, which decline to be engines of destruction at the critical moment.

But, sir, who is to be hold responsible for these defects, and what will it avail to mourn over the sins of our officials? As with our navy, so with our army. The human material is magnificent, the mechanical a disgrace to this great nation.