1-151-007 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Vultures', 1887. The vultures of the War Office and Contractor hover over a fallen soldier. This concerned a great scandal over the supply of defective weapons to the armed forces. Some weapons were unfit for service. Bayonets would twist and bend, as would swords. Guns exploded and cartridges jammed. The supplies too often arrived via a corrupt system of contractors, but would, of course, put Britain's fighting men in grave danger in the field. From Punch, or the London Charivari, April 23, 1887.