THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
213 
“ It therefore appears to me that much waste of time, labour, and money would 
be avoided by now deciding that these mortars shall be delivered, and at once put 
together by the contractor, upon two suitable platforms to be immediately prepared 
for them in the Practice Range, Woolwich Marshes. This will avoid taking down 
and a subsequent second putting together, and will retain the contractor still 
responsible for any possible defect in work, material, or fitting, upon the first pre¬ 
liminary proofs, with small charges, but from which he would be relieved if the 
mortars be handled or put together by any other parties. 
“ (6) The peculiar construction of these mortars makes it likely that some parts 
may, after the first round or two, require some slight readjustment demanding 
lathes, &c. These are at hand at Woolwich (as are the contractor’s tools) but 
not at Shoeburyness, to or from which the delay and cost of carriage of such masses 
would be serious. 
“ (7) The preliminary proofs of these mortars should be made with low charges, 
and not with live shells, nor at ranges exceeding half a mile, if so much; so that 
no difficulty or danger can arise in conducting such trials at Woolwich.” 
Mr. Mallet proceeded to remind Lord Panmure of a stipulation he had 
already made that the control of these proofs should rest with himself, as the 
designer of the mortars, and that no experiments should be made with them 
until after their final proofs, without his having previous due notice and 
being present. 
12. The Commanding Loyal Engineer at Woolwich reported that it 
would cost about £300 to lay a foundation of Dartford gravel for one 
platform. The platform was estimated by Lieut.-General, then Lieut.- 
Colonel Tulloh, R.A., Superintendent of the Royal Carriage Department, 
to cost £150, and it was finally decided by the Minister for War—very 
much against Mr. Mallet’s remonstrances—-to limit the experiments to a 
trial of one mortar, for which the preparations were not completed until the 
15th October, 1857. It will be convenient to give the practice in its 
entirety, before referring to successive accidents which caused interruptions, 
and led to its being discontinued at so early a stage, premising that it was 
fired by a piece of Bickford fuze passed in through the vent and inserted 
into the neck of one powder bag in the centre of the charge, and ignited 
by the usual method. The vent was bored through the lower chase¬ 
ring in advance of the chamber. The charge itself was at first introduced 
in 51b. bags, afterwards in 101b. bags; and it was not the least curious 
part of the spectacle to see the artilleryman standing in the mortar to arrange 
these bags. 
The shells were provided with a metallic fuze, which was well primed, and 
ignited separately by the flash or by a leader of Bickford fuze. It was 
supposed possible that in consequence of the comparatively small charge and 
the large diameter of the shell, the flame might fail to do so. This return 
to a practice of the infancy of artillery is one of the many singular circum¬ 
stances attending the trial. 
