HC Deb 12 March 1885 vol 295 cc878-9
SIR TREVOR LAWRENCE

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been called to the following extract from the description of the battle of Abou Klea by the special correspondent of The Daily Telegraph:— Possibly much of the wildness of aim was occasioned by the excitement of finding that hundreds of cartridges jammed fast after the second or third shot. I have since been told by officers that this year our mongrel cartridge sticks worse than ever. Positively at Abou Klea, and later at Metemmeh, I saw scores of weapons rendered temporarily useless.…. I myself took up a Martini-Henry, but the third cartridge stuck; and, whether he can give the House any information on the subject?

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON

At present I can only repeat the answer I gave on Tuesday, that the matter is under examination.