THE HOLIDAY.

Evening Post, Volume LVIII, Issue 113, 9 November 1899, Page 6

THE HOLIDAY.

The fine weather which prevailed today tempted large numbers trom the city find suburbs to spend their holiday in the open. The various field sports, such as cricket, tennis, golf, and bowls all had their votaries ; but the great mass of the people went by tiain, steamer, 'bus, and traan, on picnicking intent. On both the Manawatu a.nd Government railway lines the traffic was fairly heavy. Some 600 excursionists went by special train to the Taratahi-Carterton, races at Clareville ; but by far the largest number of railway travellers visited Petono to witness the Military Tournament. Over 2500 people left Wellington by the various trains on the Matnawatu line, üboub 650 being for Palmerston North, and stations north of that town. The steamers running across the bay were very largely patronised. The marine excursion to Picton bj r the Wcstralia this morning was patronised by between 600 and 700 people. The weather ii 1 * fine for the trip across the Su-ait, and the beauties of the Sounds should be seen to the best advantage. Captain Kennedy is pilpting the fine vessel, and Minifie.'s String Band accompanied the party. In town business was- of course quite suspended, and the streets presented an unusually quiet appearance. Flags were flying on the principal public buildings in honour of the anniversary of the birthday of the Prince of Wales. The sailors ki port arc spending the j holida v v veiy pleasantly. " Shortly before noon they and their relatives and immediate friends went up to the dell m the Botanical Gardens close to the fort, and wera 'entertained at lunch. In the aftermoon sports and grimes were held. After taking tea they will return to town, and later they will attend an exhibition of/ lantern slides and a concert in the Missions to Seamen's Hall, on the Queen's Wharf. The. lantern will bo worked by Mr. G. W. Barltrop, and ihc concert will be under the direction of Me^tames Viuce and Gosney. Mr. Moore, tlia (Seamen's Missioner, acknowledges with thanks the receipt, of donations from Lady Stout, the Mayor,. Mrs. T. C. Williams, Mr. J. Duthie, and others towards the fund for entertaining the sailors. The annual picnic of the Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Association is being held at M'Nab's Gardens. The boys and their parents and friends to the number of several hundreds went out by special train at 10 o'clock, and shortly after their arrival there a start was made to get off a long programme of sports. Theanange- • ments are very complete, and the outing is being thoroughly enjoyedThe Salvation Army is holding its annual picnic at Xevi-nwn Park. THE MILITAKi iOURNAMENT. Patrons, His Excellency the Governor; President, Colonel A. P. Penton (Commander of the Forces) ; Vice-Presidents, Lieut. -Col. S. Newall (Commanding the District), Lieut. -Col. Collins (Commanding Ist Battalion Rifle Volunteers), Captain Duncan (Commanding Wellington Naval Brigade) ; Executive Committee, Captain L. W. Loveday (Commander H«retaunga Mounted Rifles), Chairman; Captain, W. G. Duthie (Wellington City Rifles), Acting-Captain J. King (Civil Service Rifle Volunteers), Lieut. W. Kinsey (Heretaunga Mounted Rifles), Lieut. Brocklehurst (Hereftaunga Mounted Rifles), Colour-Sergt. Turner (College Rifles), Sergt. Carmen (Zealandia Rifles), Sergt. J. O'Brien, Corporal W. Rowe, and Farrier-Corporal Woods (Heretaunga Mounted Rifles). Judges — Infantry Arm Drill — Sergt. -Majors Sanderson, and Peacock; Artillery Competitions — Lieut. -Col. Messenger and Master-Gunner Richardson, R.A. ; Bugle Competition— Mr. C. D. Macintosh; Athletic Competitions — Acting-Captain King; Horse RacesCaptain. W. G. Duthie. Squad Officers — Lieut. -Col. Collins (in charge), Captain J. Duthie, Lieut, and Adjutant Harcourt, Lieut. Kier j Hon. Treasurer, Captain W. G. Duthie; Hon. Secretary, Sergt.