DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 10

DEFENCE NOTES.

.(By Echelon.) The forthcoming military tournament at Palmerston North promises to be one of the best of its kind ever hold.in New Zealand (reports the "Standard"). ;• As is no doubt well known, this year it will-extend over a period of two days, Noycmbor"'7iaiid 9. The principal attraction will, of course, be the visit of the navals,- comprising '100 officers, potty officers, sailors, and marines from H.M.S. Encounter. They are bringing with them a 121b. gun, two Maxims, and two searchlights, and propose giviilg a display the equal of which has never been seen in r<ew Zealand. In additon to this, they are competing in many of the otlier Some of these competitions promise a considerable amount of fun for the spectators, particularly tho mounted events, in which many of the Jack Tars have entered. The members of tho local corps have promised to provide them with horses, and they have entered for the wrestling or. horseback, tent-pegging, Balaclava melee and costume race. The sailor s love of fun is proverbial, and these events alone will bo worth going a long way to see. The searchlights will be shown by the navals oil the Saturday night, ■ when the show grounds and town will be illuminated. They will also take part in the military tattoo, A'hich takes place on the show grounds on the Saturday night, at 8 o'clock. The two chief mounted items will be the musical ride, in which is introduced entirely new figures and a greater number of riders, and the Maypole on horseback. This latter event is particularly attractive, necessitating, as it does, the very finest training on the part of both horses and men. Another stirring display will be the Mounted Rifles in attack by a picked troop. This will .undoubtedly aroue tho keensest enthusiasm among the spectators. A number of other new ovents have been introduced into the programme; including an exhibition of galloping with a Maxim gun, scouts making their horses lie down, a, pushball match by mounted men, tont-peg-ging with swords, and. an exhibition of mill-. tary bridge building. ' .. ' An executive'committee and provisional officers have been appointed to organise a. united service club in Wellington. lne preliminary circular states that the. clun will be for all sailors and soldiers, whether retired or still serving. Its objects are:— (1) To-cultivate a national _ spirit; (2) to form a social and benefit society; (3) to assist needy members who may be % out of ■ ertiployment; (4) to assist widows and orphans of sailors and soldiers; and (5) to meet ex-soldiers and ex-sailors who may arrive in tho Dominion, invite them to join the club, 'and also give such new arrivals advice and assistance in finding employment. Rooms, are to be secured, as soon as sufficient funds are in hand.The "Boy Scout" movement inaugurated by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell has already been taken up in Dunedin. A party of boys, to the number of about twenty, ■has been organised into patrols, evening meetings having already been held, and preliminary arrangements made. Thore was a muster of over forty Boy Scouts in the Wesley a a Schoolroom at Woodend (says a Christchurch paper). Patrols from Tuahiwi under leader Pitama, and from Kaiapoi, under Scoutmaster Mallisch, were. present. Major - Cossgrove mentioned that Scoutmaster Mallisch had done much for the cause in Kaiapoi; and had been one of the first; if not .the. first, in North Canterbury to form a patrol. He swore-in another patrol, and gave the boy 6 a short address on scoutcraft, after which the seven patrols present were practised in the calls of their tutelary animals. Tho Tuahiwi patrol have the kangaroo, Kaiapoi tho weka, and the ffoodend troop the black swan, grey duck, morepork, and curlew.

Reuter's special correspondent at the Gerin - describing ;the. operations, said that the portable field kitchen, used for the first time, had. given great satisfaction. It consists of a kitchen range, on wheels, attached, to a gun carriage. Lieut.-General. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, speaking recently at the prize-giving in connection with the Aldershot rifle meeting, remarked that the methods of training adopted in England were up to the highest they could possibly wish for. That meeting was •as practical as a meeting could possibly be with ' fixed ranges,. hut it was well-known that _ they could not have pcrfect service conditions unless they fired at unknown distances. This involved high training in judging distance. There were, hopes that by the addition-of new rifle ranges next year.they would be able to have practices under better conditions than now prevailed, for then they would -be able to fire at these unknown distances. That meeting had also emphasised how necessary it was for men to be quick in handling their rifles and making the fullest uso of the capacity of the magazines, all of which necessitated continual practice. In some of the attack practices, men had failed to fire at the moment by want of acquaintance with the methods of loading the rifle, but'that this could be overcome was proved by the 1 Scots Guards, who succeeded m winning the Ash Cup, which required a certain number of' rounds to be fired in eight seconds." They had fired these in half the time, putting in.five shots instead of two and a naif within the required time. A circular had been issued from the War Office containing representations from' the Commandant at Hythe, who was urging commanding officers throughout the winter months to take every opportunity of practising their men in aiming and firing from behind cover. This class of work could be done in barracks, all of which would facilitate men in the handling of their rifles. The direction of fire was also a matter of great importance. These things required a great deal of understanding between commanding officers and troops in the field, and ho trusted that practices to develop this training would exist next year. He (General Smith-Dorrien) had further ideas upon this subject, which he proposed to introduce during the winter training. Summarising his conclusions, General SmithDorrien hold the old bull's-eye was unnecessary to fit men for service, that more practice was required in loading the riflo for quick firing, and to get the best results under service conditions, and that the necessity for judging distance must not be loßt sight of. There must be more all-round new target-firing, and less of the old bull'seye • shooting, nnd, if they were to uphold the (lag, it would be especially necessary not to waste ammunition in shooting at something which did not bear resemblance to a possible enemy.