SERVICE NOTES. (BY "SCOUT.")

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 148, 23 June 1906, Page 14

SERVICE NOTES. (BY "SCOUT.")

Bombardier Edwin J. Nichol, of the Royal Marine Artillery, son of Mr. Edwin Nichol, town-postman at Worthing, has become the champion shot in his Majesty's navy. During the recent gun laying tests on H.M.S. Hindustan off the Portuguese coast he made the most remarkable score of ten hits with ten rounds in two minutes with a 9.2 B.L. gun. The previous best performance was one of seven hits in two and a-half minutes with nine rounds. Admiral Percy Scott, who was on board the Hindustan,, heartily congratulated Nichol on his fine performance, ' which has set up a fresh record for the whole world. The death has taken place, at Harwich, of Mr. Henry • Hoiden, aged 76, who served with the Eoyal Artillery in tho Crimea, and who was present >at the charge of Balaclava and the taking of Sebastopol. On the occasion of his recent visit to .Dovercourt Earl Roberts noticed Hoiden 1 s Crimean medals, and shook the veteran by tho hand. Ascertaining that he had performed a meritorious deed during tho campaign. Earl Rqberts interested himself on his behalf, and this resulted in Hoiden being granted an increase of pension. "Sentry" in the Otago Daily Times" writes : — The function at which the prizes won 'during the season in connection with the Dunedin Navals were presented was an emphatic success, and suggests the death warrant of the smoke social familiarly associated with these affairs. As has been remarked already in these columns, the presence of the volunteer's friends accentuates the feelings of pride and pleasure with which he receives his awards, thus increasing his desire to excel. The more closely the public are drawn to the Volunteers the more rapidly the recruiting difficulty will disappear, and it is by means of gatherings in which the public will be invi.'ed to have a part that a more practical sympathy with tho Volunteer movement may be obtained. At the Navals' gathering the visitors were entertained in royal manner witb song and story, supper and dance, and it was obvious that the hospitality was appreciated. The Council of the National Kifle Association, England, has (says the Field) received official information that a slide containing a movable piece for use as a wind-gauge and fitted with a scale, has been officially adopted by the War Office for uso with the L.M. and L.-E (long) rifle. It will take the place of the match slide hitherto allowed officially for use in match shooting, which, however, can still be used if preferred. Tho manufacture of these slides will be at once commenced by the War Office. The match slide will not be manufactured in future. In consepuence of this intimation the definition "service rifle" for N.R'.A. purposes has been altered so as to admit of the use of this slide as an alternative to the present slide, and also so as to admit of the use_ of the short Lee-Enfield rifle in competitions open to service rifles. Full particulars cf the slide will be announced at an early date. The N.E.A is taking steps to obtain a supply from the War Office, and will be prepared to issue the slide before the next annual shooting gathering. The miniature rifle club movement is making some headway in the Old Country. Tho word "miniature" in the title is a rather vague term, and carries a misleading suggestion of insignificance. It is used in the sense that the club so designated is formed for tho purposo of practising shooting with rifles or less power than the ordinary military weapon. Some 300 clubs are affiliated to the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs, Most-of these have adop-

ted the .22 calibre rifle, with which accurate shooting up to 100 yards is possible. Thci society favours what is known as the Newitt target, representing a khaki-clad soldier lying down, as seen, 500 yards away, upon a green background with scoring rings on the decimal system. The object of this society is to encourage marksmanship as a pastime, a short-range weapon being selected as requiring but a small rifle range — of no greater dimensions than the ordinary bowling green or tennis court. The evidence given beforo the courtmartial on the officers responsible for tho grounding of H.M.S. JDonegal on Ist March last, in the Gulf of Suez, is scarcely reassuring (writes Lloyd's Weekly). From the revelations made to the court it would seem that existing arrangements for the navigation of his Majesty's battleships are anything but satisfactory. On the occasion to which we refer the navigating officer appears to have divided his attentions between his specific duties and, as the United Service Gazette puts it, "the attractions of physical drill." For this generalisation of duty which results in negligence ho has been sentenced to forfeit one year's seniority and be dismissed his ship. Apparently the arrangements nov? in vogue do not provide for an efficient system of check on the positions as ascertained by the navigating officer. The point is an important one. The moral of the Donegal case is not a pleasant one to consider. Evidently insufficient attention is paid to seamanship — an appalling conclusion to contemplate in view of the immense wealth and innumerable lives at stake in our enormous floating aggregations of costly warlike paraphernalia. A modern battleship cannot be regarded as a handy, manoeuvrable pleasure yacht, Shp requires considerable executive taleni and the best attention from her navigating official to carry her through, even in time of peace. What is demandable in these directions during war time, therefore, can readily be conjectured. In contemplating the tendencies of the new common-entry Naval officials we cannot refrain from reflecting on what will happen when, in addition to his many other special qualifications, an executive and a navigating officer is compelled also to master the profession of an engineer. Lieutenant-Colonel Stoneham, who has recently been promoted to the command of the Ist. Otago Battalion, in indicating to the officers of his battalion the lines upon which he intended to work, gave some sound advice which is worthy of a much wider application than was intended. He urged officers to sacrifice more timo in the effort to make infantry work more interesting, and thus retain the services of a desirable class of men in the battalion. He expected all to devote some little time to drill and books bearing' on the same. Men were being lost to the corps simply because night after night at parade there was only the same uninteresting marching up and down Jhe hall, little practical instruction being given by the officers, who were leaving more and more to their non-coms. The doing of too little in the O'C's opinion was more harmful than attempting too much. It was better to give the shirker a warm time than, by continually overlooking his shuffling, to sacrifice good men. There should be a blackboard in every orderly room, and it should be used constantly for illustrating musketry, outpost work, attack and defence, the movements of skirmishers, methods of keeping up communications, etc., patrolling and scouting. Map reading and the preparation of rough maps required study which he hoped to see given during the vinter. He trusted the books on field engineering would bo utilised to the fullest extent, and the work made interesting and of practical use. The non-coms, must take their share in instructing, but not to the ex-

tent of relieving the officers of their plain duty. He would like to see a syllabus prepared for, say, each quarter by the O.C. each corps, with short lectures as a prominent feature, the subalterns bearing their share of the work. One thing he would like to impress was the necessity of instilling into the men the fact that the nonour oftheir company and battalion lay in their hands. There is a record of a remarkable achievement by a New Zealand firm. Messrs. Hallenstein Bros., Ltd., to whom tho following letter is addressed —Dear Sirs : I have pleasure in stating that tho. uniforms supplied to our corps by Messrs. Hallenstein Bros., Ltd., in 1885, havo only iust been discarded after twenty-one- years' service. This I consider speaks volumes fortha workmanship and durability of the uniforms. It is only due to the fact that a number of the scarlet tunics hava been hopelessly stained through tha work done by us as a"h Engineer Corpa that nas made it necessary for us to place a further order with the firm, and >VG are pleased to state that the order nas been executed to complete satitfaction both as regards fit and style.— I am, etc., (signed) Geo. D. Ross, Captain, Commanding No. 2 Company, New Zealand Engineer Volunteers.