VOLUNTEER ITEMS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8867, 9 August 1894, Page 2

VOLUNTEER ITEMS.

"Weekly Press.

Bt Buixseye. Military Concert.

Sergeant Golclough and hie energetic committee must be congratulated upon the huge success which has attended their efforts this year, the Opera House oa Thursday night being crammed, and before eight o'clock—the time for commencing— a large number of people had to be refused admission. I certainly think the committee made a mistake in allowing so many seats to be reserved, and would suggest' that at future should not permit any seats. to be reserved- in the body of the house. It was very -disheartening for- those who had purchased tickets, and came as early as seven o'clock to find that they had hardly auy chance of getting a neat whence they could watch the performance. The inconvenience was particularly accentuated in the case of people coming from Lyttelton. Sumner and others of the surrounding suburbs, who had little or no chance of reserving seats, and I am afraid that this will militate to a certain extent against the success of these concerts in the future. So far as the concert itself was concerned it left little to be desired, in fact I think it was one of the most successful yet held under the auspices of the Associated Corps. The programme was acapital one, and calculated to suit all tastes. The selections by the Engineers' Band, under bandmaster Gordon, were well rendered, I especially "The Young Recruit, which i ! opened the second part, and Iα which the reveille, fall in, and disperse, were well rendered. The gymnastic display by Messrs Harker, J ewise and Sheard was capitally done, the horizontal bar performance by the two forms? being very clever. Owing to an accident to the bar. one item had to be omitted, but nevertheless, what was done proved that the Committee had been wise in placing this item on the programme. Mr Sheard gave, beeide a performance on the parallel bars, an exhibition ot Indian club Exorcise. Petty Officer Wilson and Gunner Eames, of the Lyttelton Navals, gave an exhibition of single-stick work, which appeared to please the audience. The men were equally matched, and the result was a very interesting display. An exhibition of sword exercise was given by the Mounted Rifles, under Sergeant Major Borland. A squad of the Christchuroh City Guards, under Lieut. Baker, gave a really good exhibition of physical driU. I think it thie. ilem is to be One of the features of a future show it would be well to omit the portion by word of command and only include that of the men judging their own time. Gunner DennUon and one of hi* pupils gave a display, of boxing.. The space wan rather* cramped, but the pupil certainly "appeared to get. all. the best of both boute. The piece dt resistance qf the first part was the pontoon raft building by the Canterbury Engineers under Sergeant-Major Midgeley. This display was new to most of the audience, who keenly watched the squad at work. In eight minutes they had a raft built and manned; and to the swinging chorus of "The MidshipnaUe" were propelling it across the stage. Then came thft dis mantling the rate, which oecdpled another four minutes, and the Whole item showed that the Engineers thoroughly .understood , their , work. I think a mistake wan made j in dismantling the*raft, as had the curtain been dropped on the tableau ot the raft' manned by its crew, it would have been, far more effective and picturesque as a dose to the part. As this will always be a favourite item with the public I offer this as a suggestion to the committee. In the second part the £ Battery, under Sergeant Treleaven, gave a display with their 9 pounder R.B.L. The Battery boy« were,considerably handicapped in the matter of room, but nevertheless save a real good exhibition. It would not be fair to take the time ondertuoh circumstances as these, but I must'say that they deserve every credit for their work. The Christ's College Rifles, under Surgeon MurrayAynsley, had an ambulance party at work rendering aid to a couple of wounded artillerymen, showing the method of constructing an improvised stretcher out of rifles and overcoats, as well *s; the ordinary stretcher work* The whole ■Item was well received, and is one that should not be omitted in the future. The Xyttclton Naval* , Bayonet Team* under Petty-Officer Twomey, was as usual received with rounds of applause. The exhibition was of. the old bayonet exercise, which should now be* discarded, and was not either in each time or given, with such •spirit as I hsve seen previously. Of course 'they worked fairly well together, but the :wan( of spirit which they put into their 'work is favourable to uniformity. As a spectacle it was good. The remark I have made-on the physical drill with regard to numbers applies equally tq this Item. Some members of the E Battery then gave tta "* comic item, which Wat dowa on the programme as Lance Exercise, and In which the competitors were dressed in black and white respectively, those dres ed In black being armed with mops liberally smothered in soot, whilst their Opponents had mops covered with floor. This Item was well calculated to please the small fry, who literally, roared with delight.., ■ A musical march/ In which all branches of the service were represented, was well done, the men with fixed bayonets and drawn swords forming a flrst-cla?a foreground to the tableau of Britannia, -which closed the concerfc. Daring the concert Mr Millar tang "The Deathless Array," Mr. Weir "The Death of Kelson," Mr Woodhouse "Let Mc Like a Soldier Fall," Messrs Woodhouse and Millar the duet "Love in War," and Messrs Weir, Woodhouse, and Millar gave the . time-honoured. trio, "Mynheer Van jDuock." Mr Edgar gave in each part a comic Item, and on each occfcsEon had to respond to an imperative encore. Miss and Master Stewatt danced a couple of their Highland dances in first* claes style, calling forth rounds of applause from the large aadlence* and Piper Sturrock eopplled the necessary music, Mr Lawrence Watklos acted aa accompanist. The whole was a huge Attccees, and except in the matter of reserving wata, as Indicsted above, left little to be desired, < Local Notes. Some exception has been t&fcea on behalf Of fcbe'Clty Gfcuards to some remarks I (made recently regarding-the necessity for Morris tube workfoilowlog the aiming and position drill. I am happy to tie able to state, that the ChrJatchufrch Rifles had faraome years, followed out this practice, and now that ih«y "hava Amalgamated under the title pf the Guards, the system is ttlil retained*« This Is not extraordloery whaa wi com* to eoniidw that the com*

