Duke Tsai Tech bay'asked the Empress Dowager to allow him to go to England to study the politics and Government of Great Britain, and has stated that to understand thoroughly the subjects to be studied he must remain abroad at east thre years. preservation of strength in cordite is that the shell should be airtight, but when split-necks are found that virtue cannot be expected. Again a true car-bridge should not endanger the eyes of marksmen by blowing-back, his standard of morality by missing And on the local rifle range blow-backs and split-necks and miss-fires are caures of frequent regret. During the last three months the percentage of miss-fires has been nearly nine per' thousand and if the rifles are the cause the rifles need replacing.
The Hongkong Military Authorities, while not considering that the ammunition ik bad, find that the fault lies with the rifles. The tests made locally, howerer, were with now rifles in the handk of the premier marksmen of Shanghai, under circumstances specially selected as tests; and the general opinion ix that -the R. TI. ammunition is superior to the G. B., which by its somewhat erratic conduct locally "has been christened" Gone Bad." Moreover the forty rifles sent to' Hongkong were arms which bad not. been in recent use here and their condition was due to the gross carelessness of Volunteers who took no interest in rifles oF rifle shooting; and whose performances on the range would have not the slightest effect upon the stof or the keen competent Volanteers in forming an estimate of the quality of ammunition.
The War Office has, of course, ruled thateplit-necks, when alight, do not affect the quality of the ammunition but the precise lentyth of the split necessary to cause deterioration is not specified, and split of inch, which may be taken as an average, causes a slackness in the sbell which would probably allow air to penetrate to the cordite. But while unable to admit that the 1900 ammunition is unserviceable, the Hongkong auth ties readily agree to furnish ammunition of the latest manufacture on payment, j Jand no one could ask for more than tt, Five lores, like gift bores cannot be criticized unsparingly. Hongkong Military authorities in ever been ready to assist Shanghai and this last instance leaves nothing to be desired. If ammunition is obtained it must be paid for.
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.