VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 62, 14 March 1900, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

(By Rifleman.)

A movement is on foot to organise another volunteer corps at Waihi.

Private J. Carlson's score of 109 in the Government medal competition appears to be the highest recorded so far in the colony in this' competition.

Seventeen members of the Newton Rifles sent in their resignation this week, tlie volunteer year being ended, but as a set-off to these no less than .'.'s recruits have been enrolled, so thuS the company is stronger than ever.

Mr VV. it. Hloomtield has been elected senior lieutenant of the Auckland Mounted Bilk's, and Mr J- Wynyard, senior sergeant of Lhe corps, has been elected, to the position of second lieutenant.

The Akarana Kifle Club will hold a competition for Mr J. G. Buchanan's trophy (for "A" class shots) next Saturday afternoon. The "B" class shots will fire the same afternoon for a medal presented by Mr Adams. The annual Faster encampment 1~ drawing near, and there is a good deal of speculation in volunteer circles as to where the camp will be held, this year. 1 believe .1 am right in saying that there will be two camps— one at Potters Paddock and the other at One Tree Hill. The idea is to have two hostile forces in close proximity to one another, in order to give the men plenty of training in outpost and picket'duties, this: being the class of work especially-required of them in the event- of actual war. The Mounted Infantry will be used for patrol work. In this way the encampment promises to be of far more practical bt-mffit than most of its predecessors, where the bulk of the "time was taken, up with battalion drill and parades.

The new drum and fife band at- : inched to the Auckland Infantry Bati talion are practising steadily, and it iis expected that they will be far ! enough advanced to make their first ! public appearance at the Easter En- ! campniiant. As khaki uniforms are not available the band will be clad In white, with white helmets. Mr Nigel Ivan Markham has been elected first lieutenant of the Newton | Rifles. Mr Markham, who is, I underi stand, a nephew of Bear-Admiral ! Markham, has had a good deal ol ! experience as a volunteer, having held ■ a junior subaltern's commission in the Permanent Militia in England, and later in the Waikato Mounted Rifles. The 1 company have elected Colour-Sergt. i Bowles to the position of second lieuti enant, while Gordon Eraser, of the I No. 3 Natives, has been elected colour- : sergeant of the Newton Rifles in place jof Rowles.' : Captain Baume, on account of illhealth, has been compelled to give up i the command of the No. 3 Native Rifles. It is proposed, 1 believe, to ask Mr J. R. Reed, the well-known barrister and solictor, to take the captaincy of the corps. 1 hope that this is the case, and that Mr Reed will see his way to accept the command. I believe he would prove tho right man in the right place. I hope the members of the corps will sticktogether. Although their number i. small at present there will be no difficulty in getting the company up to its full strength with an enthusiastic captain at its head. Now that the 1809-1900 volunteer year is closed, it would be interesting to know how many rounds of a_nm_* nition were served out to the locaf corps during the year. As far as 1 can ascertain the majority of tho companies never received a round of ball cartridge until the class-firing came on at the end of the year. Volunteers who wanted practice in shooting had to buy their own ammunition.

Complaints are rife about the want of facilities for proper marking at tho Mount Eden Rifle Range. Under present conditions the marking is ot necessity so slow and uncertain that it is hopeless attempting to get matches completed in an afternoon, and the slow progress makes the shooting distinctly dreary business for those who are awaiting their turn. This is hardly the way to encourage shooting among the volunteers. Unless the Government wish to drive men out of the volunteer force in sheer disgust they will haveto pay more attention to the necessity of providing proper, facilities for shooting practice. When the flrebells rang out the alarm on Monday evening Major White ,who was at the Drill Hall at the time, sent a sergeant -out\to inquire where the fire was. the non-com came back with the news that Government House was on fire, whereupon Major White despatched the three campanies on parade that evening—Engineers, No; 2 "Natives, and Newton Rifles—under Captain' Reid, to render assistance at'the fire. On arrival at Government House they found that the fire was not there at all, but at a boarding-house some distance away. Lord Ranfurly, however, thanked Captain Reid and his men for the proffered assistance. It would be well if the question of an Ordnance Battalion was considered, as at present no- officer of ordnance can hope to get a higher step than captain, while that cohesion which is so necessary to the success of volunteering is absent. — Christchurch "Press."

