VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 168, 15 July 1908, Page 7

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

(BY RIFLEMAN.) Secretaries of all volunteer corps througaut the Auckland dietrict are Invited to untribute to tils column. "Riaeman" rill be glad to receive any item of speial or general interest for publication, not nerely concerning town companies, but tjunlly concerning the country corps. It s desired la these notes to keep volunteers hrougboat the province well informed in lews of volunteer Interest, and It is omy >v the co-operation of country corps with He editor thnt this can be accomplished atisfactorily. News intended for pnbilcaion in thfr current week's Notes should be n this office by Tuesday at tile latest, faey should be signed by a responsible ofleial. not for publication, but only aa a piarantee of good faith. It is notified in District Orders that J.M.S. Henry Fendall, of tne So. 3 A.G.A.. ias been transferred to tee Reserve of his :orps from Jlay 18th. The No. 2 regiment AJJ.R. Is aniiouslj nraltlns the acceptance of the new squad ran. the ilaniopoto M.lt. It will ho com manded by Capt. G. Berry, and about « men have signed on already. A meeting of the No. 3 A.G.A- la to b< held to-night for the purpose of electing r successor to * :ipt. Lieut. Sforrax is the only nominee I have heard of, anc It Is probable he will be unopposed. Lieut. J. E. Duignan, who recently return ed to Sew Zealand, after a course, of mill Lory inspection in England, is to join th< headquarters staff as Instructor In engineer In?, electric lighting, and signalling. Tne N.C.O. Club is net satisfied with having its hands full of entertainment o: Fleet petty officers on two or three nights but has decided to put on the annual bal in August 21st, and the arrangements an even Iα hand. Fariey Is the third North Island Govern ment medal winner for the Victoria Rifles Pvts. Kerr and Carlson were the otlie two. The company has al3o twice har the second plao? man, and once the winne of the district medaL Surgeon-Captain James "Malcolm Masm Is promoted chief sanitary officer of th< New Zealand Medical Corps, with the rani of Lieutenant-Colonel. Major F. Head R.A., Director of Ordnance, has been pro moted as Llent-CoL In the N.Z. Militia. It Is worthy of note that officers com mnnding districts may now at their owi discretion grant leave to officers of th volunteer service desiring leave within th Dominion. Formerly it was necessary fo officers desiring leave to apply to beadquai ters. Col. Wolfe. O.C. District, last week, an Capt. Carpenter. A.A.G.. tils week, wen up to the Ohinemuri district to hold meet Ings about new volunteer companies whlc it Is proposed to form there. I understan' that the new corps are for the mountearm. Captain Forbes, of the No. 2 A.G.A.. r? tarns to Ancklnnd next week. It is undei stood that on his return he will reiinquis command of the company. There are tw or three candidates in the fleld for the car taincy of the company, and it Is not ea3y t forecast who will be chosen. Capt Dawson's lecture to the N.C.C Club last Friday was most interesting, an thervs was a good attendance of member to hmr it. His subject was "A Colonial' View of Tommy Atkins," and it was illu: trated with lantern slides, which adde much to Its effectiveness. Next Friday til Club holds a smoke concert. Sergeant Anderson, who made top scoi in the Victorias v. Battalion Rifle matel was last season the winner of the secom class championship in the Victoria Rifle: winning the Mclntosli Cup and medal. Tt Victoria's average for the 11 men In Satu: day's match was 8T for the 200 and 60Uydi 10 shots at each range. A rifle range has been provided for th Whangarel shooting men on Mr Johnson property. The range, upon which consi( erable money hns been spent, will be open*? on September 3rd. The committee in chars have the offer of a site for a range acroi the river if it should become necessary I change the location. The Defence Council has issued postei embodying the regulations for transfer t the Reserve. These will be posted In th drill halls of each corps, and it is hope the regulations will have the effect of d< terrlng men from (jultting the service aln gether when they are tired of the acttt work. The O.C. District has approved the fo lowing acting honorary appointments 1 Defence Cadets:—Lieuts. W. p Balhai (No. 1 King's College), R. L. Sinclair fS< 2 K.C.), and T. A. Wilkes (No 3 X.CLient. L. Gibson (Thames H.S.) Lieute. £ E. Gilbert-Smith and A. J. McGregor (Whi ngarei H.S.). The following rifle range trustees ha , been appointed:— Penrose: Lieut-Cols, t D. Holgate (Ist A.M.R.) and J. R. Reed a Auckland Infantry), and Major R. Gardnc A.W.L.; Hamilton: Majors W. H Hum A.U.L., and A. Bell (2nd A.M.R.). ai Lieut G. E. Barton (No. 1 W.M.R. Thames:.Lieut.-Col. E. W. Porritt (Hanra Infantry). Capts. H. J. Pearse (No. 1 Tham Rifles), and Yf\ S. Clark (Haurakl R.). The match between the Victoria Rifl and the No. 1 hattalion. flred last Satnrda resulted in a fairly substantial victory f the "Vies.." who put up a score of S ocainst their opponents' 032. The match w a good onp to watch, some of the scor being excellent—Sergeant Anderson, of tl Victorias, mnklnc top score of the day (SK with Pvt McGee (N«wton) and Lieut A kinson (No. 1 Natives) close up with 3 As the battalion team represented the s other companies, the Tie*.' " *™ * '" c ..creditable.

