NAPIER ENGINEER TREES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5372, 3 May 1879, Page 2

NAPIER ENGINEER TREES.

The annual meeting of the Napier Engineer Vplunte'era was held last night in the Council Chamber, Captain Gibbons - in the chair; After the balance sheet had r beeh,rea<l ahd adopted, it was proposed 1 and carried "That the company be ■ changed into a; rifle . company. ' ' "i The ordinary business of the meeting Jjhaving been concluded, the members of 4he company sat down to an excellent cold supper, provided by Mr Johnson. The chair was taken by Captain Gibbons, who was' supported on his tight by Major Boutledge and Captain Garner/ *N.V. A and on his) left by: ILieufc. Pell, N.V.A.',' and the Rev De Berdt Hovell, Honorary tGiiaplain of • the Engineers; "A SJHT fllThercloth having been" 'removed, the Chairman proposed the health of the " Qjue,en, ( and . Koyal ?a m ily/\wjueh waa ' " dtily honored the" company singing ' ' God ' Save the Queen, " r ,^ <.-> :>:oMr T. Mdrrisor* proposed^fthe next ..toast, tha« ;jf t^.^W W aud Volunteers,?/;} coupled with Me name of t'the Honorary Chaplain: of the .Engineers * the Rev Be Berdt HoVell. ii:i He Baid he "had be^n a volunteer himself. >in Napier for some years, and it always gave .. him. pleasure in -, being amongst volunteers.' He' could say from his own;,;, knowledge 'that > the Napier Volunteers were always ' r eadvfc^ciwhen • called iippn, and although hejj^&cj. they would _ not,, be required to Be' jqaj^ out again,, he \ had ;nb doub'fc theyj^onld resppndiif : necessary,^ (Hear/Hear^'i „ The JEtev. :De ■ Berdt Novell,. iulreUponding, .returned' his" beat, thanksiiftir the toast of his health! He^thesrghii that amidst so much color, and so many Jmedalledybreasfs, a*-Wotfths?^]!9@Benta-tiveof thb -three bra|nel£e> f vitnanAimself %b#a tf byfsund. ; muwmA pSd up ' 'fidmeiOT.a^flay^^a^y^a^d^g'il^. now "'. ! . : W©! Jjpiwr &•. h pjding a cpmmtf B|gnan the N^pje^, Engineers. It , m.ight^urn^put a .. good sthing ; tp caltpr. the; ftanife of f ;ijJtei£prps, h ascthdy, had 1 decided ito.dojtha&nigkfe; but I -he< was 1 always aversenito >any I tiiin|B like change. ' He thoiight«it ftoulddbftTObeen* better if they had waftfed^fllfsfflSßlJefore ' changing' tlieir name. fi#arA He w l as;afra,id -he : ':might' fi&'^hftulnH* pre-jJ r su'mptuous'in'sp'eaMrig fhaf Jt^ ' M h *ss? «M»i ;He thought i Captain I GibJ? i on|ig{sij[gggs^'n : sjtp' w;,ait for , a,week";be|pr^ ; 'c]iftn^iflg their i .was.a",yery ; ,goft*Qns>i? Mfi wid he jwouldnotibedoing/justice-jtoiihevcorps, to rwhich J he. # thought > it; tan honra?" tffiljllong, if he did not sp.eak^as he though&'tin this matter., v He again [returned his sincere thanks f £ or the manner in which they had '■received the toast of his health. T4I Sub-Lieatenant Batham then.proposed the, toast of \\ The e P%fK#Q?cules jßoblnsoh."; ,"lil> J dqingr^so^ Jie^paid a high tribute to his Excellency's many 'estimable qualities. t The foasl .was.duly honored. , ; Major Boutledge r 'gap tt&ejiwxt toast, that of the " Hon. \ ! ;£he pef ence^SJ^ster, Oblonel Whitmbi'e'." " J He Baf^fcn^^lonel had proved himself a thorough "soldier, ,andinqw/'worthily filled '.th^h'ighjpffice of D.efence. Minister.; *He'j;jipuglistja^Di;aver officer was not to be found« in: ')S[pw Zealand than Colonel Whitmore,-and he had iaMy^lpo,ked;. ! after ;t : |ie ; ,CpqmsV4nJit of the! men under his charge.. He i had/ also received ■ distinction . from,H^r Majesfy the " Queen, not' only for .services/, rendered. in JMew Zealand, but alao. in' Africa.^ He .(Major JJoiitledge) thought- thati I ' if.?lhey "hadto fight, at VYaimatpj iOolo'iiei^hitmore would take the lead, and they could ,not goiiinder a better ibfficer.'U/. iIO'I - • Captain Gibbons • - '.proposed the health J of ' "-Major tßoutlia'dgfe^' and in doing so referred , to the , intereßt 'the MajoHiacl always ta.