VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 80, 2 April 1908, Page 7

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

(BY "RIFLEMAN.") Secretaries of all YOlanteer corps throiignoat tte Auckland district arc invited to cuutribatc to this column. '"Kinernan' will be gjaj ts receive any item ot special or general interest for publication, not •nereiy concerning town companies, but equally concerning the country corps. It !a desired in these notes to leep volunteers throughout u?e province well Informed In ay tUe- co-Oi>i!ii'Lion of country corps v/itn the editor that this can be accomplished satisfactorily. News Intended for nubliealioii In the current week's Notes should De in this office by Tuesday at the latest. They shonH be signed by a responsible official, not for publication, but only as a guarantee of goo* faith.

Captain Forbes will be back in Auckland from Napier oa Thursday.

A 6-pdr. q.f. gun will be mounted at the Bastion during the Easter manoeuvres.

Col. Reed is at present in Wellington on Appeal Court business. He returns on Friday next.

Captain Carpenter, A.A.G., who has been on holiday leave at Brown's Bay, returns to duty on Thursday.

Captain Smith has been appointed as adjutant of the composite mounted forces, un der Acting-Major Bloomfleld, at Easter.

Wellington will do night firing with shell during the Easter at 4000 yards. There is a pretty clear course for the forts to work upon.

The No. 2 Natives fire the last match for the company's championship belt next Saturday. Sergt J. Mcilurtrie and Corpl. A. Danrell are leading at present.

Colonel Tuson will be in Auckland on the Tuesday before the manoeuvres. He Is to be the representative of the Defence Council at Auckland durins the manoeuvres.

The signallers of the No. 2 Company Native Rifles successfully passed their practical examination last Thursday night. The iowest points gained was 95 per cent Three men obtained full marks.

The Matata M.R. have decided to send up 74 men and 4 officers for the Easter camp. Ir is improbable that the squadron will come up hi time for the preliminary camps of the Seddon Horse and Te Puke M.R. at Takaauna.

The No. 1 A. G.A turn out on Friday in their blue uniforms, althougn It is a fortmanning. This is in order to giv< the Division a greater appearance of unity, as the other two corps have blue working uniforms.

Col. Wolfe, 0.C.D., to-day was to leave for the East Coast to see what could be done towards getting more troops up from that district for the Easter camp. He will probably be back by Friday, but it means some fast travelling.

Captain Richardson, D.0., was In Auckland at the end of last week, but he arrived too late for the battery firing. He held a conference with the G.A. officers on Monday nisht about Easter, and left for Whangarei yesterday.

The Auckland M.R. will hold an election for the positions of Captain and Lieutenant (two officers). In the first position, probably the only nominee will be Lieutenant Potter, and for the other two positions, I unuerstand Q.M.S. Holden and Sergeant Atkinson will be amongst those nominated.

There is to be a meeting of the Ist Battalion Auckland Infantry OfScers commanding on April 10th to disc-uss matters affecting the battalion, including, I believe, the awkward subject of handing over half their capitation for the uniform account! The band wfll then begin to play!

The Defence Department is calling for tenders for power launches for the Easter manoeuvres. The Amokura will be employed in the attack on the forts of Auckland, and Capt. Hazard, of the No. 3 A.G.A., has been appointed to accompany the steamer to act as artillery officer advising the commander of the Amokura.

Another sfcjige of the matches for the No. 1 Natives Champion Belt was fired at Penrose on Saturday last, Private Griffiths being again top scorer. His aggregate of 2C6 is keenly contested by Corp. A. Lucas, whose total Iβ 225. Great interest is being shown by all the competitors, and there Is every prospect of a very exciting finish.

The King'u College Cadets have increased to four compenies, and they are all going In for a brand new uniform of red jacket ami blue or blacl trousers, with artU'ery "porkple headge:w. There is to be a dram and nfe band adwed also. The Grammar School cadets havo an application in for two new companies iio be formed, and thov will then probably be formed into a battalion

The Ane&land M.R. fire a match with the No. 3 A.O.A. on Saturday next, ten men a-side. By a slip in writing up the note last weefcj I made the annual meeting of the squadron for last Saturday instead of the coming one. The Dalton "Cup will l>o competed for during the above match and also a handicap match will be held on the same scores. The trophies in this last are the Hallensteln rug and two prizes provided held^nX^ning 116 diU ™ WiU be

■ut -? e lnDe <- r whl S ll the Franklin at , °, n Capt. McKenzie told the guests that the squadron was in a very healthy position. I t \ acl about 90 members, and had £200 coming to it for capitation, besides being clear of debt The squadron had during the past year done very well in its work, and had been pronounced by the Inspector-General one of the very best mounted corps in the Dominion. Well done. Franklins'

The Franklin SI.R. had a very successful day at Clevedon on Saturday: Corporal C V. White, with 112 points, wou the Mounted Scouts' Ccp and Mr ' n Luks' military bridle, Sergt. Watts,' with 111 being runner-up, and winning Mr Luks' saddlecloth, and Pvt. G. Dow with 110 third and winner of Q.M.S. Buttermore's hunting crop. The skirmishing competition was won by Sergt. Oram, with 4S points, and Capt. Colbeck's military bridle S3l Shaw (43) winning second place and the same donor's shaving outnt, and Pvt G Dow (42), the third place and the horsecleaning outilt.

