VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 242, 17 October 1906, Page 7

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

(By RIFLEMAN.!

The reunion of the Conttngenters- on Friday next promises to be something huge in the way of notability. I was told yesterday that there are to be representatives from every Maoriland Contingent which went to South Africa, every Queensland Contingent (mark that:), from the New South Wales, Victorian, West Australian, Tasmanian Contingents, Strathcona's Horse, Imperial Light Horse, Scottish Horse, Imperial Yeomanry, Katt'raria Kifl.ee, and of many of the Imperial regular troops. There -will be a V.C., a C.8., two D.S.O.'s, four D.CM.% and men possessing bars given for every engage- | nient in the long war. There's a record for you! l< Christchurch and its big Exhibition reunion can beat it, I shall be rery surprised. Jt is anticipated that there will be between -'00 and 300 "veterans" of the war present, and Colonel Davies, C.U., will be in the chair, with Lieut.-Colonel Abbott and Captain Bosworth as vice-chairmen. Tho dinner is to be held in the Strand Cafe, and a proposal will probably be submitted for the formation of a Contingent Club. There is every reason to believe that the function will be encn. a success as to be redlettered la the military annals of the colony. The A Battery is to be inspected by Col. Davies, C.8., on Thursday. The resignation of Captain C. T. Major, D.S.O. (N.Z.M.), has been gazetted. I The A Battery holds a competition at Penrose on Saturday for some shooting prizes the company has iv band. The appointment of Oapt. J. G. Berry to the command of the No. 2 Waikato M.Il. appears In the "Gazette." I hear that Major Patterson ls contemplating the holding of another church parade for the Division of G.A. The No. 1 G.A. has got two teams in training for the Christchuj-ch Exhibition Bports, and one began wort on Saturday. The Gordon Rifles, who have been holding fortnightly drills for the pact two months, resumed their weekly parades on Friday last. Eight X.0.0.'s of the No. 1 G.A. went .np for examination the other night, and T believe all got through safely, ami justified their claim to the stripes. The G.A. Division parade on Wednesday, 21th iust.. for inspection by Col. Davit*, C.B. It. is hardly necessary to add that absentees without leave will be lined. The question of adequate provision being made for the practice of shooting was not lost eight of by Major-Genera 1 Finn in his final report. 9 An examination is to be held on the 31st of this mouth for the N.C.O.'s of the No. I Battalion, who have been attending Staft S.M. Attwell's class of instruction. On Thursday. October 2-". f'olouel Davies. C.8., is going to give a lecture to the lion. corns, of the aUrrison in their t'lub Koom, his subject being "Outpost Duty." The No. 9 G.A. are to be inspected by Colonel Davies, C..H., to-night. Captain Hazard will probably be on parade, although he is not by any means recovered from his recent operation. I'arade Is at half-past 7. It has been decided that the No. 1 G.A. will camp at Fort Bastion in the early part of January, and the Lady Roberts Is to be put on to convey the company to and Eroin the city during the camp. Congratulations to the Franklin Mounted Rifles on their victory over the Victoria Kiiles with a margin of n> points. To beat the crack corps of the garrison—possibly the crack corps of the colony—is something to feel proud of. T7ip. "Scouts" challenge cup, presented to the Pukek'ihe M.K. by Limit. Nathan, is to be competed for on December 8 on the grounds of the Helvetia Ostrich Farm. I published full details of the competition a month or so ago.

The No. 3 Native RiQp? intend to hold n church parade next Sunday, falling in at th.? Reservoir (Newton) at 10.15 a.m., in full dress, with brown belt, pouch, and frng bayonet (no pourbe S >. it i≤ desired that every man -will attend.

The "A" Squadron, A.M.R., are making excellent progress in their class-firing, which is continued every Saturday, under Lieut. Potter. I believe that several very promising shots are being unearthed tinder Jiis careful coaching.

A meeting of tho S.C.O. Club is to De held on Monday next (22nd October), to choose a team for the triangular match with the Otacers' Club ami ihe "Kull Privates" Club." Last year tho N.C.O.'s pnlltd oil the. mutch, with the Officers second.

Between this and the annual camp in December, the A Battery proposes to hold some week-end camps by way of getting the men into form for the ramp, and so obviate the necessity of allowing them time to settle down when the big work begfup. It's a good scheme.

Tlip Battery has been advised that Master Gnnner Richardson is to attend the annual ramp of the Artillery to superintend the annual practice. This means, apparently, that the StaCf Officer (Major Johnston) will not be up here. The camp takes place in December.

