OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 7, 10 January 1899, Page 2

OUR VOLUNTEERS.

* The monthly inspection of the Ponfcoiiby Naval Artillery was held last fevening at the Drill Hall, by Lieut.Colonel Banks, officer commanding the Auckland district. Lieutenant iWatson was in command of the corps. After the ' inspection the. men were given company drill by Captain Grant, District Adjutant. The -battalion adjutancy, left vacant by the resignation of Captain Major, who rejoins the College .Rifles, has not yet been filled. Two other highly necessary battalion appointments are also vacant, and have been for, a long time past. These are the positions of sergeant-major and quar-termaster-sergeant, appointments to "which had been held over until the sergeants had undergone their examination. All the sergeants have now passed the examination, and the appointments should be made at once. The battalion also needs a bugler-ser-geant. A competition for this post was held recently, and Bugler Whisker, of the No. 1 Native Rifles, came first, but his appointment as bugler-sergeant has not yet been confirmed. Colonel Pole-Penton's complimentary reference to the creditable condition of the Auckland forces is naturally very gratifying to local vOltinteers. Encouragement of this sort should have a stimulating effect,' leading to still greater improvement in .the general efficiency of our' volunteer forces. Captain Bauine, of the No. 3 Native Rifles, left yesterday for a holiday trip South.. He intends visiting the Coast Sounds. Captain Ferguson, of the Paeroa ■Rifles, is still in Auckland. He leaves shortly for Australia on business connected with a 'calculator' he has patented, and it is possible that this will necessitate the resignation of his commission. In his absence Lieutenant Brown has command of the Paeroa "Rifles.

It is about six weeks since Lieut.Commander Graham« resigned the command of the Ponsonby Naval Artillery, yet no steps have been taken to £11 the vacancy. It would be a pity to see any retrogression in the efficiency of such & smart up-to-date corps as this, but the want of a captain must have a bad effect, and no time should be lost in making the appointment, lieutenant Watson, Who at present has command of the corps, is well qualified to fill the captaincy. It 5S possible that Lieutenant Grant, of the Ponsonby Navals, may settle in Christchurch, where relatives rtf his reside; in Which <Jase there will bo •another vacancy to fill. The defence authorities deserve censure for their dilatoriness in settling the accounts in connection with the last encampment at the Domain. The accounts were passed for payment, but many of the officers complain that their Vbiiehers have not yet been setlied, and consequently some of the tradespeople -who supplied the camp have not yet received their money., •to obviate this delay in future encampments, it would surely be better if a portion of the Government vote for encampments were placed to the ■credit of the officer commanding each district, so that he could draw upon •this amount by cheque in settlement of all claims and vouchers passed for payment,* afterwards, returning;.any "balance to the Department,. The present system seems very lax^ it is: alleged, for instance, that, some of . tlje accounts in connection with the last Easter encampment have not yet been settled. Another source of discontent is in the matter of 'personal payment daylight parades, for which each man Is entitled to receive half-a-crown. The money for the last parade is not yet itirthebming, although the volunteers understood it would be paid over immediately after parade. Some 61 the men get' the impression that their officers are to blame, and although this ■is, of course, an erroneus impression, jt has a bad effect. Class-firing has to be completed by the end of February, when the volunteer year closes. Some of the local officers told Colonel Pole-Penton that they could not get .the firing through in the time, but the Colonel reminded them that 'there is no such word as ♦'can't" in a soldier's vocabulary.' The firing muet be done, and td help ,H through Colonel Pole-Penton has arranged fbr six of the Permanent Force to be daily in attendance at the Mt. Eden Kifle Range, to do the marking. Tents will also be provided at the range for companies who wish to cornr plete their firing in the early morning. The range was opened for firing last Monday. It has been considerably improved, canvas targets of the latest pattern having been substituted lor the old if on" targets, and the old stones at the back of the range removed, thus lessening the danger to markers from splintering of bullets. A layer of subsoil has also been laid down from the 360 yards mark up to the targets themselves, in order to prevent ricochet. In order that classfiring may be carried out, the Defence authorities have issued twenty Mar-tini-Henry rifles to each corps for this specific purpose. .... ....... >~ „*.,, The next examination for officers will be held in March. Acting-Major White will be among the candidates. Tks result of the last examin&tibn for volunteer officers has not yet been made known; as a matter of fact, some of the candidates have not yet been called upon to complete their examination. Time was when these examinations were completed in the one night, but of late there has been dilatoriness' in this respect. Several officers are still waiting to hear when they will be required to complete the •practical' portion of their examina-* tion, and it is hardly fair to keep them on the tenterrhooks of expectation much longer: Lieutenant Ratjen was put through the practical last evening by" Lieutenant-Colonel Banks and Captain Grant, but Captain Napier and Lieutenants Russell and Gardiner ha-ve still to complete their,, exam. .The new battery of^gups for the A Battery will arrive here shortly. The recently formed Engineers' Corps have had their new blue serge uniforms served out to them, with field service caps. The Commandant of the Forces would have liked to see the new corps in kha-rkee, but their commander, Captain McGee, held out for the blue uniforms, an<l,he has had his way. The Newton Rifles, by the way, have adopted, a fern emblem on the collars of their uniforms, and the writer understands that the No. 1 Natives view this with disfavour, as they consider it an appropriation of their distinctive badge. The Natives adopted the fern as a distinctive emblem when the. corps was originally

formed, and if. such emblems are used indiscriminately by other corps they must lose any significance attaching to them. Colonel Pole-Pentbn has more than once laid "stress upon the good effect of a distinctive badge for each corps, as productive of a. healthy esprit de corps.

