THE VOLUNTEERS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11753, 30 November 1903, Page 5

THE VOLUNTEERS.

THE DRILL SHED.- I Since the destruction of; the Drillehed i by fire in the early part of this year, j the Defence Department has done nothing | towards equipping the drill ground for the instruction' dif volunteers. At present tikis yard contains the remains of the j asphalt door of the old drill shed, the uneven surfaces of which are a trap and a dangerous menace'to pedestrians by daylight and much more so to volunteers who may venture to find footing after dusk in' attempting to parade for drill. The greatest; sufferers are the Field Battery, whose valuable guns, long stored in the j grounds of the Agricultural and Pastoral : Association, are now in this yard under j tarpaulin*, in company with three Maxim guns, apparently without owners,'and which .presumably take care of themselves, j A proposal was recently, made that a new j shed should be constructed, large but on similar liaes to the old one. This' idea has not been carried out. An older, better and more .permanently useful idea has been re-produced. The proposal is -that after making provision lor bousing the, guns, of the Field Battery and the Maxim guns (at present in the open), storing material for tbe Engineers', and finding offices for the officers and non-com. officers, the drill yard itself should be levelled, drained, lighted, and roofed after the style of a large railway terminus so that the full space of, the present, ground will be placed at the disposal of the volunteers for drill purposes. It is understood that plans have been prepared by an expert for providing this accommodation,, and that these have been forwarded through the officer <x>____ding the district to headquarter.. Than the present appearance of the drill yard no more mournful and desolate picture can be imagined, and it is difficult to realise" that m_lions of rounds of ammunition and many thousands of pounds' worth of material are boused under such wretched conditions. It is understood that the cost of carrying out this proposal would not exceed the amount which the Minister is prepared to allocate. The land upon which the Drillshed stood was set apart by the Provincial Government for volunteer purposes, and originally consisted, in addition to tbe present Drillshed grounds, of the land on which the police station and buildings now stand. Tbe Drillshed was completed in January, 1866, and tie cost was about £1000. Just previously there had been a great revival hi volunteering, as shown by the fact that whilst, on the Queen's Birthday, in 1864, only thirteen mustered for prize-firing, by the end of that year tiers werw in the North Canterbury district sixteen officers and 700 men in the volunteer fores. Previous to the .uildmg .■ of tbe Drill-bed the town companies sometimes drilled in a_3ere_t balls. I The Drillshed Was kept in repair by tbe 1 exertions of tha volunteers, who also paid i tbe city rates then levied on it. On one occasion, owing to the rate*.being in arrears, Colonel Lean, then in command of the district, was municipally disfranchised. In the years 1880-81 the shed got into a very bad condition, and a loan of about £400 was raised, and this com, with tha proceed* of a bazaar, was sufficient to put it in a proper state of repair. In 1885 anotlier bazaar was held, and about £700 was raised, which paid off tbe loan and interest, and left a surplus which was devoted to work in connection with the Bromley range and tha building of * oot-

t*« there. - r It vrffl ttro* b« thai tt* colony has not been called upon to contribute anything towards the odsfe of. the former' Drillsbed, but that this baa own raised by the Canterbury people themselves. Tbe Canterbury Mounted Rifles, under Captain Macartney, and the EUasmere Mounted Rifles, under Captain Dixon, have this year combined to hold their annual week's training in tbe Waihom Domain at Motukarara, Captain Macartney, as senior officer, being in command. Camp —as pitched last Saturday afternoon, Sergeant- | Major Creardn being present as instructor. On Sunday morning an open —ir service was conducted by the Rev. H. William*, M.A., tlte chaplain of the CM.fi. At 2 p.m. a mounted parade wo* held, after which • large number of visitors wen. 1 treated to oftmrnoon tea. On Monday Major Snow, tbe commander of the Canterbury Mounted Battalion, arrived. During the week tbe weather has been most favourable for both mounted and dismounted drill, whi<_T_ave been carried out assiduously. On Tuesday and Thursday sham fights took place, tbeC.M.E. and tbe E.M.R. in turns acting'as defendsra and attackers of the camp. In connection with these several non-commissioned officers afterwards submitted good plans of tbe large extent of country over which they had worked. (Jolonet Porter inspected the half-battalion on Wednesday morning. He expressed himaelf as highly pleased with the results of his observations, and said that the camping ground was an ideal ons for mounted work. Two lectures have been given during tbe week, one by Ser-geant-Major Crespin on "Outpost Duty," and the other by Major Snow on "Outpost work and hasty fortifications." The men have "much appreciated the efforts of the residents of the district to cater for their comfort and entertainment when off duty. The camp will break up this afternoon. Whilst Colonel Porter was on'ths W * d ?* Bda /' <**?--» Dixon, of the _.M.R., submitted himself for practical .examination in Counted work and passed with great credit. . **" ' Yesterday morning, at the X Battery camp, Captam Brice held his inspection of tiie Company. The officers had offered pmes for the best arranged tents, from a military point of vi«w, and so chwely aid the tents compare in merit that the officers supplemented the amount of the prires, and then declared ties for the first and second. The two tents of Sergeant Brice's detachment, in charge of Corporal Gilmore and Bombardier Cole, tied for the first prize, and one of the range-finder's tents, in charge of Bombardier Veale, and a tent of Sergeant Jolly's detachment, in charge of Bombardier Toy, tied for the second prize. During the .morning the men were exercised in aiming tube practice on a 64-pounder, and obtained some very good results. In the afternoon tbe members of the Company were "At Home," and were visited by a great many friends, who were entertained at afternoon tea, the Lytteiton Marine Band playing some excellent selections.

