SERVICE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume 304, Issue 304, 23 December 1926, Page 19

SERVICE NOTES.

A TROOPER FOR THE EAST. A HAIR-RAZING ISSUE. PROSPECTS IN THE NAVY. (From Onr Own Correspondent.) LONDON, September 29. The s.s. Neuralia, -which is presentlybound on a trooping voyage to the Far East, has infantry and Departmental drafts for Ceylon, Malaya, North China and South China. It is significant that a large proportion of the drafts is composed of non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The Neuralia will call at Malta for the 2nd Battalion. King's Own Scottish Borderers, bound for Hongkong, at which port she is due about October 28, as well as the 23rd Heavy Battery Royal Artillery. After a week at Hongkong the Neuralia will leave with the 25th Heavy Battery Royal Artillery for Singapore, and the First Battalion East Surrey Regiment for, India. As well, she will bring to their, home depots various details from North China, South China, the Straits and Ceylon, and ■will also convey infantry reliefs from India to the Sudan, and from the latter country to Malta and Gibraltar. The pother about the new safety razor with which Tommy Atkins of the future is to scrape his face recalls the story of the brand-new subaltern in the trenches and the "Old Contemptible," who was "bearded like a pard." Looking hard at the stubbly face, the subaltern ejaculated, "Ha, ha, no shave"; to which the veteran retorted, "He, he, no razor." Certainly a safety razor does not shave so closely as the ancient "cut-throat"— that is, when the latter did shave. The "cut-throat" was a fearful weapon to use on one's face. What it did not shave off it tore out, and the piece of soap, which, with the razor, formed part of the "free kit" and was supposed to last the soldier for the full term of twenty, one years, helped well in the process. Indeed, the soap was so full of lime that it almost burned off the stubble, leaving the razor comparatively little to do at times. But then, what could one expect for 4d, which was the value of the razor, plus the cost of getting the number burned on, which was one of the quartermaster 1 sergeant's most precious perquisites? Even in the worst times of the trench ■warfare, Tommy Atkins did his best to shave and present a clean face to the enemy. His pursuit of hot water was an art. I don't know that the story of the subaltern and the "Old Contemptible" has much of a foundation. As a result of experimental marches, day and night, made last week and this week by infantry battalions of the Second Division at Aldershot, one of the divisions which would go to form a required British Expeditionary Force—it was demonstrated that officers could march with an equipment of 55_lb, as compared with the 901b equipment of the late war. The actual equipment carried into action by our fighting men was reduced this week by 7_lb by using first line light motor transport for the packs and great coats. The prospects of promotion for lieu-tenant-commanders of the Royal Navy are so poor that many are considering "Is ; it worth while?" In 1924, 182 lieuten- j ants were advanced to the rank of lieu- \ tenant-commander, and 17C of them are j still serving in the same rank. By ■ 1929-30 these officers shall have passed j the selection zone, and, at the most fay- j ourable estimate, not mo_e than forty or j fifty will have been promoted in that time. Not a few of these lieutenantcommanders are married men, and, while they are eligible to complete the period of service to draw the full pension of their rank, it is more than a question if there will be sufficient billets going to employ all of them. It looks as though the Admiralty will have to advise itself of some scheme to relief the coming situation by either retiring a proportion of them to the unemployed list, . and from there in due course to the ; retired list, or giving them preferential j terms for accepting retired pay at an j early date. In the latter case, gratuities j do not appeal to the average officer who, j thanks to his patriotism and desire to ; serve the Empire, has deprived himself j of the chance of acquiring a business , -training in which to invest the tew j hundreds which a grateful country pre- j sents him with, more particularly in ; these days of bad business and slow j returns, in which the retiring gratuity j of £1600 is but an indifferent anchor. j Captain P. E. Parker has been selected j for the command of the new mine-laying | cruiser Adventure, presently completing j at Devonport Dockyard, with effect from i November 4, when he will commission ! ihe: with _ Devonport crew. Captain j Parker was Deputy Director of Torpe- j does and Mining since May, 1924, and | vacated that appointment to take up ; his new one. The commissioning trials j of the Adventure will commence early j in November, and as these will be of ■ a very exhaustive character she will j hardly be ready to take her place in j the fleet until the New Year. For i her displacement of 6740 tons she is a j fairly costly ship, her revised cost of j construction being the sum of £1,281,253, | including cost of armament. She mea- j sures 500 feet in length, has a beam of = 59 feet, and at a mean draft of 14 feet j she displaces the above tonnage. She j as equipped with engines of 40,000 h.p., j * and is expected to attain nearly-28 knots | —her contract speed being 27.75. Her [ chief armament consists of four 4.7 in j guns and four 3-pounders, with the usual = allotment of machine guns, etc. The | Adventure represents all that was j learned of mine-laying during the war I on the waters in 1914-18, and while in | outward appearance she resembles the [ usual standard cruiser of her, tonnage, j not a few details, including the packing f away of her dangerous cargo and its \ mode of distribution are strictly confi- 1 denfcial. As the Adventure is the first | purely cruiser-mine-layer her career will » be watched with great interest, as is | the prototype of every new venture. | During the war all kinds of ships were f used as mine-layers, and sometimes with f anything but success, and as the use | of mines is likely not only to be a pro- £ minent feature in the next great war, | hut also over a very much larger area, | it was obvious that a more up-to-date | system, and certainly a speedier one, J would have to be instituted. | It is not at all reassuring to find that | out of every hundred recruits who go = before a medical man for examination I 35 are rejected on physical grounds. = That was the average number of rejec- 1 tions in the past three years. This = large percentage does not-include would- O be recruits rejected by recruiting ser- ! - geants for very obvious physical defects •before coming before a doctor. Of course, in the past three years or so—owing to unemployment—a larger percentage than usual present themselves for enlistment, and as there are plenty to pick ahd choose from the physical and educational tests are more stringent than formerly.