be lightly greased with mineral jelly outside and inside, to protect them from rust. It is not necessary to repaint camp-kettles from which the lacquering has worn off.

108. Bedding returned after use in camp will be washed. Such bedding will be held on charge as “doubtful” until washed, when the condition will be changed by transfer voucher. Bedding returned by officers in charge of barracks or others will be washed, if possible, before being sent to Ordnance store. In cases of doubt the officer in charge will have the articles washed, and great care will be exercised that no dirty articles are put to stock.

109. Frequent washing of soiled waterproof sheets and saddle-covers is undesirable. Brushing of the fabric-surface and wiping over the proofing side with a wet cloth will generally prove sufficient. If, however, washing is found to be essential, the article will be soaked for at least three hours in lukewarm water. It will then be laid proofing side downwards upon a smooth table, from the surface of which loose gritty particles will first be removed, and the fabric side will be washed with lukewarm water and scrubbed. The article will then be turned over and the proofing side sluiced with lukewarm water and well wiped over with a cloth; afterwards it will be hung up until perfectly dry.

110. Articles made of wood—such as the poles of hospital stretchers, helve, staves, or other stores liable to be damaged by worms or white ants—will be examined periodically and wiped or rubbed over with mineral oil for preserving wood.

111. Exposed ironwork of cookers and their appurtenances in store will be given a preservative coating of mineral jelly (vaseline), which will be wiped off when the articles are required for use.

112. Black waterproof covers will not be stored in stacks, but will, if possible, be hung up open and exposed to a current of air. When this course is not possible they will be stood on their ends, and when issued will be packed in boxes or crates.

113. The felt covers of enamelled-iron water-bottles with corps marks, returned to store by troops, will, if considered fit for re-issue, be removed by the O.D., turned, and resewn.

114. Brown-leather accoutrements will be treated with preserving-composition, as directed for mobilization equipment in the Equipment Regulations, Part I.

115. As linoleum when rolled is liable to break in cold weather when it is being unrolled, it will under no circumstances be unrolled until it has been allowed to stand for at least two hours in a temperature of not less than 60°.

VI. PACKAGES.

116. The Ordnance office will receive and give receipts for such packages and chests as may be returned into store by regiments and departments. They will apply the packages in question to current services.

117. Chests, barrels, and other packages will be brought on charge and accounted for in the same manner as any other article of store; and when emptied all useless marks will be obliterated, and the lids carefully preserved.

118. Packing-cases may be issued free to units for the purpose of returning equipment and clothing to store, and for packing stores conveyed in unit charge from one station to another. Packing-cases so issued will be vouchered to the units to which issued.

VII. FIRE-ENGINES.

119. Manual fire-engines will be inspected when necessary by a competent person, and will be dealt with in accordance with the regulations governing the custody of stores generally.

120. Fire-engines will be exercised immediately after receipt into store and before issue to the troops. After use the hose will be unscrewed, and each length hung over wooden poles and pins, with both ends downwards, that the water may be thoroughly drained out. Fresh water only is to be used.

VIII. MARKING STORES.

General Instructions.

121. Stores supplied by contract, other than carriage, gun, and laboratory stores, will be legibly marked by the contractors with the names of the contractors and makers, and the year in which the supply is made, except where the articles would be injured thereby.

122. All accoutrements (except enamelled-iron water-bottles), arms, and articles of harness and saddlery, whether new or part-worn, will be marked with the date of issue before being handed over for the use of the troops, in accordance with the detailed instructions laid down in these regulations.

123. Condemned tents, marquee roofs, and walls will be marked with a 2 in. condemned-mark stamp in from three to six places on each side, according to the size of the tent, if sold whole as tents.

124. Articles issued on payment and by sale will be marked,

when the nature of the stores will admit, with the sale-marks of the department.

125. Stores taken into use will be conspicuously marked with the letters A.U. to distinguish them from those on general store charge.

126. Each package of stores will be distinctly marked with-

(1.) Station monogram WN Wellington.
(2.) Station group A Example : A
(3.) Number of package 507 507
Section IV.-Small-arms and Machine Guns.
I. CUSTODY AND PACKING.

127. On receiving a supply of new arms or machine guns they will be carefully examined to see whether they have sustained damage in transit or otherwise, and action will be taken accordingly.

