DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 318, 3 October 1908, Page 9

DEFENCE NOTES.

(By Echelon.) The rifle-shooting season opens at Trentham to-day. Judging'by tho number of morris-tube matches recorded recently, it would appear that this instructive sport is gradually becoming a popular pastime. Tho Wellington Engineers havo been mainly responsible for tho recent "boom" in morris-tube matches, and have carried their competitions right through tho winter months.. It will readily be understood that field artillery work is very severe on the, men's uniforms, and that this item of expenditure forms a moro difficult problem for an artillery corps to solve than it is for an infantry corps. In many other details, too, : the little bill tends to tot up to a responsible amount, in comparison with tho general company expenses of other corps. This would appear to justify an increase of capitation for artillery corps, a suggestion which has been put forward by artillery officers very frequently, and which is certainly worthy of favourable consideration. The. appoaranco of the . D - Battery at the Dominion Day parade at Newtown Park on Saturday last furnished eloquent testimony of the straitoncd condition of its, bank account; half tho men were in review dress, while the other half were in khaki, the whole presenting a motley appearance. This is not right, and should be remedied. In the meantime, cannot the numerous friends and admirers of this crack company put their heads together and organise something to help things along? "We cannot all be volunteers, but we can all do something to support and encourage the volunteer movoment. Volunteering is apparently languishing in Pahiatua, according to. the local paper, which comments, editorially,- on the fact that ..the Pahiatua Rifle Volunteers wore oonspicuous by their absence on an-im-portant occasion, from a military point of view, quite lately. "A parade of the, northern half of the battalion, which' comprises the volunteers of Wairarapa , and , the districts as''far north as Dannevirke, - was. hold in Woo.iviye," says the "Herald,f' " when the total.number on parade was ninety, including officers and staff. The Inspector-Gen-eral (Colonel Davies, C.8.) was also present. The Pahiatua Rillcs are attached to the northern: half battalion, and as opportunities for battalion drill so rarely offer themselves it seems a pity that advantage was not taken of the occasion by the local corps to improve their knowledge of military tactics. . The, reason for the absence is , still more 'difficult to understand seeing that; the. parade.-was, one for which the volunteers wero. paid,- ami being held,' on the weekly half-holiday 110 reasonablo excuse could be advanced on the ground of ■ loss of timo. Tho strength of the Pahiatua Rifles has been reduced to . such an. extent that for some time past tliey have been unable to make a respectable appearance in public, but so long as the company exists tho country has a right to expect that it shall maintain efficiency. If 'it is unable to do'so, there is no alternative for it but to disband." . A CITIZEN ARMY. The latest contribution to tho literature of that somewhat debatable subject ■ " Universal Military Training," comes from tho artillery officers of tho Wellington Garrison, who,havo been engaged for .some timo past at their weekly meetings, ill evolving a scheme which, should the defence policy of the Government 'ever iiicline'.'tpwai'.ds .universal service, tliej suggest .migiit':fqrm a workable and efficient basis 'of/training:-;; Assuming .(a), the. mariitime piiramountcy of; tho Empire, and (b) that tho -requirements of New Zealand are to provide ior a possible raid, and also a surplus of men for an oversea, expeditionary contingent.if required, they have estimated a minimum establishment of 18,660 men, with a small permanent force as an instructional nucleus are mado up as follows:— Staff and Instructors ... ... 200' , Garrison Artillery " ... -. 1j650 -Mounted. : ... ... ...' 3,700"Field Artillery:- " '.- 840 ' Engineers . ... ••<' ... 500 .Infantry : ... • 10,800 ; Signallers "... . ..., ... ; ,'220 Transport •... . ... . ..-. "'420 ;; Medical ' ... '' ... . ... . 400 Veterinary , ... ' ... 30 ■ ; • . is,Gco Auckland , would absorb. 5798, Wellington 4488, Canterbury 3616,'0tag0 3616, and Westland 1142. The conditions - of service suggested are First liine:—Three years'- service, between • tho ages', .of ,18- and . 24; Second Line—Six years' service after completing'first line scr-, /.yice,',subject.to .-modification, in, cases of extendod-service ; in the first line. : Third Line (special reserve)— For men resident in remote districts, ■9. years' service, between the ages of 18 and 30. Plus the recruit coufse, it is suggested that the' training for' the first lino be 24 half-days for field work, .Victoria Day (wliolo day), seven days' con- ■ tinuous- training; a total of 20 days' daylight work.; .elementary drill and -lectures — two hours', an evening per fortnight—make up , another 10 days. For the. second line there is suggested one half-day quarterly for musketry or special arm (two days altogether), -Victoria Day (whole day), and four nights of two hours each of elementary drill and lectures. For the special reserve thcro is set apart four days' annual continuous training, and Victoria Day—five days a-year. , , | Under ■ such a scheme it is claimed that in six., years. a_.total of 48,000 men would have passed through the. first line, 15,000 in'the second,'and 6000 in the third. . v

• O&cial tests were recently made at Springfield (Mass.), of the noiseless rifle invention of , Hiram Percy Maxim. The tests were conducted by Major Kenneth Morgan, Captain Allen, and Lieutenant Meals of the army. It was discovered that the regulation rifle could bo heard 5700 yards, while with the noiseless device it could bo heard only 1500. yards: Thus 74 per cent, of the noise is eliminated by the Maxim invention. The noise heard does not sound like the discharge of, a gun, but more like' tho click of a hammer on an empty shell. It has been discovered that the loss in velocity with the now device is something less than 6 per cent. This could not bo determined accurately, as Maxim had shortened'tho rifle for his device. ■ Further tests will bo-made, and the device then will be screwed to a barrel of' regular length., Ordnance exports of the United States Army and Navy have expressed great satisfaction at the performance of the new Davis torpedo gun, invented- by .Commander Cleland Davis, United States Navy. Successful tests'have been ' made, at Fort Strong, Boston Harbour.'. One. torpedo, fired a.t a target, . accomplished the object of its inventor, passing through the target without detonating the real charge, tho. thickness and resistance of . the target representing tho outer and inner bottoms and three. bulkheads of a battleship. Officials of both the army and navy and others interested in the experiment were witnesses. The Davis torpedo is a combination gun and projectile in itself, and is elfectivo at 5000 ft., having its own motivo power, similar to that on tho ordinary Whitehead torpedo. Tho, projectile is in two pa,rts. It is l'orty-five centimetres in diameter and five metres long. , The outer tubo is about two-thirds tho length of the inner torpedo, and behind tho torpedo proper are forty pounds of high explosive. When the noso 'of the projectile comes in contact with any obstacle which stops, its progress— pieferably the enemy's ship—the concussion, no matter how slight, sets off tho forty pounds of explosive. The explosion drives the projectile through tho object; struck and at the same time starts a time fuso that causes the torpedo proper to explode a few seconds- later. It is this double action thai gives the Davis projectile its grea.t value. The two objective points in aiming at the enemy's vessel are naturally the magazine and engine rooms. If the magazine is struck, the result is obvious; if tho engineroom receives tho force of tho blow, the least that can happen is to stop all the machinery, of the vessel and mn.ke the ship as defenceless as a canoe. Commander Davis has been working' upon this idea for tho past two ycarß.