On Saturday -sveek the No. 1 G.A. spends the aff.eruoon aud evruins at Fort Bas|foii practising fort-manning. In the eveiilUß. I understand, the No, !i G.A. -v.-ill lie in charge of Tafcapuna, and will work iv with the No. 1 G.A. The latter return to town about 10 o'clock, having tea at the fort.

I hear that it has been dwided to postpone the inspection of the "A" Squadron, A.M.R.. ordered for Ike. 27th October, as all arrangements had liecu made for the tivk on tliit date to Papukiira. The trok will therefore take place on the 27th, the inspection having bacii put off till next mouth. f>

Thp committee of Ihe Akarana Rifle Club anticipate a very sufCPSsful season, nppiicatious for rar-uibershlp being very uumcrou«. The first m-atch for trophies takes place on Saturday aftprnoon, and given a live day, goad scores will result, as so many members showed suth live form at the opening function last week.

Colonel Davias. V.M., luspected tlie No. 1 <i.A. on Friday last, ana the members rolle/1 up GO 6trong —further evidence that the company has revived. During the inspection the company was searchingly examined by the Colonel and Captain i'itkington, and the former expressed his pleasure at the excellent muster and the work of the men.

"I regard a man who is a Qualified marksman without any military experience whatever, at least nine-tenths a perfect soldirr; and a great national reserve with ninetenths' perfection for immediate enlistment in the- event.of a demand for a large number of troops would add untold strength to the .defences of ii nation."—Major-General Corbin, United States Army.

At the parade of tho (Jordon Illlles on Friday night Captain Kay presented the marksmen's badges won last year. The recipients were Cotonr-Bergeaiit Cairn, Sergts. Woods, i'arker, Martin, and Davis. The first-named has now worn the badge for the past seven years. A (iovernment grant of 10/ per man accompanies each badge, which should be an incentive to volunteers to qualify for this distinction.

A fnll account of the Akarana K.C. 6eason appeared in Monday's "Star," so I Deed add Uttle to it. It is worthy of remark that some flue shooting was done In spite of the wind. Messrs W. Cox and W. Marks (a new member) scored 40 out of the 50 at 200, and at 500 yards Mr J. Carlseu made 47 and Air WJiloughby 45. The best aggregates were those of Mr Carlseu (Iβ) and

The No. l Native miles flrecl for Messrs llallenstein Bros.' (N.Z. Clothing Factory) tronUy on Saturday last at I'enrosp The iT.iirtlt.'ons for this trophy provide Unit it Is t» \>p won twice In succession or three times ;it intervals, and to lie sl-.ot tor the second Hanirany in every month. Private Urlttiths pot brst scoa-e on Saturday, making ol> at MO aud euu yards.

While entries for the "A" series of allcomers' events at the National X.A.'s pCS.TV.) prize meeting show a great fali-ing-off, being 320, as against 405 last year; still for "B series 420 have been received as against 4SO, -which is -very satisfactory, as over 320 beginners have entered for the new "C" series. New Zealand. Tasmania, and Western Australia will, for the first time for many years be unrepresented.

There is to be a general parade of the No. 1 Battalion on thfi 30th of this month. Lieut.-Col. Reed is at present ou the sick list, but there is no reason to doubt that he will be fit for duty by that time. He was seized with illness—iufluenza, I believe —the day after the last parade of the Battalion, and was unable to go to his office for a week. He is now recuperating for a few days at Okoroire.

On Saturday night the Xo. 0 G.A. hold a "6moke," probably in the gun-room at the Drill Hall. The entertainment is being tendered to the company by the officers in celebration of the triumphal march of the football team through the recent tournament. The cup presented to the union by Captain Hazard, and the championship caps, will be presented during the evening. Major Patterson, other officers, and delegates of the union will be amongst those present, and an enjoyable time i 3 promised those who attend.

After the match at Cleverlon on Lβhour Pay was concluded, both teams adjourned to the local hotel, where the Victorias were the guests of the Franklins at a dinner and smoke concert, and a very enjoyable evening was spent. During the evening Captain Skinner congratulated the Franklins oa their win, and on behalf of his corps Invited the Franklins to come down to .Penrose next year and fire a return march and stay overnight, so as to give hie team an opportunity of returning the hospitality they had always received at tile hands of the Franklin M.it.