The <Jitf Rifles and Cycle Corps went into camp at Mr Wright's, near Cashmere,' on Wednesday last. On Tuesday, evening a fatigue party from each corps went to the site of the camp, and pitched the tents, the main body going in next morning. The City Rifles am under Captain Foster, who has with, him, Lieutenants Steere and Bates, while the Cyclists are under Lieutenant Commander Finnis and Lieutenant Yon Sieraiowski. • The sits chosen is a moat suitable one for an infantry camp, as some very Sue work can be got in on the hills. Sergeant-Major Farthing is in camp as Instructor. ■ Tha officers decided to hold no morning parades, as it wan felt that better work could be got in by making lengthy evening parades, and not tiring tbe men before they, went to their ordinary work. . The pnncipawork done has been akimlshing, advanoa and rear-guards on tbe road, and neon* noitring on the hills, while ovtposta have been thrown out each night. - Tbe Cyclists have.worked with the Otty Rifles in their movements, generally forming the enemy, their light equipment and general smartness making them valuable) in that direction. The City fifties number 40 in camp out of a roll of 48, while the Cyclists bare a full muster. , , ' ~'-■ . ■

The No. 2 Infantry Battalion go Into camp at Cashmere on Thursday next, Decomber 3rd, under _£ajor Smith. Captain Drayton is Adjutant, and the following appointments nave been made (-—lieutenant Pavitt Oolonr-fier-geant W. Garton to be flerjp«mt46rfory Sergeant Foster to be Qoarternwater Serjpnt, Bugler Bissett to be Ssrgeant Bugler. Tbe College Rifles go into camp osaT Cashmere from January 23rd to January 3l«t. ■ - 'v ■.••■.' .'.■•■.'. .r'.iyi

The favourable weather that has assisted, tho comfort of tbe Kaiapoi Rifles' camp on the Park enabled .the inspection by. LieutenantrColonel "Porter to' be comed •■ out with considerable success on Saturday afternoon. After tho formal inspection of forty-seven of all ranks by the officer commanding the Canterbury dktiiot, who ■iras, attended by Captains 8. ML MoOee apd _.. E. Papprill, the company divided, under Lieutenants J. O. _V Win-toe and F. Horrell, gave an interesting display of attack and defence, which, with the aid of the cover of tbe Park trees, the sides *M» able to : carry out with tactical '.effect Afterwards formed in a•' hollow square, Colonel, Porter expressed his pleasure with tbe intelligence shown. It was not usual for him to always compliment companies,' and, when be did notdo ao it might be inferred.that there was nothing to be «id in praise, but this corps' had maJntaVned its prestige, and he explained the object of the work he had asked to bare done* whioh he could see wras understood, ami once dear to the men in tha could be better practised on rough ■sewb 1 rooky country* One br,twb*i_en'bad not kept close enough to cover when scouting and in warfare would have known it possibly to tbeir cost. On the whole Jndf• ment had been Shown, «_d..it: wasprovad that officers sad men knew how-to act. Colonel Porter then presented long «*vfta medals to Privates Q. Templeton, WHaigh, and Lance-Corporal F. Kietisy, remarking h« observed tbey bad a good record for shooting and drill, as well as attendance, /On Saturday evening :<he band, under Bandmaster Hoakin, played at the camp, and there was a lsr_js attendanc* of visitors. On S_ndiy;*i«h_Kih parade of the rifles and military cadets, the latter urrdtt R. J. Alexaader, was held to the Methodist Churdi, where the Rev. H. E., pre*c_sdi 111 tlte afternoon the oamp waa open to vkators and the fatWM. ga~e » saoKd oonoert. Camp [watt be struck tbif inorniio.* v : " I The' .Kaiapoi Military' Ctdfits go into | camp this evening. .'\;j i '/"^-.0'..>0.'- :