SERVICE NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 142, 16 June 1906, Page 14

SERVICE NOTES.

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Secretaries of volunteer corps and of rifle n'.ub? are invited to forward any items of interest regarding parades, shooting, or general company news. The Minister for Defence for the Commonwealth intends to ask Parliament 'for £1738 -to cover the expense of aa interchange of officers with. England, India, and. Canada. Ifc is now contended that the \ size required for a, battleship of twenty-five knots speed, armoured with, a sixteeninch iuupp 6teel belt from stem to stern, wotud be about twenty-five per cent, less displacement than several of the Transatlantic liners. Such, a vessel would, therefore (says a writer in a Homo paper), be quite practicable and apparently desirable in eveiy way. For scouting and reconnaissance purposes a gains d opposition, a battleship ot this type would be invaluable, bhe would bo, to all intents and purposes, invu^neiabie save against torpedo or submarine attack, and would, therefore, constitute a uniquo factor in future naval warfare. it is not improbable that the type of battleship which will supersede tne Dreadnought will be a vcsel of a considerably increased weight of armour such as the one now under discussion, as many -indications are pointing in that dhe,...on at present. Mdjor-Generald Sir Gerald do Courcy Morton died 6uddenly at the Cuiragn last month. Born in 1845, he joined the 6th Royal Koginient in 1863. Serving as .Assistant Aajutant-Generul during the Afghan war ot 18 f B-80, he was piesent at the attack on and capture of tho l'eiwar Kotul, in the engagement at (Jhunisiuh, and in the operations mound (Jubul. He accompanied Lord Kubsrts in his famous march to CanJahar. in 1899 he was created K.0.1.E. By the death of Cuptain J. B. Blenkinsopp Uoiuson another Crimean veterun lms ■ passed away. The captain served with the Grenadier Guards in that campaign. He was afterwards m India with ■ the lliflo, Brigade, and penetrated into the depths of Thibet. > Commenting on Uio programme for the Exhibition Military Tournament, "Trigger" writes as follows in the Canterbury iimes : — '"A feature is being mado of the physical drill competition. Nowadays the bayonet exercise offers no attractiveness. Time was when 'a feature of any military display was a bayonet competition, but the exercise changed completely with tke introauction of the magazine rilie. I am sorry that the committee has not included a company drill event, on the lines of the conkst which is held annually at Lancaster Park by the School Cadets. There is no doubt such a competition would be very attractive from a public point of viev,^ and popular from the men's." "There has been some complaint about slackness in volunteering," said Lieutenant Bowie at Timaiu, in a line with the remarks of the Rev. Dr. O'Uallaghan at the *Li.uaeranga School on Empire Day, "and various remedies have been pruposed for it. One scheme — if he uiijjiit uso,an IlibernicLsm — was qompul&ory volunteering. It had been' advocated by onicers of the army and by officers of the volunteers. He was sorry to see that it had met with a good deal of opposiuon fiow both politicians and a action of the public ; but ho did not think any one pits>ent .lould say that it •was asking too much to demand that 6vory young man should be 1 compelled to serve three years in the volunceers, say one night a week at drill, and one ■weefc a year in continuous training. That ■ would, not hurt any young man. On the contrary, it would do them a great deal of good, not only as defenders of their country, but also in their civil capacity. The young colonials — and he spoke as a young colonial himso.f — were rather deficient in discipline, and if they had more of it, it woiud be better for themselves, for itheir employers, and for their country. 1 ' •During the height- of the battle boween ]No. 1 and No. 2 "troops of the East Ooait Mounted Rifles on the Repongaero Hills recently (says the Poverty Bay Herald), a dramatic and exciting in- > cident occurred. A sergeant of the attacking lorce was pushing lornard up a sleep lace in the bold attempt to capture an important position, when a sergeant on the ridge above levelled hie lille, b.azed away, and a sure "kill" resulted, immediately upoi> the flash of the iireaim, the attacking seigeant fell and rolled with a sickening thud to v ledgo beion, where he lay lor at leaM> a quarter of an hour The incident caiibed much consternation to the soldier higher up, who had wild ideas of a genuine totality, which he thougut must have been caused by a ihot cartridge accidentally getting in amongst the blanks. Hurried investigations, however, relieved all anxiety, for the man was only "dead beat" as a result of nearly a couple of hours' vigorous military tactics on tho hills. Private A. L. Humphries, of the Tarauaki itiiles, JS'ow Plymouth, made 53 out of a possible 56 in the North Island shooting lor the Government medals The weather conditions were not at all good. Last year Humphries made 55. So far. the best record lor the South Island is aiso 5<5, mado by Coiporal M'Kengie. of Oamaru, a young brother of Alec M'Kenzie, ot Bislcy team fame. It is stated that 70 per cent, of the soldiers wounded at Mukden had recovered and again resumed duty ' within thros months of the action. This, of couisc, was owing to the comparatively hygienic effects of the unusually small projectile used by the hostile armies. Dr. Shafer, who obtained considerabio experience in Manchuria, slates that no less than 2000 wounded were treated in one field hospital, and only ten of these required to undergo operations. It appears to be unanimously agreed by medical authorities throughout the world thai, the .system of first-aid instruction now impart-ed to fco.diers has been responsible for saving an enormous number oi lives. Formoriy, many of the wounded wero quietly peimitted to bleed to death wtlieii oven an elementary knowledge of anatomy and extemporised surgical appliances would have enabled their comrades to save them. At the Wanganui Cavalry old troopers' recent smoke concert, one of the veterans stated that a great number of the swords used in the corps had been made by Mr. Walter Armstrong's father, who also, he thought, made tho first swoid manufactuied in tine colony, The same ; gentleman also made somo of the old .ant.es, and whilst tht.y were being* manufactured the troops were driiled with flaxsticks Mr. Walter Armstrong, who wae> present at the gathering, said he remembered, when a lad of about thiitcen, helping his father with the swoid-mak-ing, and he received 2s 6d from one ot the officers for whom he had made a bword, tho latter complimenting hin> upon his workmanship. The 2nd Batt. of the Durham Light Infantry, have just had » an interesting celebration — that of the 21st birthday of "Jimmy Durham," a Soudanese who plays a clarinet in the band. Jimmy has had' a romantic career. During the Soudan campaign of 1885 a body of Dervishes flod, leaving a naked child on tho banks of the Nile. Tho child was picked by Lieut. Delisle, now tho adjutant, and ever muco ho has been tho pet of the „ regiment.. JVlien three years old 'he

could prattle in Arabic and English, riSe ths horses bareback to water, and give a song and danco on thje barrack-room table. As a> result of a petition he was allowed to accompany the troops to India, and in 1899 special sanction -was given by Lord Roberts for him to join the regiment. It is officially announced in London (says Lloyd's Weekly) that the rifles now being withdrawn from infantry -units, on the issue of the new short rifle, are to be issued to recognised rifle clubs, together with a free supply of ammunition, under conditions shortly to bo announced. We aro thoroughly in sympathy with encouragingi trifle clubs,' but it seems strange that whilst the Militia, a valuable military force, is stiil armed with the Lee-Metford rifle, the later service weapon or Lee-Enfield rifle should be passed on to rifle clubs. On the Militia will fall in emergency the active duties of defence and aggressive work overseas ; but, as in the South African war, these devoted troops still continue to be armed with a weapon tho barrel of which: is adapted to the use of black powder. Tho position is ridiculous.