The Berlin correspondent of the Times believes be is in
a position to affirm that the Staff of the German Army have not only adopted the repeating-rifle, but have armed the four divisions of the Army nearest to France with the new weapon. It is the Mauser rifle, with the stock enlarged so as to hold ten cartridges. The whole Army is to be immediately sup- plied, and the arsenals are working night and day, the idea being that the Army which first obtains the new weapon will possess a heavy advantage in the field. That is certain, even if the difficulties involved in the increased weight of the rifle and the wastefulness of the firing should prove serious, for the slaughter in the first ten minutes of actual collision will prove so dreadful, that the troops unprovided with the weapon will not face their enemies. Great is discipline; but brave men with arrows will not face brave men with rifles. What we want to know is whether a further improvement is not possible. Ramrods are extinct; but suppose the ramrod could be replaced, lengthened, and allowed to fall from the rifle to the ground ? Would not a volley from rifles on rests be far more deadly than a volley from the shoulder ? Every man might then be made a marksman.
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