^en.in^piulj^eeriiig inattera.' \. ■ ■'■'■; .. /.jj^i.ivT Major' Eoutiedge^ 1 in' responding,, said that: he had no doubt thtffiawJttk'Jßay 'Volunteers would always/ibe' reSdy to do their duty if called upon. He said he had that day received notice that/EjO'men had enrolled themselves 1 as a volunteer company^at Waipukuraiii and ! he,;wpuid be \ very glad to welcome the advent of the V new corps, although heKs'houUt liavd tfo go so far to.inspect them., i He might dnform. the Engineers that he Had Applied to the Government to have their 1 Sergeatlt-Maj or, Mr Oantle, appointed , as drill instrjictor for the 'Hawke 's Bay Volunteers^ '(Oleers. ) , He. thought Sergeant-Major rK Oan|le had got the Engineers .on :bettetiLthauj any man, outside of an Imperial instructor, could have done. •' He again thanked ; - them for drinking the toast' of his'tiftalth. He was very happy to meet the .Engineers at their- first : annual meeting, and was glad to hear they had such a satisfactory financial statement. (Cheers.) •-, ;£*" Captain Gibbons then; .p'rbpose^. the itpa9t.pf.jV. The Artillery Companyfßoupled with the names of Capt.T Gamer ¥ and 'liie'uk'Peiil'' 'He tlibiighi;^ .^''Mjwish of the Engineers to. work.'as ,miich with the Artillery as possible. (H^ar^j 'hear.) He.ahould always hope to see^/ friendly rivalry between both corps, as its iftoula help to make both efficient. , .. Oapt... Garner desired, .to, returo. hia / thanks'for, ..tl^e ,toast 'of f ihirheaitn.^ Hei said he" was glad to see before him such aX fine .company , as . the, Engineers. He^~ might state that 1 he had also a good company himself/ and that the Artillery were •'n'ot'defuhoti as he hadl-'hearddl/^arked not long Bince. " They werejmuptein|waat of a coMpetenij driU-instrupo^\^^said it' had'completely' r taken him"by surprise ' to'hfeai^ 'from - Major '"Oioutled^e" that he had applied to i: the- :: Goverhm&ht f to 7 liave Sergti-Mjijor . Oantle i : ap'poin'ted/J drillinstructor for thewholepf thb Volunteers. He appreciated' SergVant-'Ma'jor^ Oantle's abilities, but he thought they Should hav^ an independent man to drill properly. He hoped the Sergeant-Major, if appointed, would get on well: He trusted both companies would agree together ; they all had British hearts, no matter what was the color of the uniforni(Hear, hear). Lieut. Pell also returned; thanks for the manner in which the toast of his 1 health had been received. J He thought '^ that a meeting like the present one did a great deal of good in the way of cementing friendships between the members of the different corps. He was glad ..to.chear from Captain Garner that the iArtillery were progressing so favorably,; as he-him-self was at present on leave. He' thought the: Napier Engineers, judging from the short time that they had been in uniform, the best company he had yet seen. If a drill instructor were appointed, he should, in ' his opinion, be a competent man in every branch of the service (Hear, hear). The next toast was proposed' by^Lieut. Pell, that of the "Honorary f-Qdlonel (Colonel Lambert), ■ the '"--Honorary Surgeon (Dr Spencer), and the Honorary Chaplain (the Hey De Berdt'Hov^ll)/'! He thought a more worthy volunteer was not to be found in Hawke's Bay. than Mr Hovell (Hear, hear). - ''■ The Rev. De Berdt Hovell briefly returned thanks for himself and his brother officers. Captain Garner then proposed the toast of the " Napier Engineers, coupled with the name of Captain Gibbons. " He said it gave him great pleasure to be present that evening amongst them. He thought the Engineers Avere a credit to their officers and non-commissioned officers. Captain Gibbons heartily thanked them for the toast of his health. He hopedthat '-■ next year the Engineers would be more ~i efficient. For himself, he thought "Volunteers should do more than merely make up the required number of ,drillsj awjl that the Government should not pass any men who were not efficient in- drill. Several other toasts were proposed and responded to, but the late* hour v at which the proceedings closed i precludes us from giving them' ill' full. Amongst those proposed were.';; " The officers and non-commissioned officers of the Engineers,'.' . responded to',. by;'subLieutenant Batham and Sergeant Master $

also «' Mr Rudman," for presiding at the pianoforte ; " The Ladies," &c, Several songs were sung during the evening, and a recitation was also given. The proceedings of a pleasant evening were brought to a close by singing the National Anthem.