-Ma-jor J. G. Davies, Heretaunga Mounted Rifles. In these times of war, when the marcial spirit of the nation is at fever pitch, anything that pertains to the -military and the death-dealing devices of modern days is viewed with an interest which occasionally amounts to. enthusiasm. It was a knowledge of this, perhaps, that induced the promoters o£ the Military Tournament being held at the Petone Recreation ground to-day to seize the golden opportunity for a competitive display which, while tending to increase the efficiency* of our volunteer forces, would at the same time excite the interest of the general public in those forces to a greater extent than at present exists. In order to, make certain of securing the attendance of the public the competitions were made as interesting as possible, and events not military were introduced into the long and well arranged programme, but the manual and bayonet exercises, the exhibition of the murderous Maxim, and the infantry exercises ' were watched with the greatest interest. At the time of writifig there is every indication that the energetic efforts of the officials mentioned above will be rewarded with an amount of success they certainly deserve. The special train which left rhe city shortly after 9.30 this morning conveyed to Petone quite a large muster of competing volunteers, and also a good number of sightseers, who had determined to spend the holiday at the sports. But for the somewhat threatening weather the visitors from Wellington, would probably have been more numerous. As it is each tram that arrives swells the number that has already assembled on the ground, and by the luncheon hour there was a lar^e gathering. ° The competitions have filled out well Practically every corps in the city is represented, including the Boys' Institute Cadets and the Mount Cook School Cadets. The Bugle Band is in attendance, and its stirring military strains enliven the proceedings. Lieut.-Cols. Newall and Lollms and most of the officers of the garrison are in attendance, and taking an active interest in the proceedings, and during the day the Minister for Defence (the Hon. T. Thompson) was present. A feature of interest in the military contests was the fact that the judges in the infantry arm drill were Sergt. - Majors Sanderson and Peacock, two of * ne recently-appointed drill instructors. The programme began with the competition in Manual and Firing Exercises, open to all corps armed with rifles, for a first prize of £6 and second of £3. Each squad, eight of the eleven entered taking purfc, consisted of 12 men in charge of a non-commissioned officer. The squad paraded in front of the' grand-stand, the competition taking place in the centre of the open ground, those not under inspection remaining on parade with their backs to their rivals. When the order for volley firing was given the squad was facing the crowd at a distance of 20 paces, and the dodging of many heads immediately in front caused much entertainment for those who were out of the zone of fire. Prior to going through the manual and firing exercise, the men of each squad were Critically examined by Sergt. - Majors Sanderson and Peacock. The first squad out was the College Rifles (No. 1 team), under Col. -Sergeant Turner, and the men presented a trim and smart appearance, (siid their work created a good impression. Ahe Zealandia Rifles, under Corpl. Bunckcnburg, marched on in open order, with a .oo*o appearance. The City Rifles, who "uerj ym&ng the favourites, and were under (.'ol. -Sergeant Davis, won applause with their bmart work and avcll timed volley ijring, which all through was a feature in liie display.. Tie [Wellington Guards,, un- '