The new district adjutants have not yet, I believe, been engaged in the Old Country: At least three Imperial officers are. to be obtained to fill the position of adjutant, with a view to increasing the efficiency of our volunteer forces. After two or three years the intention is to allow colonial volunteer officers to apply for these positions, and if they prove themselves qualified they will be appointed at a salary.

By the resignation of. Captain Chatfield the No. 2 Victorias are without a captain. At present Lieut. Dickson, the senior subaltern of the corps, is in command, but an election will be held in a week or so in order that the vacancy may be filled. Lieutenants Dickson and Abbott are the two candidates for the appointment.

The late Major Devrora was a member of the local Examining Board of Officers, a position which I understand he never.resigned,-although he had retired from active volunteering. Someone ought to be appointed in his place. Mr A, G. H. BUrnanad, who met his death by a gun accident last week, was an experienced volunteer, having been;coiinected with the movement for some nine years. He first joined the Ponsonb.v Navals, then transferred to the No. 1 Natives, nnd afterwards returned to the Navals, of which corps he was n member at the time of his death. He Was one of the best rifle shots in Auckland, and won many prizes for shooting.

There is some, talk of a bayonet exercise competition in connection with the Coromondel Fire Brigade sports on January 28. The first prize will be £6. It is not known yet Whether any Auckland teams will make the trip.

The No. 2 Natives, Newton Rifles and the Field Engineers Corps paraded for their weekly drill last evening at the Drill Hall, and were put through com* pany movements by the respective commanders, Capt. Oakes, Lieut. O'Sullivan and Captain McGee. Signallers from the various companies were drilled by Gunner Farquharson, of the Permanent Force, and squads of recruits were put through their drill by Sergeant-Major Carpenter, and non-commissioned officers.

The military tournament just completed has been the chief topic of com'ersation in volunteer circles this week. The Southern teams arrived by the Mokoia last Sunday week, and were met by Captains Major and Montgomery, on behalf of the local volunteers. ,The Christ's College Rifles were in mufti, with black and white ribbons, but.the Christchurch City Bifles travelled in strict military style, wearing their uniforms on ail occasions, and they certainly deserve credit for the smart, well set-up appearance they presented. Free entry to. the Exhibition and passes to the Native: Regatta were obtained for the visitors, and on Sunday they were treated to a fishing excursion, in which Corporal Dodd, of Christchurch, won the prize for catching the first fish. As a matter of fact, it was the first the worthy corporal had caught in His life, and his delight may be imagined. The visitors' engagements at the tournament kept them fairly busy and prevented much sight-seeing. Thg^ltffii'fi Coliejgr^^tfles" were the chief prize-winners at the tournament, their winnings totalling £30. They secured the aggregate (£10), bayonet exercise (£10), and finished second in the physical drill (£5)., and in the |fti^]a^Jand firing \ £s), ..• The Christ^ churcn City Rifles won- £10> the first prize-for the physical drill. Among the visitors to Auckland duir'i ing the tournament was Captain Fajrburn, of the Christchurch City Rifles, Who is well known in this city. He expressed his pleasure at the revival of volunteering in Auckland. Another visitor was Sergeant Colclough, of the Christ's College Rifles, Whose mother was a noted contributor to the Auckland press years ago, under the pseud-

onym of 'Polly Plum.' Lieutenant Matthews, of the Hawera Mounted Rifles, was also in Auckland last week.

Both the Southern and the local volunteers competing at the tournament in the physical drill, manual arid firing and other exercises, felt that it would have been better had the Ser* geant-Major been appointed judge. Without doubting in any way the ability of the officers who acted as judges, it, was, felt. that ,a Sergeant-Major would, from thenature of his training, be more conversant with the minute details of the drill, and that in Ser-geant-Ma-jbr Carpenter they would have had an officer wfidfee ability to judge was unquestioned, and whose decisions would have given entire satisfaction.

The gun-drill competitions, for which the 'A' Battery entered two teams, were robbed of a good deal of interest by the absence of any Southern team. The local men gave a good display, however. The Auckland Mounted Infantry deserve a. word of praise for their pluck, in entering for the tournament competitions while still so young a corps. Naturally they showed a lack of training, but considering their 'newness' their display was creditable. They ar^, goijttg .i,nto camj) in the Domain in a few days, for a week's training. The Mounted Infantry have issued a .challenge, for a tug-of-war against a team from the Permanent fForce, and the contest will take place at an early date. •

The Hawera Mounted Rifles originally intended coming to Auckland to take part in the tournament, but, at the last moment abandoned the idea. They were to .have had the use of the old sale-yards in Durham-street for stabling purposes.. ~..

The visit of the Southern teams should have a beneficial effect, on volunteering in Auckland. Besides infusing more enthusiasm into the movement, it will give our men an idea of tfte standard of excellence required when they visit, the South to take par ; t in tournaments there. The Christchurch volunteers surprised the local men by the excellence of their display, beating, as they did, both teams entered ' :by the Permanent Force, who have so many facilities for drilling which volunteers are without. The Southerners propose holding a military tournament in Christchurch at the end of this; year, and hope to see Auckland well represented. By that time our new companies will be well grounded in their drill, and should be able to send away some strong teams.

Many spectators at the recent tournament probably remarked at the absence of local teams from the competitions. It must be remembered, however, that the majority of our companies are newly formed, and have not had time to reach such a state of efficiency as would warrant them entering- for these competitions.

It should have been a point of duty with volunteer officers who entered the enclosure at the tournament to wear tb,ei? uniforms, but quite a number appeared in civilian .garb. If only a« a mark of courtesy to visiting vol-

unteers they should have worn uniform.