paoy contains some p£ the most enthu* J Kiastic shooting men in the province of \M Canterbury. Iα a conversation with one ' M of the officers bn this subject,, he holds if with, mc thab no absolute uae can be t| obtained out of the aiming and position . \| drill unless this' system Is followed out, '"'g' and t» its use by bis company he puts 'M; deW the fact ofthe higU position they f| : have occupied in the Government voHoy || flring.during the fev f Fears—via., l a -«j IS9O the highest in New Zealand, M and since then well up In the prize list, 1--Then with regard to the matter - -\> competitive examination for non-com }$ missioned officers, whilst admitting $ the abuse of the present syateui J as adopted in many -companies, the '■<? Chrletchurch Rifles have always adopted 1J the competitive system, and this is anothet Jj of the good things they took with them on p their amalgamation. The consequence o£ | this in that the non-coma, of the Guards §jf ate all men who thoroughly know and lot* | their duties, as was instanced at the recent I classes held by Lieut. Col. Gordon for the 1 instruction of non-coms, in the nefr drill, , 1 at which classes the Guards have had an | average of eight non-coms, attending out | of nine in the Company. I noticed that in . | this Company too there is none of the § grumbling at the treatment by the Government which is so frequently met with, but on all sides there is a self-reliant feeling that should very soon carry them to the position of premier rifle company ot North Canterbury. The Canterbury Engineers must be congratulated upon having obtained such an enthusiast as Mr T. H. Anderson for a Lieutenant in the Company. There are few men in Canterbury who have made a closer study of military matters as suited to our limited force than Lieut. Anderson. . His paper, read before the Garrison Library recently, and upon which 1 commented at the time, showed the innate energy ot the man and his devotion to what lie evidently considers one of the first duties of the citizen, viz., to be prepared to defend his country against invaders. Aβ a shooting man Lieutenant Anderson occu< - pies a prominent place In Canterbury, aud lln this department, too, the Engineers will gain considerable strength, whilst in ~ I the matters specially devoted to fchels branch of the service Lieucenant Anderson should prove a host. I musb once more congratulate them upon their choice. The Garrison Library is a good institu* tion, but if the members wane to make it up to date, th«y will have to do away with some of the conservatism which at preaeut exists, and throw the meetings open to' I non-coms. The meetings are at present •: held monthly. How would it do to hold : the meetings fortnightly, and let every \_ alternate meeting be open to non-coms? r They would then be able to get a thorough. \, study ot tactics, and our library might, be 5 made distinctly useful, whilst the valuable f. papers which are read there and often \j contain excellent suggestions, would not, I' as now, be virtually lost in obscurity. , I | ; commend this suggestion to some of thoee ,J| : officers who'have themselves risen frost fe the ranks and know what the non-oorna* I feelings are upon this subject. |; I hear that Lieut. "WoMeln, of the A | Company, is to give a lecture to hta com- | pany at an early date, and that this |s to be followed by another one by Capfc. Hob* | day. These lectures show enterprise on . | the part of the officers. £ When two companies each as the City I Guards nnd the Ghrietchuroh Biftes | amalgamated It is needless to say that the \ subject of shooting would occupy a promt- I nen6 position in the deliberations. Sutjh I men as Lieutenant JSandford, Sergeants I Foster and Wabelio, and Private .Batcbe- \ lor, as well as other well known shqto, | were hardly likely to let this one ot the I principal duties or A rifleman decline If =, 1 energy and determination coald carry it through.' The City