VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11648, 9 May 1901, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

[BT seNTINiL.] Two or three recruits were sworn in at the parade cf the Ponsonby Xavals on Monday evening last. riio Devonport Coastguards parade for H-overniuent inspection this evening-. There are vacancies for a few suitable recruits in this corps. 1 '>* Auckland infantry Bauab'on, the Cyclists Oorps, the Bearrr Corps "and ihe drum and fifu hand peutide for inspection on .Saturday afternoon at half-past two o'clock.

The . Vi; l 'sr■;)■ 1 M•>>i-s! Rifles are talking of holding n inkhan.a during the visit of j the n-ite and 1 hlpli»s<» of York. .An attractive programme is to he dra-wn Tip for the or- , casion. and further details will shortly he available.

The Mamirewa division of t'»o Auckland Mounted Jhfic# paraded at Mannrewa on Saturday a;.eii:c<'ii last under lyieu(en"u,t •lone.-. The men were in.-preted by C ! apt«in Holjr.'te. who was nmcii pleased with their appearance.

Not one of the stuff instructors was avail able for the non-coms.' class on Tuesday evening, and tho senior non.com. oil parade had to take i'har«"j. This only Lroes to emphasise the necessity for addition;'! instructors for the district.

There was some rail; of massing tho South Island volunteers in Cbristchurch for the \isit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, but tins proposal is now said to have been abandoned, a.nd a parade of district volunteers only will ta!;o its place.

The Highlanders, who accompanied the New Zealand C-ont indent to Melbourne formed tho only iipiad in which physique had not been saorifictxl to height, and conse<piently boasted tome Kti-lcndidly-built fellows of sft lOin ami upwards.

Four of the so retains of the "A" liattory Artillery havo handed in hair resignations. T!k> loss of siir-li a number of non-coms, at ihe one time must prove a serious Mow to the conn)-. a* there are not many men in the ranks capable of tilling the vacancies.

Some of our naval companies are minus waist-belts, slings, etc., a most unfortunate state of affairs in view of the approaching Royal visit. Should not some strong i*!' fi.rt bo made to replace the missing- article-; before the Duko and Duchess of Cornwall arrive ?

Says a Christchuroh writer—During the Federal encampment I foregathered with m. Ny old friends and enjoyed the talk over old tint's. Auum<; others. 1 met Quarterma -Serjeant Kearsky, of tho "A" lottery, who is one of the cleverest artillery nou-ccr.if. in the colon v.

At a meetiug of the Auckland Moiiii!«k" Rifics, held in the company's (jrderlyroom, Symondfl-slreot, last Monday evening, Mr. J. A. White was unanimously elected to tho vacant lieutenancy. Mr. White in a few appropriate words thanked the company for the honour conferred on him.

In con.seqnonce of the battalion paracl bein;; called for Saturday afternoon, the A.karana Rifle Club's rapidity-firing; pom; titiou li'is been postponed for the present. A marker will, however, be in attendant at tho Avondale range foi the benefit of members desirous of practice.

There is now some talk of moving the front portion of tho lower classrooms of the ellesley-street school back in order to make more room foi the new drill ball. Should this be done then ho I'rivade o'lioe and store? will in future adjoin the shed, a m-noh more convenient site than the present one.

Mr. W. H. Siie.pherd, who was instrumental in forming a cadet corps in the Mount Eden district, _ has, after a weary wait, received notification of tho acceptance of the corps by the Defence Department. Tho member's will be sworn in at the Grafton Football Clubs gymnasium to-morrow (Friday) even-

ing. The Auckland Mounted Rifles defeated the Gordon Rifles in a teams match at the l'"nrose range on Saturday last by 33 points. If tho Gordons continue to lake advantage of ail opportunities offered them for shooting: praetice, they may expect before long to turn tho tables on fome of the corps fhey meet.

Kieht nominations were received on Monday evening for -;.he vacancy of second-da.*-? P.O. in the Ponsonby Narals. The election will take nlace next Monday, when the company will again parade at the Welles-ley-street parade-:,'round, tho intention being to get tho corps into shape in infantry work in view of the approaching Royal visit.

