AUCKLAND RIFLE VOLUNTEERS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3118, 15 July 1867, Page 4

AUCKLAND RIFLE VOLUNTEERS.

To the Editor of the Daily Soutmsrw Caoss. Sib,— l would adrise " Stripes," non-commissioned officer though he be, to heutate ere he again rouses" the ire of a " Snap-cap." Is "Stripes" aware of the gallant service! rendered by that diitinguished body of irregulars, yclept the Auckland Volunteers, during the Waikato campaign ? I trow nofc ; or he would not be so ready at meering at the " appreciation," &c, &c. Had he but perused the newspapers of the time, he would have heard of the most arduous duties being willingly performed by that same body, under the most trying circumstances ; of the tedious and harassing march from Auckland to Otahuhu — *♦ the front ;" of their being compelled to eat their meat out of tin dishes, instead of having plates laid for them ; of having to suffer the extraordinary hardship, not to talk of disgust, of using their fingers for forks, and. having no knife but their teeth ; of being made to sleep on hard boards, i» ith only three blankets, and no sheets, besides having no substitute for the companion from which they derire their name— the feather-bed. Is " Stripes," I would ask, aware of all this t Will he now sneer at the Auckland Volunteers ? la he still sceptical ? If so, I would give him another instance where a Volunteer, in performing the arduous duties of an orderly man, got a blister on one of his fingers, and was pronounced unfit for further service, but, in consideration of having lost his health in and by the serrice, was voted by his comrades to be deserving of the Victoria Cross. I have not heard whether he has received it yet, but I have no doubt his services will be duly "appreciated." — lam, &c, E.BGULAB AND A BEOTHBfI IN AfiMS. July 12, 1867.