The Gordon Rifles' Shooting Committee meets after the parade on Friday night to arrange details for the. annual competition for the Abbott Challenge Shield, which was presciiteft to the corps by Lieut.-Colonel A-hhott, formerly their captain, on his return from South Africa. The. present holder is Colour-Serceaut Cairn, who won lt. alter a keen competition with Serseaut Jlartln by the narrow margin of one point. A gold medal accompanies the shield, and it is anticipated that the competition this year will be particularly keen, as one or two promising shots have been discovered among the recruits of the compaxry.

The Cordon Highlanders have presented a challenge trophy to the riflemen of Australia and New Zealand for an annual Interstate service match. Conditioue provide for teams of eight mm each and a commander. The match is to be fired once in every six years ln New Zealand, iv other years it will take place where the Federal match is being decided. The first competition will be. held at Launcestou on December 27, and the sacoild in Queensland next year. The teams will be drawn up 12W yards from tho targets, ami in tuo advance will hall ''Vβ rimes nt unknown disi-inces. to shoor at the targets which will ape-pnr at trergular Intervals. Forty rounds of ammunition will be ißSiueil to each man.

The match of the Franklins and the Vlclorias cv Labour Day was tho fourth between teams from these corps, and previously the rosult has been ln favour of the Victorias. But for once even they—the premier shooting corps of the colony—have met their Waterloo, for the Franklins proved superior ar all three ranges. The win is all the more noteworthy when we remember that the Victoria Kififi.? nave not had to acknowledge defeat for the past 1-t yeans. I understand that not since the. old Walroa Hides were disbanded have, they met with defeat- Ir is a curious coincidence that this corps belonged to the same district as the Franklins, and in many caeee the members of rhe present corps are sons of the Late members of the Wairoa Rifles.

Th? "Blue Battalion" and the. three No Dive coinpani.'3 will lire their match nest Saturday at Penrose. The conditions are 17 men aside, the 15 highest to count: ranges liim and .■>!•) yards, 7 sbots and 1 Fighter at pach r;iD3<?. The following will represent the Natives:—No. 1 Natives: Lt. Atkinson, J.t. Mclntosh. Sergt. K. Smith, Corp. Stephens. Corp. A. Smith, m>. C.ritlies. No. •_' Natrves: Lt. Richardson, Sergt. Phillip*. Corp. Watson, I'to. Westray. Corp. McMurtriiy. rtc. Danteta. No. :; Natives: Lt. Krutschmar, <'01.-S.erg-:. King-. Sergt. Ilon',.>.s. Si-rgt. Flogan, Sergt.- Major Wllloug'uby. Emergencies: Corp. Lucas (No. l Natives); Pte. .Tellings (No. z Natives); Lt. BodLe (Xo. :', Natives).

Colonel Gordon, formerly officer commanding the Ca-nterbury Volunteer district, died at Wellington a few days ago, aged o4 years. Colonel Henry Gordon was born in Cape Colony in ISiJ. He \tm appointed ensign to the 216t Eoyal Fusiliers (now Scots Fuellierst, was transferred in IS6H to the 44th E:;?t Essex Kcgiment, and served three yr-irs in India and one In England before couiin? to New Zealand, lift arrived at Auckland iv the Bluejacket in 1807, and for some time followed farming In Is7"-J he joined the lipid force of New Zealand, and received his captain's commission in 187.). He was with the Parlhaka expedition as field adjutant, and early in 18S3 was appointed district adjutant for Otago, boing transferred to Chrlstchurch in 18H1, and received command of the district in l'JOl.

CapUilu Hazard, wno has been on the slcl; list for the p-ast five weeks, managed to get down to his office for a couple jjf hours once or twice this week, but he ia only slowly

