N.Z. FIELD ENGINEERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 457, 16 March 1909, Page 6

N.Z. FIELD ENGINEERS.

THE EFFICIENCY CHALLENCE SHIELD. WON BY CANTERBURY. The annual competition By tho four field engineer -volunteer corps of New Zealand — Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Dunedin—for the "Efficiency" Challenge Shield, presented by the Government, has resulted in a win for the Canterbury Engineers, whoso marks per cent., 85.3, entitled them to the distinction of being graded in tho first class for general efficiency in all departments of field engineering work. The runners-up in tho competition woro tho Dunedin Engineers, with 79.75 per cent, of marks; Wellington, which won tho shield last year, came third, with 76.85 per cent, of marks, whilo Auckland came fourth with 76.57 per cent. Tl.ie maximum marks obtainable in each of tho seven branches of the competition were 100, and the aggrcgato marks 700. Tho results were as follow: — & fi ! .S fo 1 Non-commissioned ji £ >2 5 O i P £ ■ < officers 91 89 80 80 Attendance ... . ... 85 90 82 80 Field engineering ... 98 >80 80 75 Field telegraphy ... 80 70 96 86 Signalling ... 84 84 81 80 Discipline 70 65 71 90 Company efficiency ... 89 79 48 45 Total marks ... 597 557 538 536 111 his report on the work of tho competing corps, Lieut. Duigan, N.Z.M., Engineer Staff Officer, "Headquarters Instructional Staff, states that the field engineering work of tho Canterbury Engineers was excellent, and their signalling very good. Tho Dunedin corps did not at 'first desiro to enter for tho competition, but were informed by tho Chief of the General Staff that if they did not perform the work prescribed in tho syllabus for examination, they would bo classified on tho basis of whatovcr work the inspecting officer saw. To their credit, they acceptcd tho situation, went in for the competition, and succeeded in defeating tho previous winners by 19 points. Wellington scored heavily in the field telegraph section, running up to within four points of tho maximium. The best disciplined corps is the Auckland company. Tho past year has witnessed a thorough reorganisation of tho syllabus and work of the engineer volunteers. There is certainly no comparison between tho work accomplished by the Wellington Engineers at the Hutt Park this year arid their operations at Mahanga Bay the previous year, and this advance along the lines of progress and efficiency on the part of tho local company is representative of tho improvements effected in tho other three corps. Tho keenness and enthusiasm of tho corps is very largely a reflex of the personality of their staff instructing officer, Lient. Duigan. The weakness of tho .Wellington Company lies not in its apparent inefficiency as compared with the Canterbury and Dunedin companies, but mainly in its lack of a full complement of officers, afid the prospect of recovering tho shield from Canterbury next year will bo very much enhanced if the deficiency referred to is given attention while the volunteer year, which commences on March 1, is still young.