WITH SHRAPNEL SHELL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 8

WITH SHRAPNEL SHELL.

FIELD GUNNERS AT , FEATHERSTON. .

. .D Battery, having' completed' the in-; -structional portion.'of the sixteen days', training,course at. the Ilutt, Park, struck, camp on Thursday evening, and, came up to. Featherston by-special train, pitching tlieir tents about a milo from; the railway station shortly after ,mid-. night. . At 8 o'clock yesterday morning the battery paraded, for a preliminary practice'in shell fire, under service conditions, but tho auspices were distinctly depressing, especially in view of the fact'that the practice was to be "carried out under. the eyo of his Excellency the Governor (Lord- Islington) and tho .General- Officer Commanding tho' Forces •(Major-Goneral A; F. Godloy, C.8.). A. howling nor'-wester with driving rainsqualls raged across • the '■ 'valley—that same nor'-wester prostrated tlio tents of; the. unhappy gunners the night before,, and robbed' 'the peacefulr-'Citizens of Feathorston ;of ;an uni'3asonable.:portion of their.night's rest—tlieir'otim'manding offioor (Major, I'etherick) was ill in camp and. could not'parade, their captain and two- of'"their'- subalterns ■ (Captain .Glen--dining and-- Lieutenants Skelloy. and' Avery) were at the staff-camp at Tauheriiiikau, and about 70 of tho battery's, total strength wore; first-year recruits. '■ ■The morning practicoi was not a success. The driving squalls obscured the service targets on tho far. hillsides, ' making observation extremely difficult,' /whilo tlio work oij.. tho. gunlayers was 'made increasinglyJilllflSulS; in allowingtho necessary deflcction for the forco of tlio g.lle. After a few rounds had been fired, tho ■ practice : . was -■ discontinued," .and .his.'iExceHeiicy ,■ arid!. tho!'i.|>genefal took their.departure. The'lyat'ttiry was then given an hour's drilling by Captain D.-' C. Spencer-Smith,.. R.A. (tlio general's staff.ioffiqor),f-and seii'tv 'ilun'i?b, another -instructional parade was held, •and the weather'haying,considerably, improved in the meantim'e, '' ; good practice work , was, got ,{it, four series being fired." Lieutenants' Jlacken'zio and Macquarrie were iii -charge' of the battery at each of . thai p'a'wdesj.f and all things • considered .tho. jjnnners acquitted tliemsclves''very,'creditably. : Tho ranging and .fuse-setting wcro gotid, thouiih the strength of the-|;ale- occasionally upset tho; calculations, for-• deflection. Another instructional -scries-' will bo carried out to-day! and later'tho scrvico test.for classification'.will... be taken. The staff ofliccrs.present at the "shoot" yesterday werc'undofsto'od to havo' been agreeably-surprised 'at tho, .efficiency of the battery. Fol- yesterday''morning's parade 'there was a muster of 92. Today it' is-expcctcd 'that-:-.abouk-120..0f. all, ranks will be on parade. Captain G..S. Richardson, Chief Inspector of Artillery,-is supervising tho practices. : :In. former,-years, the, points awarded each field battery at its annual classification test were computcdiin tho assessment of marks in the Government Efficiency Challenge Shield and Rhodes Field Artillery Cup competitions. Theso competitions havo ~now. .been .discontinued. As D. Battery has won tho efficiency shield four times out of five it has been suggested that tho trophy should pass into its'permanent custody. Th'e Rhodes Cup has been thrice coiiipetcd for. and last year was captured by-the Wellington Gunners. Auckland won the previous yc.ar.