On Saturday week (.Vtay 18) the members of the New Zealand Natives' No. 2 Company lire a match with the Victoria Rifles. The Natives' team will bt» picked from the following:—Captain Bu /tlotfc, Sergeants Friokerand Phillips, Corporal< Carter and Stead, Privates Bond, Boyd, li. Cutler, Lord, I#ej>ino, Pollard, Pcnzholz, Vincent, Tyne, and Wilson.

Seventy-one raemlwrs of the LyUe.lt on Naval Artillery passed tho gunnery examination for thy yea." ending Fobruary 23, 1901. and thereby qualified for the payment of £1 per man and the gunner} badge. Twenty of those also qualified for an additional £1 and the crossed gun badge for having passed for three consecutive years, and eight of the men passed in depression range-finding.

The Maori members of the New- Zealand Contingent, now taking part in the Melbourne celebrations in connection with the visit of Royalty, have been greatly admired for their fine physique. While in camp atChristohurch, prior to their departure for Australia, they worked harder than any other squad in the contingent. They took a keen interest in their work, and whenever the men were off duty someone would bo drilling his comrades.

Captain Holgate, senior mounted officer of the district, has been approached with a view to providing about eight horses for the me of the staff of tho Duke of York and Cornwall during their stay in Auckland. As the mounted infantry men will require their own mounts, Captain J-lolgate invites any private individuals who may fee! inclined to place suit We horses at the disposal of the members of the staff of His Roval Highness to communicate with him (Captain HoWo). During the week the horses are in uso all responsibility and expense will rest with the Government.

After the inspection parade of the Pot:sonby Navals last Monday, .Mr. Ku-en received his acting commission, C.P.O. W. Morgan wr.s presented with the company's belt and Lieutenant-Commander Patterson's gold medal for shooting, and P.O.'s To tin an and Williams were handed their certificates. Morgan is to he congratulated on his success with the rifle, and I am sure no member fit th& corps will grudge the popular C.P.O. the trophies won. This being the second consecutive occasion on which he has won toe modal, it now becomes his personal property.

A Press Association telegram from Wellington a week or two back stated that the CoMimauder of the Forces wished it known that the Government would not be responsible in any way for the contracts; which might be entered into by Lieutenant F. B. Hughes, of Brabant's Horse, who .us seeking recruits in the colony. Spoken to subsequently. Lieutenant Ruches told a Canterbury newspaper reporter that lie had received a written and also a verbal request from Colonel Thomas, who commands a portion of Brabant's Morse, to bring hack a hundred recruits from New Zealand. He says he had the rank of lieutenant in the regiment, and exhibited a large.- bundle of telegrams, which he said were from men in all parts of lie colony anxious to join.

Writing from Liehtenbiirg under date of February 15, a well-known .4 '.irk lander at the front expresses himself very sick of the campaign, not as far as the actions arc concerned, but because of the inaction. In the course of the letter, winch is to a Heal surgeon-captain, he says:--" By the time this reaches you 1 daresay you'll be in the throes of the Kaster camp. 1 wish I wore there instead of here, where it is perpetual camp, and very sick you get of t. They do nothing from morning to night; never think of bustling the Boers round at all, but just sit quietly down and lot things take then course—a "dashed" sick policy for those of us «ho have something else in life to do besides soldiering. 1 think if Ii.J.S. (the Premier! knew how things went hero he'd have us all home, instead of sending out any more contingents."

That consistent old shot, Mr. M. Tobin, has succeeded ill carrying off the Akarana

Thfll Chili' championship competition fotA <-!as? shots, which carries wit J, it the cham-P'on-l.ii' '-iii'd' 1 . which i< to he Md or on* year. Th« winning a?*r-wto „ f 4?4 points represented the best tiro „,. or „, out of ei K ht competitions fired. and that the %»teran J,.,, been performing consistently mar bn gather--1 d from the tact that his asfrregasn read* four points over ioners. 'Iltu P ( or PPtT>nr ]) f'as-i championship was won br A. C an. the club's enerc-tic and nainstnkir," .-«•< rotary, wh.o is al-r an enthusiastic rifl,C limn. and a rapidly improving "hot. H# l !z , won Other chb»"l :fioivs dnrinjf the Reason "'id when not in thp hanpv twit inn of winn»t lias !»•*"<**■*•!'>• Won found firnrimr well » towards «•••• ton of tho list. Mr. F. Thorn« another nvi'-l-Rman of mmiw. and th» son 'V. w " ! 'thv president of the olnb (Mr. V\ i''iaui I'eornel. finished sccond in this competition.