der Sergeant Love, presented a smart appearance, but their first volley was loosely fired. Tho Post and Telegraph Rifles were ordered to fire whilst their ollicer (Sergeant Carmine) stood in the line of fire. Several mem(bers of the No. 2 team, College Rifles, under Sergeant Lewis, failed to keep their hats on in their excitement. The Zealandia nines, No. 2 team, were led by Sergeant Dowland. Sergeant Halliday was in charge of the Civil Service Rifles. On the order "Enemy in front, 500 yds range!" threo volleys were fired with even reports. The judges, allowing a maximum of 40 points, placed the squads in tho following order: —

Following are the names of the members of tho winning teams: — Guards (Ist) — Sergt. Love, Corpls. Leslie and Smith, Pvts. Bolland, Oruickshank, Hackworth, Wilson, <j. Love, W. Love, iU'Kinley, Rydr, Butler, and West. City Rifles (2nd)— Col -Sergt. Davis, Corpls. Frandi and Tuloch, Lance-Covph. Pepper and Tanner, Pvts. Swain, 13. Halpin, S. Guy, C. Guy, J. Love, Andrews, E. Claridge, and R. Feasey. College No. 1 (3rd)— Col- . Turner, Corpl. Gale, Lance. -Corpls. Rushbrook and Mcc, Pvts. Higginson, Rinfoul, Evatt, Muriay, Dunlop, Young, Glasgow, W. O. Cook, and Huichen. Three fully armed and equipped warriors faced the slaner in the walking race, distance, (something over a mile. Each carried » riile and bayonet, overcoat, waterbottle, etc., and they tramped over the distance in great style. Corpl. Bannehr, of tho College Rilies, set a merry pace, and led until thu hihl round, when LanceCoipl. Rushbrook, of the same corps, who had been lying handy, closed up and caught him," eventually winning by about 30yds from Bannehr, Sergt. Zohrab, the other starter (also of the College Rifles) being some distance away. The time was 12min 23 2-ssec. Some half-dozen of the members of the Heretaunga Mounted Rifles entered their mounts tor the two-milo trotting race. Fairiev. -Corporal Woods' nuire Kitty, who showed all the paces of a racer, simply ran away from the rest of the field, Private Talbot's roan gelding finishing second, and Captain Loveday's Tommy third. «The race for members of the Cycle Coips, a distance of two miles, in uniform, started with eight competitors, who to the inexperienced eye looked as eight peas out of one pod. Four of the cyclists, however, dropped out by degrees, leaving Colour-Sergeant Slinn, Corporal Wighton, Privates Nicholls and King to fight out the finish, which they did in the order named. A good deal of interest was concentrated in the competition for mounted men — jumping hurdles in section. Two sections entered, that of Sergeant O'Brien, composed of the Sergeant himself, Cor-poral-Farrier Woods, and Privates Styles and Walston, who all took the hurdles cleverly, being adjudged winner. It was a quarter to 1 before a start was nlade with the bayonet exercise, open to all corps armed with rifles, first prize £6, second £3. The men in the competing squads were the same as thoso who took part in the manual drill competition. The Zealandia Rifles teanty No. 2, showed weakness in lunge and thrust movements, but the same exercises of the following team, the City Rifles, were thoroughly business-like. The men of No. 2 squad, College Rifles, gave a weak exhiuiuon. The Guards were a trifle loose, both in their dresses and in their movements, especially in the timed action. The No. 1 team of Zealandia Rifles were smart in all their actions. The College Rines No. 1 started smartly, but weakened later, especially in lunge. The following are the results of the competition, 30 points being the maximum allowed : — Pts. City Rifles ...• ... v.^ 26 1 Zealandia Rifles, No. 1 squad .., 25 2 College Rifles, No. 1 squad ... 24 3 Wellington Guards gained 20 points; Zealandia Rifles, No. 2 squad, 19; College Rifles, JSo. 2 squad, 18. Owing to the prominent part played by the Maxim guns in engagements in the Transvaal, much interest was excited in the Maxim gun competition, for which the following squads entered : — Kelburne Rifles (Lieut. Tuckey), Wellington Navals, No. 1 squad (P.O. Donaldson), Post and Telegraph Rifles (Sergt. Harton), Wellington Guards, No. 1 squad (Sergt. Love), Wellington Navals, No. 2 squad (P.O. Martin). The prizes for the event were £1 10s and £1. Each detachment consisted of one officer or non-commission-ed officer, and ten men. At the word of command from^the umpire (Lieut, -Col. Messenger) ,the officer in charge of the squad gave the order : "Take post in order of march." The men then advanced at the double with the Maxim gun for a distance of 20 yards, went into action, firing a series of 30 rounds, then changed front and fired another 30 rounds. ' Uease firing and take post in marching order" was then given, and the men returned with the gun to the original starting point. Oh returning, the detachments, each of which was timed in its action, took up a position on the left, firing another series of .30 rounds, traversing fire, then limbering up, and finally standing fast. Points were given for tho turn-out, time, drill, and laying, the guns having to be laid correctly at 600 yards' elevation. The maximum number of points was 150, and the award was made as follows: — Post and Telegraph, 140 points, 1; Wellington Guards, 94, 2; Wellington Navals, No. 1, 93, 3. Wellington Navals, No. 2 squad, gained 62 points, and Kelburne Ritles 56. The judge was Master-Gunner Richardson. The Bugle Competition was keenly congested by six lads. Mr. C. D. Muckintosh, who acted as judge, awarded Tretheway, of the Wellington Naval?, first prize (£1), Warren, of College Rifles, second (10s), and Holt, of College Cadets, third. The Physical Drill for Cadets Corps, for which a prize of £1 5s was offered, brought out two squads. The youngsters of the Mount Cook School beat tho Institute Naval Cadets, and won the prize,

Wellington Guards »., City Rilles * College Rifles, No. 1 ■„* College Rifles, No. 2 ...< Zealandia Rifles, No. 1 Civil Service- Rifles Zealandia Rifles, No. 2 Post and Telegraph Rifles i... Pts. 37 1 36 2 35 3 34 0 31 0 30 0 29 0 27 0