Still, it must not be supposed that there are no inconveniences in living in the open dui'ing a Crimean winter. Last night it blew fiercely, the weather was cold, rain and sleet fell in torrents, and man}' tents were blown down in camp. I need not say that those who were suddenly exposed to the violence of the elements were in a very sorry plight indeed. A bed with a lively little sewer intersecting it, is not the most agreeable thing in winter time. The camp view of the catastrophe is that " it serves them right for not pitching their tents better." But, at the same time, there are loud outcries against the new huts, and the letters " O.L.B.," with which they are marked, are focetiously said to mean " Officers' Leaky Bunks." It is considered that, if the Government had sent out hammers, nails, planks, and felt, the men would have done much better.
In connexion with the improvement and discipline of the army there are few subjects of more interest than the establishment of libraries to afford rational amusement and instruction to the men. Many soldiers cannot read, or do so very imperfectly. It would be an excellent i)Ian if a reader were appointed at some trifling pay, or if a succession of readers, one to relieve the other, could be induced to read aloud some interesting woi'k to such men as liked to attend dui-ing these long cold nights. Extra rations of fuel and light might be issued to such bodies of men assembled for the pui'pose. Lord Panmure proposed, I believe, that a central library should be established; but his lordship can be but little aware of the distance the men would have to come, or rather, of the ground they would have to pass over to any point that might be selected; and it would be a book of rare attractions that could draw them from Kamara or the fi'ont to the Col de Balaklava.
His lordship's further suggestion that two soldiers should be appointed as librarians, with Is. a day and free rations, seems to indicate that he was not confident of the success of his plan, and was very diffident respecting the literary tastes of the men; for two men, were they veritable Briarei, could scarcely manage a central library resorted to by a fair proportion of 40,000 men per diem. Lord Panmure exhibits great zeal in promoting the comforts of the men. He proposed, it is said, that the soldiers of the working parties should, on their return from the roads in the evening, be ordered to undress; that each of them should be carefully wiped down and dried; that then he was to turn in between his blanket and receive a cup of hot coffee; and that when his clothes had been dried, so that there was no dampness either from rain or the moisture caused by exercise, he was to get up and dress, and enjoy himself for the evening.
If any such order ever emanated from Lord Panmure it was never promulgated to the army. It would be rather astonishing to the survivors of the campaign of last year to bo subjected to these delicate attentions on the part of the authorities. It may be as well to echo " the voices from the ranks" respecting the new Enfield rifle. As it is admitted to be nearly a perfect weapon, there is no reason why the few defects alleged to be in it should not be pointed out to the authorities. In the first place, the men — and not only the men, but intelligent armourer-sergeants — say, that the new way of securing the barrel to the stock is not so good as the old method.
We have adopted the French plan of metal bauds round the barrel and stock, instead of the old English fashion of paissing bolts through the wood and through eyes projecting into the stock from the barrel. The armourers say that the wood expands, and prevents the removal of the barrel in wet weather — that the iron in summer is too loose, and in winter too tight. The men say the same. In the next place, they object to the ramrod, notwithstanding the recent improvement introduced into it by making the upper part below the ramming end of a greater diameter, so as to project beyond the rest of the ramrod into the fluting, because the ramrod is still subject to stick from the swelling of the wood, whereas it came out easily from the old metal sheath as long as it was kept clean.