2384

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 99

226. Units will have their arms and bicycles inspected annually by a circuit armourer detailed by the Ordnance Officer of the district. This arrangement does not relieve C.O.s from responsibility as to the care and repair of the arms and bicycles, and arrangements will be made by them for such general supervision of the work of the armourers as will ensure its being properly carried out. They will also arrange for the bicycles on charge to be inspected weekly by an officer.

227. Armourers will be supplied in advance by the Ordnance Officer with the components, including “ barrels with bodies,” estimated to be required for repairing the various descriptions of arms. Such supplies will be written off charge in the Ordnance accounts by expense voucher. On completion of the tour the circuit armourer will produce lists of the components expended on the arms of each unit, supported by the certificate of the C.O. that he is satisfied that the quantities affecting his arms are correct.

228. The Ordnance Officer, after satisfying himself that the components, if any, brought back by the circuit armourers are the correct balance, will bring them on charge by certificate voucher.

229. If on examination of the arms the armourer should meet with an arm which he considers unserviceable, or which may require more extensive repairs than he is able to execute on the spot, he will report the circumstance to the O.C., who will communicate with the Ordnance Officer with a view to the arm being returned to store.

230. The circuit armourer will forward a report on form G 22, showing the result of his inspection, to the Ordnance Officer, and a copy of this report will be forwarded to the O.C. the unit concerned.

231. When components expended in the repair of the arms of a unit are in excess of those allowed by the scale in Appendices 17 and 18, the Ordnance Officer will call on the O.C. the unit for an explanation, and the matter will then be dealt with in the manner indicated in para. 225.

232. The circuit of such armourers and the dates of their visit to units in circuit will be arranged by Ordnance Officer in conjunction with A.Q.M.G., and published in District Orders in ample time to admit of concentration of arms by dates arranged for visit.

233. The arms in possession of units will be concentrated as follows: Units in towns, at Headquarters; units in country districts, at Headquarters; units in sparsely populated districts, at headquarters of companies.

234. In cases of injury to barrels, the barrel and body together will be exchanged, but the price of the barrel or cost of repair only will be charged, provided the body is in a serviceable condition.

235. After every inspection of arms, machine guns, and bicycles by viewers of the Inspection Department, copies of the viewer’s rolls and reports, showing the repairs, &c., necessary to put the arms, machine guns, and bicycles in a serviceable condition, will be forwarded to the O.C. District.

236. No charge will be made against the troops for browning their arms, when the service is rendered necessary by fair wear.

237. Barrels of rifles found by circuit armourers at their inspection to be rusty will be cleaned by armourer and marked with the letter “ R.” The mark will in each case be placed on the “ knox form,” so that the barrels may not again be reported for rust at subsequent inspections, except when allowed to become so bad as to necessitate cleaning in the Ordnance depot.

238. Barrels of rifles and carbines found by circuit armourers to be cord-worn will, if they are not thereby rendered unserviceable, be marked “ W ”; those returned to Ordnance depots for store or repair and found in similar condition will be marked “ W.” No charge will be made against the troops at subsequent inspections on account of cord-wear.

The mark will be placed on the left side of the “ knox form,” at the rear end of the reinforce if the wear is at the breech, and at the front end if the wear is at the muzzle.

239. When brown-leather accoutrements require to be cleansed from dust and dirt they will be washed with yellow bar soap and water, and dried in the shade. Two bars of soap per month per company will be found ample.

240. To preserve and polish brown-leather accoutrements a dubbing composed of: 10 oz. of clean mutton tallow, 6 oz. of pure beeswax, and 3 drams of camphor, melted and mixed over a slow fire, will be used. These ingredients will make 1 lb. of the composition, which should be rubbed on to the grain or smooth side of the accoutrements with a piece of coarse cloth, using as much friction as possible to enable the fatty substance to penetrate. A portion of the wax will then remain on the surface, and dry rubbing will always bring on a polish. An application of this composition once a month will, in ordinary circumstances, be found sufficient, and an allowance of 2 oz. per man per month will be found ample; but whenever it is necessary to clean the accoutrements with soap and water an application of the composition should always be made before the leather is quite dry. When accoutrements get stained with mildew or perspiration, or otherwise, a slight application of lime-juice will remove the stains.

C. Harness and Saddlery.

241. The authorized proportions of materials for repair of harness and saddlery, as detailed in Appendix 28, are based upon the average quantities required for the repair of articles which have been some years in use. With new equipments the same amount of materials will not be required, and in making indents C.O.s will demand only what is actually requisite. Needles for the repair of harness and saddlery may be drawn annually, at the rate of one sewing-needle to five sets of saddlery or single sets of harness, and one harness-needle to four sets of saddlery or single sets of harness.

242. Repairs to saddle-blankets carried out by regimental saddlers should be done with grey worsted and with a herring-bone stitch, about five to the inch. The edges should be drawn together and not overlapped. The stitching in all cases should be so executed that the rent or patch, when repaired, may lie flat. Torn blankets can generally be repaired without patching; but when material is used it should, as far as possible, match the blanket.

243. All cuttings from the undermentioned materials supplied for repairing harness and saddlery, as well as the unserviceable parts and material named, will be returned to store as opportunity offers:—