recovering l'rom the operation he underwent. It was expected that ttie operation would be a slight one, but examination showed that much more spvere cutting was necessary, and the G.A. skipper had a bad time of It, being under chloroform for a long time. For ten days he had no sloqf thereafter, and after flve weeks he is still far from recovered. One satisfaction Is thai when the wound has hraled he will have nn more trouble on that score. He is K-">lns to make ai attempt to appear on parade to-night. Lieut. Ay left hae had charge of the company during his Illness, and has worked like a Trojan, 1 am assured. It is hoped that Australia will be represented at thn Blsley meeting next year. A move towards* that end has been made by the. Katloual Rifle Association of New South Wales. At the last meeting of the council, a scheme was submitted to Major .7. .7. Paine, that the association should graut £100 towards the expenses of the team. Objection was raised—Captain Holmes being among the number—because the team would a<lv.?rtlKe tbe Commonwealth, and it wa.s thought tbe Federal Government should therefore fliirl the necessary money. Eventually it vvaa agree.l that the ritle clubs should be asked to contribute .CI p-r club, and each member 11. There are over ]fif> dubs in the Ktate, with a membership of B<fK), and New South Wales share of the expense is estimated at £o."50. So that, with the State subsidies of £ for £, there should be no difficulty in raising the amount. A competition hold under tbe ansplces of the liuntly Klfles for trophies presented by Mr ,7. H. JSiccolls, of Huntly. was ilred oil Saturday (says my correspondent). The afternoon was dull, with a fairly stiff breeze blowing up and across the range. Owing to one member being prevented by no fault of his, the competition was not iinlshed. that member being allowed to shoot 7iext Snturday. The conditions were 10 rounds at »X) yards. Bisley targets, any military position. .So far the ten highest scores (including handicaps! are as follow:—Actlng-Ueut. H. C. Cummins 41. Pvt. K. ISoag 40, Capt. Klllot 40, Bugler J<J. Hall ;-!!>. Hgt. It. S. Hammond 30, Pvt. A. ./. Parkes 3U, Pvt. W. Heatley US, Corp. G. Penrce 35. Sgt. P. Stone 35, Mr It. G. Kainger (hou. member) ;::>. The same gentleman has donated a second lot of trophies for another competition to come off on the 20th In«t.

The Colonial Ammunition Company has presented some trophies, to be called the Great Commonwealth Silver Challenge Cups, value £100, for competition between the Stales of the Australian Commonwealth and New Zealand. The prlnclpn' trophy carries with it seven prizes (replicas of large cup, value £5 each, or £5 in cash, at the option of each member of the winning team. Challenge cups are to be held by the captain of the winning team for one year. The competition is open to teams of seven from any ship of the Commonwealth navy, squadron, battery, company, or rifle club of th« naval and military forces of the Australian States or New Zealand. The entry fee (17/6 per team) is to go to the funds of the rifle association of the State in which the competition is being decided. The competition is to take place at the same meeting as the Inter-State match. The distances are to be unknown, except that they are between 500 and 50 yards, siud the target is a man-figure appearing and dis"a'ppearlug eight times, remaining exposed Ids, tho intervals being from 20 to 30 sees. The competitors more as if in attack, and lire but one shot at each appearance.

The regulation that "the period for which an officer may hold the command of a regimen r, division, or battalion snail be limited to live reare, with, an extension o£ one year

jvhen specially recommended, provided that lor officers already holding such appointments the period shall be three years from the date of this regulation, with an extension up to two years when specially recommended," hae created a sensation in the Harrison, and the criticisms 1 have heard iv most quarters, authoritative and less so, are mainly antagonistic. It is feared that it will undermine the enthusiasm of the existing officers and make them careless or too careful of the future, even though it ls quite unintentional on their part. The aim, I euppose, is to get rid of the "old fogies" and to give the youngsters a chauce, but it ie doubtful if it will do this. It Iβ thoucht more likely to have the effect of driving out the best men at a time when they are most efficient, it may or may not create a good reserve of officers, but with the present difficulty Iv getting good men for responsible positions it seems like killing the goose with the. golden eggs.

The Franklin M.ll. are jubilant on account 'of their victory over the Victoria Kifles on Labour Day, and it certainly has ■created rather a sensation Iv shooting circles, for the Victorias constitute probably the crack corps of the colony. They had a margin of 70 points—which is pretty considerable — the details have already beejj published. The conditions were seven shots (and one sighter) at 300. 500, aud 600 yards, 17 men a side., the match being lired on the Franklin's range. The weather was ideal. Captain Shaw was in charge of the home team. Captain Skinner of the visitors, and Captaiu Shepherd (Kden Cadets) commanded the range. The Victorias were short of three good men (Sergeant Jacfcson and Privates Carteen and McCarthy), but It is not thought that these men could have made sufficient difference in the scores to have beaten the line team the Franklins mustered on this occasion. The- highest scores In the match were compiled by Sergeant .1. Whyte. of the Franklins, with an aggregate of ys points. The top scorer 1 for the Victorias was Private W. Cox. who was responsible for 87 points, l'rivate H. Kimpton, of the Franklins, also compiled 87 points. Captain Skinner and tk-rgeant White tied for highest honours for the best score at any one range, both being credited with 34 points out of a possible do at 300 yards. I hope, now that the Franklins have fought their way up until they have beaten the very best material available, they will by steady practice maintain the position they have now attained.