DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 8

DEFENCE NOTES.

(By RlF_E__-VJ The annual meeting ot the No. _ Company A.D.G.A.T. will be held in the lecture room at the drill hull on Monday night. A squad of King's Veteran Uuards attended parade lv the Domain on .Saturday, ■looking very smart lv their new uniforms. Captain Sherd, of >,o. 3 Engineors, has been pleased to make the following promotions.— —.-Corp. Gibson to be corporal, and J-..-Corp. Clarke lo be corporal. The No. 2 Company Garrison Artillery Territorials have decided to wear the peak cap at all parades in future, ami only wear the field service cap during camps. The promotion of Lieutenants C. McGllp ("A" Battery New Zealand Field Artillery) and L. M. Shera iN'o. 3 Company Now Zenland Field K-guicers) to tbe rank of captain, -has been gazetted. The No. _ Company Garrison Artillery lield another of their popular fortnightly socials last night, a large gathering being present. The No. -'s are well advised iv thus catering for the social amusement of their members. Appointments of territorial force officers have been gazetted as follows: Mr c. L). HHI, to be lieutenant No. 1 Company Garrison Artillery, Auckland: Mr Win. S. Jones, to be lieutenant Sixth. Hegiuieut (Hauraklj; Dr. H. A. Good, to be capiaiu New Zealatid Medical Corp; the Rev. M. H. Sutton to be _<>_. chaplain, and Ihe Rev. U. L. Blauiires to be hon. chaplain. S It Is gazetted that the following officers of the Auckland military district have been transferred from the active list (unattached) to rhe reserve of officers, with their preI scut rank:—l—eutenant-Colonel W. I". ; White,' -Majors A. M. Myers. W. 11. Hume, J. G. Wynyard, Robert Gardner, aud W. A. Bennett. Captains D. M.cArth_v ""• I Harrow-ell. F. E. N. Gaudin, L. I. Skinner, V.D., K. R. Martin, A. >". Norton, T. W. 1 .Soukmerville, C. A. H. Tapper, G. H. Forbes, A. Coutts, L. Fra-er-Hurst, aud I Lieutenant C. G. W_ite. Tbe _JHtary spirit is decidedly iv tbe air, as the following testifies:— At a meeting of a school committee not more Chan two or three miles from the centre of Auckland the appoint—ent of a teacher for the infant department was under consideration. Several members testified to the merits of a lady applicant for the position, speaking of her success with the various standards over which she had had charge. At length a venerable committeeman arose and delivered himself thus: "It's all very well to say how successful this candidate has been with standards, but the question is, >what does she know of infantry":" General Godley, during his tour in the southern part ot the North. Island, addressed many meetings, aud was treated in the same manner in so_e towns as a candidate for Parl— mentary honours. lie allowed himself to be freely questioned, and de-Jig-hted all by his ready responses. In one town he was asked "If a volunteer was not worth three pressed men," aud replied, "No; it's a fine sentiment, but the history of the early part of the American Civil War Is against it. If both received the same amount of training, though, the volunteer might be superior." He was then asked why the British soldier is superior to the foreigner, and replied patriotically, "because he's British, of course."

'Summa rising the hoped-for results of the military training system now being inaugurated, Major-General Godley remarked •to a Napier audience last week: "You will _et a force which will be efficient iv a comparatively short space of time, and •will be -0,000 strong for an annual expenditure of £400.000, while hitherto you have had a force of only half that number with no organisation and without the same opportunities for training which has cost £218,000. You will have a force therefore twice as great and ten times as efficient, ■wit— proper organisatiou for greater facilities for training, armed -with the most modern field guns, machine guns, equipment, etc., instead of obsolete field guns and no equipment, for less than twice the cost." He added that the conditions of service looked formidable, but an analysis proved that they were not so. There were Uiirty drills and six daylight parades. The parades only meant giving up so many half-—o—days, or two week-end camps of three days each. Training should be continuous, but in the case of back-blocks, tV—ere men would have to travel long distances to attend, the difficulty would be got over by squadron leaders lumping the drills at a season of the year most convenient to the men. As to the mounted men, some were a little backward in coming forward, 'because they had an idea that the Government were going to bag their horses. That was not so. If a man had a horse and —addle he could join a mounted corps; of not the infantry. The Government were | not supplying horses.