In District Orders it i* stated that in «, some instances O.C; volunteer corps have. '] amended drill manuals on issue without re- J ference to headquarters, and* it is, therefore, notified tnat before any snch,. alterations are made*" (In consequence o£~ known _ amendments in the Imperial drill) they must be approved by headquarters and by OX. district?!. The order, applies- to all branches of the defence forces. It Is much to be regretted that the Fleet , Review is not to be held- out at Cornwall "" Park. It is to take place in the outer Do- T main, where a level place big enough,, can- t not l>e obtained, and. where the ground, be- *\ ing a gully, win probably be a quagmire of mud. The authorities controlling the Cornwall Park piace were unable to give the use a of the ground hecause.it i 3 under lease for grazing, and this means that no horses or ■ vehicles can be allowed on the ground, because it would ruin the pasture. So the Brigade Office had to fall back oa the Domain. The compilers of the new Mounted Rifle Training \t3nnni have rather a grim sense E of humour. In their diagram of the minimum camp or bivouac for a "regiment of four squadrons they place the officers' lines immediately behind tne Idtcnens, . in close proximity to the kitchen refuse- '' tip. and immediately behind their mess tent are the sick-horse lines! This provision should eiisore that the camp is kept thor- \ onjrbly sanitary! Cmriou3ly enopgh. in the i minimum camp bivouac for a squadron, the compilers hare most thongb.tfnlly provided that the officers' tents shall be pitched so p tnat the prevailing wind will blow between s them and the kitchen —as witness the arrow j showing the "direction of the wind"'. The Whangarei Defence Mounted Kifle 3 Cadets appear to be fairly started on a I useful career. They have been equipped 3 equal to any adult if.R. squadron in New s Zealand. They have an excellent and increasing membership, and I hope the movement they nave begun in Ancldand will j spread. Their O.C. is Hon. Lieut. H. Dean- f Clarke whose acting-appointment the O.C. ( District has jnst approved, with that of i Hon. Lient. G. McKinnon. It is hoped that these boy.=» will be seen on parade in Auckland during Fleet Week, out I hear t that the-expense of sending them down will t be too great. It is a pity, for their appear- t ance here would help the movement tre- ( mendously. There is no other cadet squadron j in the Dominion, except that in Hswera. which began the movement in New Zealand, and. be-ng commanded by Capt Mitchell, an . es-member of the Ist and other contingents, ' is a very highly-emcient body. , The Victoria Rifles' shooting record for ■« the year ended February 23. 1008, is as ' follow:—Wins: Mrs Cox's Trcphy: G. Monk. slrs -T. J. 1-reston's Trophy: Captain Cox. . District Cnp: J. C. ~?en. A,R.A. Champion- \ ship: J. Carlson. Company's Belt: J. C. Ten. Mclntosh's Cup: J. J. Preston. Anderson's Cup: G. Farley. Buckley's Trophy: * T. Jack. Ayletfs Trophy: .T. C. Teo. Capt. } Skinner's Trophy: E. O. Farley. Sergt- ' Major Jackson's Trophy: J. B. Preston. Sergt.-Major Jackson's Trophy: E. O. Farley. Sydney Jones' Trophy: T. Jack. Capt. i Cox's Gold Medal: G. Farley. Staff-Sei-gt- f Polle's Medal: J. Preston. Seconds—North 1 Island Medal: G. Monk. A.R.A. Champion- 1 ship: G. Farley. Thirds—A-R.A. Champion- 1 ship: T. Jack. South Auckland R.A.: T. t Jack. Teams Matches—Wins: T.B. v. j < Three Native Corps Combined: V.R. v. Clevedon Mounted Rifles; Auckland RlOe. Association (G. Farley, Carlson, W. Cos, Jack, and Yeo). Second: Soata Auckland Rifle Association. The company has also given dnring the year cash and prises to tne amount ox £25. I have just heard a good joke at thfr expense of a local mounted oincer. He wae op at a country squadron's parade, and his military esprit de corps w«s hurt at the shabby appearance of an officer's hat. He remonstrated, but he of the hat replied that; he had to buy the hat himself, and it \ras good enough for mc work. If the townsman objected he had better buy him another. "Rlgiu-o." said the citizen, and he w:is as good as his word. When he got back to town Uβ sent up an thought— a hat of the regulation sort, and it was duly >n<ide and delivered to the country officer , ;it and eleven others! That's where the joke comes in. He of the country rejoiced exceedingly when a dozen hats come to haad. and said. •"Tnis Is inde«l a kindness of the right sort." And he dealt out hats to the other officers and to deserving non.