New rule; and instructions have been issued ; for tl.e '.ruid.aeeo of military cycle corps by 1 1-.r> Kriti-h snitborit-ies, and are causing a fond i!i-a' of consideration J rem th# ovrJi.sfs. ! For "H'a'i v\ i* has b~-n the practice of men ; to mount by vault or a nve.int on the move , from the step or the pedal : neither of those methods is easily lesrncd, and a company i':n\ii]<; «'! e.-ui'd mount in succession without •' halt. 1 : >s r-.tht that th» regulation *hnul(i ; 1:0 insisted upon, and this wii* to bo expected, ; but that the rule laid down shou'd lie that , '"vi 1 -'» should mount bv first straddling the j rear wheel, and 'lien mounting from the step by C"vitu: one or more h'>p>, is certainly not ! "'-oniin.- a ere!.* military corps. The rule , for dismounting is :i 1• e n»ou!iar. t;, ( , cvoasfc jis lirst initructi"l to carry the left foot back; I and pla.-e it on the step. then, at the next j word of command. to raise the lxidv nut of j the saddle. and dismount on th» left side jof the xirifP*. The most inv«rtf rule to I cvrliM.s is that npneurins; under the headincf j of ** instnictiou-: for rare anil preservation** jof liicvc'oa. and dca!ii«; with the tyres. Jfc J s'jys that ryolista are instnictod to mount l their lrnichies whenever ihf»y wish to det.erj mine if their tyre-; aru hard enoiwli. Should I thev tied t'.e tyre flatten very much they : havrt to disßionnt. pump in more ai,, and ''en try ac-un until only a small depression of tho tyre takes t> nee. Jniv'triuA the spactacli* of a cviliit.s' battalion prejiarini, to ride out and t:*viiiij tlie tyres as ordered, instead of with the thunio pressure as a mere ordinary cyclist would do!

In touching on the selection of the Federal Contingent in mv note* a week or so nijo T pointed out that (1... million tins lv.d blumfered in sacrificing p!iv,ncino to height. That; this view is sopnovl in otliT r»i>rt< iri»v be hived from the fol'owing by v Canterbury writer prior to the dorx\rtnro ef the '■ontingent : —"The principal military attraction of (he. week h'Aii been tlio eneauannicnt of tin* Federal Contingent st the Drilbhed j-rounds. A <rHnee at. the Federals an rhev were mustered fur a parade did not impress one at all favourably with the stamp of men who hnvn been selected to represent the colony at th» forthcoming oolobrations in Melbourne. T don't know who formulated «h*> ides* of a 6ffc contingent, hut 1 fancy he must by this time have regretted it. It rertainly cannot its* said th:.t the contingent i; representative of the vobmteers of thn colony, in which the average height is certainly not over ,Sft Sin. KvervUiitiß appears in this cave to have been sacrificed to height. Physically, flip oontinbent are by no nivalis the best that could have been selected, for in many ca.ses it has not appeared to mattei in what proportions a man is built so low; as ho ha/1 (lie necc«sary length. The result of this has been that tho best- men in th. different corps hare had to be rejected, althnuvli thoir knowledge of drill am] discipline would have been of tk« areM-est value to the continent. it it was necessary to «-et this crowd of <jia.iite together, then, at l<i?at. three more week* should at« been given foi drill purposes. As it is, we thrill send this contingent to Melbourno only partly ilrfl'ocj, and they certainly cannot do thai credit to us that they should do." FRANKLIN MOUNTER RIFLES. A very fair muster attended the evening parade ol the above corp-. (l-'ranlclin Mounted Rifles) on Saturday last, May 4, he'd in (ha Public Hail, Clevedon. The new hats supplied to order by the New Zealand Clothing Company were given out prior to falling in. Great satisfaction was evinced at the improvo--11)/'111 they pave to (lie nwn's appearance. After inspection Captain Wall is referred to the financial position of the compam, which, considering the expense attached to the forming of a new company, was satisfactory. Owing to promotions and one resignation vacancies for two sergeants and one corporal occurred. These were filled by Corporals Cobine and J. .lamieron (sergeants) and A. E. T'oyuter (corporal).—{Wairoa South Correspondent.]