OCR Text |
Show A NEW FRENCH CUN AND A - NEW CANNON. The order has been given by the French government to manufacture immediately a new gun, the model of lb74, Grag system, which has been recently adopted bv a committee of otlicers at the head of which is Marshal Mar-shal Canrobert. These arms will be exclusively manufactured by the government. gov-ernment. It will take about a year to manufacture manu-facture one million of these guns, when they will be delivered to the soldiers of the active army, and the Ixxlies of reserve and troops of the territorial army will practice with the same arms. The chasscpots will bo discarded and transformed according to the new Gnia-?vstem. France has now 1,800,1)00 ciiassepocs. It will take ft year to perform this transformation; so that, if we add 200.000 new guns to be manufactured during the same time, the minister of war, will possess, at the end of 1S70, 3,000,000 of (tuns i (Gras-syslem) with a Bupply of two hundrwl and fifty dozens of metallic cartridges for every gun. In reference to the artillery, the news is very satisfactory. France will possess, at the end of lv-5, four hundred and ninety-four batteries of cannons, with brass carriages, all breech-pieces of ordinance in bra?s. This system is known under the name of cannon-Refye. The result of these cannons is excellent, and Frenchmen can rely on them for every emergency, but, in tho beginning be-ginning ot next year, the manufacture manufac-ture oF the brass cannons will cease and that of steel cannons, Lcluf-Hc system will be inm:ur.ttodf This steel, the composition and fabrication uf which a.re nw perfect, is obtained at the celebrated Creusot-manufactory. The steel Lahitolle cannons will be used as ?oon as they are numerous enough to arm the artillery of the whole active army. As this army consists of eighteen diviriions.it will require a battery of eight for even- division, that is to say one hundred and forty-four cannons. France has again an army and this army is fully reorgftnirM. After the awful disasters of W0, it is perfectly marvellous that such a result ha? been so speed ;iy obtained. And in cafe of need, this army wouH h far m ire ready to fake the field than wnen Napnieon the Tiurd declared war scainst Prussia. L. A. B. |