With regard to the location of the Easter camps, there is an official expression that the camps should be on a large scale, and that where possible the volunteers of- each island, or at least two districts, should combine in a camp, and thus get the benefit of a real enemy in field movement. The fighting ships of the British Navy are of an. estimated value of £90,000,000, or about £20,000,000 less than a year's national income. Our battleships are worth £40,000,000, and our protected cruisers about £26,000,000. The guns of the Honourable Artillery Company now at the front fire 18 rounds a minute, and each time a gun is fired it costs £2. The first requisite of a colonial defence force is marksmanship and thorough acquaintance with the mostmodern type of firearm. Long range practice with all its most approved mechanical aids should, as was pointed out in these columns lately, form the staple training of our citizen soldiers. Our boys should be taught, from their earliest days to handle the rifle, and shooting should become both a "national institution" and a "national pastime.'—Wellington "Post." There are seventeen British naval and military uniforms in which the Princeof Wales may appear. His Royal Highness is a Field-Marshall and Colonel-in-Chief of the Ist and 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards.

He is Honorary Colonel of a number ot! volunteer battalions, and also of the 2nd Regiment of - the (Jhoorka Infantry, and the oth Bengal Cavalry. \ The Prince has also four foreign uniforms, namely, as Honorary Colonel of I the sth Pomeranian (Blucher) Hussars, the 12th Austro-Ilungarian litis-; ; sars, and the Kieff Regiment of Rus- | sian Dragoons, and a la suite of the ilst Prussian Regiment of Dragoon; ! Guards. I That an increase in the establish- ! ment of the forces is needed no one j will deny, indeed already (says ,-t Southern writer) we have had statements from the Defence Minister that ; there will be an. increase in- the gene-j I ral number oi' the forces. The only i doubt then that arises is, will the : suggested increase, viz., 2(100, be suili- . c'u-nt? 1 <uy unhesitatingly that it j 1 will not lie nearly enough. Already j I the Volunteers of New Zealand mus-' i ter a little over TOOU, but this number; ; .should be raised to at least 20.000. j ; This is no place to go into the matter; lof detail, but I think special efforts, i .should be made to raise more mounted i ; corps, while engineer corpus should! |be at least doubted in establishment.! |If the system was adopted of allotting j a maximum of say 5000 volunteers ot j all arms to each district the whole ; question might be got over. Each of ; these districts might be given say ' six mouths toivach a minimum of j three-iil'ili.. of the establishment, anil i it' this minimum was not raised within : the time specified the MiiitiaAct should |be brought into force in (hat district, j I don't think there arc many places jin the colony where Cue .-Vet would | need to be enforced. if uniforms I were supplied by the authorities on j the acceptance of a corps, one of the j principal di ill end ties, would be got I over. " j | There is an important article in. a' ■ recent number of the '-Spectator,"! | upon the need for encouraging rifle! shooting. All the men of military: age in the country, the "Spectator"thinks, should be urged to acquire a; practical knowledge of the riiie, and: then if they were embodied in a mobile force they would be irres-i sistible. The journal suggests as a ' feasible plan that the Secretary of State should order, under an Act of! Parliament, that all persons of a certain age should "pass" in rifle shooting or be liable to some extra: contribution to national defence. It! would also be possible to vote moneys for ranges, ammunition and rifles, and to have an enabling order b} r which any local authority could bor-: row money to make a range,. and apply for the guns and ammunition, and to pay to each person who showed proficiency a small annual granti of money so long as he kept up to the required standard, or to grant a liand-1 somely worded "diploma," which j could be framed and treasured as such j testimonials always are. But it would! be much better if a voluntary system j of rifle clubs should grow up as in I Switzerland. Even in the vicinity of! large towns it is possible, as the: Germans have proved, to make per-; fectly safe rifle ranges. A narrow! strip of ground, up to any distance j available, has a high earth-bank raised; on each side, which stops all stray! bullets on either.side. At the end is; a high and mighty wall, and to prevent! bullets flying ■ even over j this from ricochets, boxes! of earth and stones cross the ranges at short intervals, which intercept such grazing bullets., Where a road crosses the "line" a g-ate, like a | railway gate, is fixed, from which a red flag is projected over the range if crossing is urgent. The system is practically safe, and has stood years of trial. In, Switzerland the rifles are cleaned by members of the rifle clubs, who take their turns at the ranges in the ordinary course of business.