On Friday neit the A.G.A. Division will be called out for a fort-manning, in practice for the Easter manoeuvres. There will be no blank ammunition this time, for it is being saved up for Easter, but the lights will be going, and, it is possible that there will also be a vessel of some sort travelling As next year night firing "with shell is to be introduced into the competitions, this is an important branch, which the Division cannot familiarise itself with too much. It is possible that Col. Wolfe will be present during the evening to inspect the forts.

The Kirker Cup is not yet awarded, as there has been a question of interpretation of the conditions raised. It is whether shooting is or Is not to be included in the tests, and the majority of the officers seem to favour the awarding of the trophy on general efflcieacy, that is including the shooting. The question has been referred to Capt. Richardson, D.0., and his decision will probably be given this week. If the shooting is inolluded, Capt Hazard's company will get Gie cup, and if the shooting is excluded, Cttpt Forbes" company will take it The result is awaited with much interest, and it -'s believed that the judgment will favour inclusion of the shooting.

Captain Hazard, of the So. 3 A.G.A.. returned from b£s trip to Australia on Monday. He is much impressed with the probability of the Commonwealth's getting the nniversal servics? system. The meetings he attended and tts popular opinions he heard indicated a profound sympathy witli the movement, and even the Leader of the Labour party (Mr. Watson), opposed though he is to Mr. Deakin in other matters, declared himself "irith him in the defence matter, and mcyed the rote of thanks to him at the big sneering held in Melbourne not ion? ago. She new scheme is to be placed before i&e Australian Houses as soon as the Home Government has approved certain parts of the scheme, and there is a probability, therefore, that the scheme will shortly be adopted and put in force.