Guards arc-in the , enviable position ot having two champion belt?, one formerly belonging to the ! Guarde and one to the Christchurchßiftfife. With two belts and other trophies It w&4 an easy matter to get the men to compete, but the committee appointed for that parpose gave even greater facilities. The , company undertakes to find conveyance to the range, markers and ammunition for ail belt competitions, the only condition being that a man shall eatfa capitation for hb I company. But there is more than this if the company has been divided into three classes, A, B, and C, A consisting of the ; Martini snots of the company whoifire -; with that weapon, B the senior Snider " shots and C the iunior Solder shots and recruit*." The competition for the City „; Guards' Belt which Is the more valuable of the two and virtually carries with ifc the championship of the company Iβ not to be competed for by class A, who as belog more experienced shots, would. almost certainly hold a mortgage pa It, thereby, disheartening young shots. This h&3 bwM provided for by the committee* whs have decided that class A efaeli stand out, -■ leaving classes B and 0 to compete for , this valuable trophy, which caerfes with it a gold medal.; The Christcbuwa Rifles Belt Iβ, faoweyef,' llraitijfd to class A. There are a lot of other ?ef jolations aa regards ehootiog which are"calculated to . encourage young shots, and tEera Iβ every chance so far i see, of c great jtime before this company. '.. , ■ '- / n A Weetport corre>ponden6 writes :-rA reviving interest is being shown in the yNaval Volunteer raoveuient here* 1w ' dlffleulty about the command, aritiog&om - both candidates, Lieutenants GoChsnl and Carr, being so well,eopported taat there was no* a sufficienfc majority for either, has. been solved by the Appointment at Captain Cossgrove as commanding office*. _g At the last parade, besides Captaja Caso | grove and the two lieutenants; forty-one | petty officers and men were present aac | six recruits were atfora In, bringing the | total strength up to. fifty-three. Tlie | coming shooting season, is expected to be a I busy one, m the company have seeowd * .-\ number of trophies and about tw*N»|y "|i prizes to be fired for. The class of $QW*s \[ men now joining the "movement, or* w ,;, ; j superior physique and good character, *n& ~,., the corps promisee to be a credit to the ~ j 'town.- '-- •>-.•_•■ _. _ - ,: _ ' :" r , '' \ ft, . bOUTHLAND .BlFUj} CLUS. , ,\ Ob «Sth, ths Sβ* ; | match (seven shets at 600 yards) toff, t&e v i Hon. M*mrdVM.H. rifle 4 wa»fired. Tea, | competitors took part Iα what proved to be ode of ta» most interestiag *»J■ ?«» contests held on the club's ranges Mc ,v, 41 Smith f»int«») wa« Icftdlng, dosely foUowed by Measre Browo, MeeGloWW. ;| and R. B. Mackay (11 points each!, aSd »* .1 NICOI (10 polnie.) Mr Micfcpf-flnj *J* .j| bat only pttt on 24, while Messrs MfttW ; | bon and Brown fomnd considerable 1 cuityln getting the target, And m - interest was continued wbile Mesare w ; Smith and E. Nlool (who ehot twfftf»w fired their last ahote. Toe latter had «: best of It up td Bis sixth ehot, leaving W® , to get a 4 or 5 for Wβ seventh to tie \W ~ opponent, but uotortuoateiy he tsiloa** bring up the disc owing to » jerky pall ia the excitement, and Mr Smith won tba trophywithiriepolnts gained in ; vlous competitions, * good as he wae conceding ale opponeaM MJ ~. handtcftbupfcoHpolntaperrange. *»J conditions of light and wind «"•■*£ f favourable to good ecorlßP.AppenyJ . ,| ffAieg»sswaite;Sß h Maceibbott 11. R. Nicol 10, J. -B. Hao*«»- | xid and A, R: WUIeS. ; '-*-- fce i :i| Oa Wednesday, Augoes lat, **•**&s• : I six matches (seven shots each> at 2W, Wfc , f and m nrtsltor an ?»e«>W bgr^etg,. presented by Mr R. M'Kab, M.H.] B«'"*■ ;M to be fired/the winner. b<fiwfi ****** ij <H the points system. In -addltiba to S* ,Ai rsmgrpriieeW Witt %• 9*£!U£XM best scratch 6ud baudicap •e«B*e*ws »■ 9ftahroand»' ' - , ;w&