128. When possible arms, especially service rifles, will be kept in store racked. On no account will they ever be piled or racked horizontally.

129. Oil, petroleum, Russian, lubricating, will be used for lubricating actions and cleaning arms in store. For preserving arms a composition consisting of 95 per cent. mineral jelly and 5 per cent. beeswax will be used for all descriptions of arms, including bayonets, swords, &c.

130. Arms placed in racks will be constantly dusted, and wiped over with "oil, petroleum, Russian, lubricating"; the mixture specified in preceding paragraph being used for the interior of the barrels, also between stock and barrel, every two years or oftener as may be necessary. The cleaning will be performed continuously so that the ordinary working staff of the station may be able to get through the work.

131. A label showing the date of inspection will be attached to each rack or chest.

Rust in the metal and an appearance of salt in the stock will be looked for, and removed without delay.

132. The senior armourer will supervise generally the packing and unpacking of arms. He will make arrangements to prevent the men injuring the floors or littering the part in which they are working by dropping waste, hemp, or oiled rag, and he will see that the work is performed in as cleanly and neat a manner as possible.

133. On receipt of arms, the duty of receiving, tallying, &c., will be performed by the receiving foreman and his assistants, and when this is completed the senior armourer will inspect and report upon the condition of the several articles. The particulars of examination are specified in subsection II of this section.

134. The instructions for armourers in the care, repair, browning, &c., of arms will be carefully followed.

Arms provided with fore-sight protectors will always be issued or received with fore-sight protectors on them.

Unless removed by the troops, arms and machine guns and spare parts will be properly packed before issue, to prevent injury during transit.

135. For this purpose there are approved patterns of arm-chests to hold twenty arms each, and cases to hold from two to ten. There are also approved patterns of chests for all machine guns, spare parts, &c. The packages, before being selected for packing arms, will be free from damp and fit in all respects. For securing the lids screws will be used.

136. Arm-chests and machine-gun chests, on being emptied, will have the fittings and screws carefully placed to secure their safety. Under no circumstances will the fittings be thrown in loosely.

137. Arm-chests, whether full or empty, will be placed in dry airy storehouses, free from all damp, the lower tier of chests being raised about 4 in. from the ground or flooring.

138. Normal- and short-butt M.L.M. and M.L.E. rifles will be packed with grooved slips, the front or grooved part being used for normal and the back or plain side for short butts.

When packing long-butt M.L.M. and M.L.E. rifles about 1 in. must be planed off the plain side of the butt-slip, the grooved side being used to take the muzzles. With the addition of a 1 in. slip these butt-slips would again be available for packing short-or normal-butt rifles, the plain side for short butts and the grooved side for normal butts.

139. When arms with different lengths of butts are placed together, long-butt arms will be placed in pairs, one above the other, and the same will be done with the normal and short butts, as they will not pack securely if intermixed. In packing it would be advisable to commence fitting the first and second butt-slips from either side, fitting the middle slip last; this method will prevent an undue strain being placed on the last arm, which might otherwise be the case should the butt-slips be fitted from right to left or vice versa. The top bridge fittings should then be raised to see that the rifles are evenly distributed.

140. Short M.L.E. rifles are packed with end fittings, the nose-caps of the rifles entering recesses at one end, and the butt being placed in grooves at the other. Four pieces of 1/2 in. board are used when normal-or short-butt rifles are packed, to place behind the end fittings, in twos, one above the other, to shorten the distance between them, two being used for normal butts and four for short-butt rifles. When the chests are used for long-butt rifles these pieces must be screwed to the bottom of the chest. The grooves for butts and the recesses for nose-caps in the end fittings should be lined with strips of old woollen rag as the rifles are packed. The back sights of short rifles should be tied down with string, passing round the fore end, to prevent damage to the rifles in transit.

141. Special arrangements will be made when a chest is to contain less than twenty arms, or a mixture of arms and sword-bayonets. When there is an odd number of arms the outside butt-slip will be screwed on to the ends of chest, as in this case it does the duty of the sides of the chest.

142. When arm chests or cases are returned to store with fittings incomplete a charge will be made for the missing fittings, as per Vocabulary of Stores.