~ At : a meeting of the Ball Committee of the ■VC.O.'s Club on Monday night, it was decided to hold the annual ball on Friday "list August The annual trip of So. 2 Company Garrison Artillery and Garrison Band takes place on Saturday next, April 4. The p.s. Vvakatere has been engaged for the trip, , and will return on Sunday. On Saturday last, the twelve Gordonswho went to Penrose for practice, were divided into two teams, and a very interesting match resulted. Col.-Sergt. Wood's team turned out the winner, defeating Sergt. ilartin's team by the narrow margin of four points. At a meeting of the General Committee of the X.C.O.'s Club on Monday night, the following >\C.O."s were elected members of the committee, to nil the vacancies for the Garrison Artillery Division, viz.: SergtMajor Hill (No. 1 A?G.A.), Bomb. Dixon (No. 2 A.G.A.), and Bomb. Maxwell (No. 3 At tlie same meeting the Executive Committee were chosen, and consist of, in addition to tie officers of the club: Bat. S.il. Jackson, Sergt.-Major J. Robertson, and Col.-Serjjt. Gibson. Last Saturday the College Rifles completed the company shooting championships at Penrose range. The results were as follows:—A Grade: Sei-gt Cotton 1, 'LanceCorp. Baskett 2, Pte. Gordon 3. -B Grade: Pte. Gutheridge 1, Pte. Marshall 2. The signalling championship resulted as follows: A Grade: Sergt. Corbett 1, Sergt. Price 2, Sergt. Cotton 3. B Grade: Pte. Gutheridge 1, Pte. Marshall 2, Pte. Stone 3. As the general scheme of the Easter manoeuvres published by Colonel Wolfe is being extensively circulated, I need not refer to it at length. Lieut.-Colonel Porrltt will command the Red Force, and Lieut.Col. Reid the Blue. There has been an accidental omission from the list of the forces, which I am desired to note—that of the Ist Auckland Infantry Battalion, one half of which is to be attached to each side of the Blue and lied forces. The prospects of Easter are greatly improved, and the scheme promulgated seems eminently workable. There seems likely to be good attendances all round, and the camp will be a successful and enjoyable one. The scheme itself is highly commended. A match was fired at Waiuku on Saturday between Waiuku 31. It. v. Pukekohe H.E.—IS men aside, consisting of ten recruits, and eight trained men each. The recruits for Waiuku were those from the Pollok contingent. The shooting upon the whole was fair, and resulted in the Waiuku recruits beating their opponents by eight points, while the trained men also won by 30 points. Two ranges only were fired, -W and 500 yards. Captain Wyman was in charge of the visitors, and Lieut. Makgill the local team. In the evening the visitors were entertained at tea, when Capt Wyman said he hoped there would be a return match, so that they could have an opportunity of reversing the scores. He was asked to send in his things as he was leaving the College lUfles, and he did so. Or rather he seemed to get someone else—his sister or mother probably—to do so, and she did so, with peculiar results. The usual spick and span (or rusty dilapidated) rifle of modern make was displaced by a weird looking thing about six feet long—a relic from the past. It was a venerable antediluvian primordial sort of muzzle loader, the sort you have to feed by chewing off the ends of the cartridges, and pouring the powder down the niuzzLe—the ; eort of. thing they must have used in the Ark; if they had firearms. It was accompanied by a fearsome weapon like a Japanese "snickersnee," or other Oriental weapon, which did duty for a bayonet, or side-arm, a curved blade like a young scimitar, encased In a steel scabbard. Hut the quartermaster had no sense of humour, and he promptly caused a demand to be sent for the modern weapon. This thing should be iidfled to the Officers' Club museum! The A Battery have baa no luck with their firing this year. They were to have ' worked oaf their aeld-Oring during the last ■ week-end, and trekked across to Takapuna on Saturday. They arrived at Milford Beach about 11 p.m., and camped in Sur-geon-Captain Purcbas' paddock there. Next day they were early astir, and set 'off for the hills, but before they had' got settled down to work they were drenched to the skin by a deluge of rain. The roads were converted into rivers, and then to swamps, so that it can be easily imagined what a picnic they had with the slow-moving guns. A driver's life is not a happy one in such circumstances. They managed to get off an instructional series, but the light was too ' bail to proceed, and the shooting wa3 abandoned. It has been recommended to headquarters that the whole of the firms be done at another time, so that the Batget the firing done for the artillery shield. Col. Wolfe was present at the firing. On Saturday the Victorias finished their ' champion belt competition, under very favourable weather conditions, and some fine scores were put up. Fte. G. Farley again proved his quality by winning the honourable trophy, with lour points to spare. The principal scores for the day i were put up by J. Carlson. 43 at 200 yards, , and 47 at 500 yards; total 92. G. Farley, E. Farley, and J. Anderson 91 each. Pte. J. Anderson wins the Mclntosb Cup for best shot in E Class. Pte. F. Preston taltes | first place in C Class. The following are the principal scores:—A Class: Pte. G. Farley, 200yils 43, 500 yds 4S, 600 yds 43. 700 yds ; 40—total 174; Pte. T. Jack, 43, 13, 4(5, 3«— I 170; Pte. J. Carlsen, 45. 47. 38, 34—164; ) Pte. W. Cox. 42. 42. 40. 33—157. B Class: Pte. J. Anderson, 44, 47, 30. 44—Itio; Pte. J. Preston, 86, 41, 38. 37—102; Pte. B. Farley, 43, 48, 33, 2D—151: Pte. Jones, 41, 37, 33, 3D—150. C Class: Pte. F. Preston, 41, , 30, 36, 29—142; Pte. Vv\ Brownlee, 40, 36, 55. 14—133; Pte. Goldsmith. 3S, 30, 15, IS— 102; Pte. Blair, 41. 23, 15, 10—100. HINTS FOTt EXAMINATIONS. : The last General Orders contain some waluable hints to candidates for examination, i which I publteh for the benefit of caudidau-s. i General.—'Candidates as a rule do not suflicieutiy study the question before answering, ! otherwise tliere would not be so much irrt- ' levant matter produced. There is no neces- i sity to write the question before answering; numbering the answer with the questiua [ number is sufficient. Many candidates are not definite in their ! answers, using, evasive language For in- i stance, a question calling for a description o£ an " artificial field defence " is not answered merely by staring " I would strongly ' ;entrench "; or, furthermore, the question of ' '" What effect has certain influences on the 1 shootingV " cannot be considered an- < sweved by stating, •' Makes the shooting worse." The first answer obviously is a description of the art;- < ttcial protection; in the second case, a de- 5 finite statement as to vow it would affect \ the shooting is required. ' Musketry.—Musketry generally requires s more attention. Candidates should stud/ <■ Training Manual Appendix, 1905. c Field Engineering.—Light artificial shelter and trenches. Much improvement noticeable. This Important branch of an ofllcer's training should be followed up. a Outpost.—Reconnaissance, patrols, scouts t and sentries. Somewhat disappointing, only about 10 per cent seemed to have a practical grasp of the subject. T Camps, Camp Sanitation. —Generally only 1 fairly understood in five cases. No atten- t tion seems to have been given this import- f ant subject. Topography (Sketches). —Great Improve- 3 mout is noticeable. c Tactical.—Tliere is much improvement In c these answers. Except in a few casps, the idea of the question was grasped and kept in view. The appreciation of the situation, r and the operation orders thereon by the t field officers, show a distinct advance. I Practical examinations.—These examina- c tions should be carried out not later than r the weok following the theoretical examlna- / tion. Officers commanding districts arp to - see that this direction is adhered to. Thee practical examination can be conducted be- + fore tie written. It is unfair to officers to delay these examinations. a ————^—_^__ ° ■ r.