-corns:, and tbe squadron had a special church parade in honour of the new chapenux. They gave the townsman much thanks. But when the account came iv, T He rushed up to the warehouse and invoked the wrsth of the heavens on the firm, but they cently but firmly led him to a document bearing bis signature. He looked, and. sure enough, he had ordered a dozen! He is in the nabit of ordering thinjrs In dozens, and had written it absentmindedly. Still, being a good fellow, he stood to it, and honoured the account. AUCKLAND TOUTNTEERS V. THE FLEET. In our edition yesterday we announced briefly that tne Auckland volunteers had . challenged the American Fleet to a shooting match at Penrose on Thursday in Fleet Week. The challenge will most likely be taken up by the Admiral, to whom it is addressed, for it has been forwarded to him by the Consul-General for America with, an approval. The teams will be fifty a-side, and the ; Auckland team will be chosen from amongst , the volunteers present in Auckland during I the visit of the Fleet. The committee-in- . ccarge meets on Friday night to arrange some details, and the country corps will be circularised. Country shootists are. there- , fore, advised to bring with, them their paja- . phernalia for shooting. The ranges will be • 200, 300, and 600 yds, seven shots and ! sighter at each. j The committee-in-charge Is as follows:— i Chairman, Uent.-Col. Beed; secretary. Capt. Grant (Adjt.); Capts. Cox, Shepherd, and Potter, Lieuts. Atkinson and Kretschmar. It Is a. happy idea, and the match should be a splendid contest. We have some of the best, and certainly, we have the most 1 typical, shooting-men of the Dominion, and it will give the visitors an idea of colonial ' prowess. The odds are, of course, with tne Americans In numbers, but tbe AucUr landers will probably provide them with a "hot" team. i "~"~~"~' ~~~ ! AT3CKLAND G.A. DIVISION. I The actmg-sppointinent of Captain » Hazard as major iv command of the Auckland Division of Garrison Artillery has arrived in Auckland, and""tfie appointment dates from June 13. Captain Hazard's pro- ; motiou In the commissioned rank has been , rather rapid. He joined the A Battery in! - IS9O as a gunner, and after being with tie j , company for about 15 years, and rising to i i the subaltern, ne joined the No. 3 A.G.A. -as captain. That was about three years , apo. shortly before the appointments of Captains Forbes and Knyvett to the Nos. 2 and 1 Companies respectively. On the re- ; sisnation of Major Gnrdner, he was appoints ed to the command of the Division ou the - recommendation of the local Defence authoi rities. During Capt. Hazard's command the j No. 3 A.G.A. has Increased in a very nots ahle way. At nis flrst parade with the com--3 pany there were- but 13 present, and when he handed over the command to Lieut Morran a week or two ago, the average weekly j parade was between 50 and 60 (considerably more on the special parades), and the com- , pany's strength reached 100 before he rer signed tbe command. When he took charge the company bad not classified for some years, and since then it bas steadily lm- ~ proved in efficiency till it this year was - graded first-class in gunnery, and A grade in efficiency, with the highest points in the aggregate scored in the division. "Hifle- - man" wishes htm continued success in his i new position of responsibility.