VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11787, 17 October 1901, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

[bi BK.HTINZL.J

The Garrison Artillery Corps will man the forts for station practice at the big guns on Saturday week.

Sergeant-Major Carpenter is expected back from Wellington on Saturday next. He has been attending the recently-estab-lished school of instruction.

The Ponsonby Navals go into camp of instruction for sixteen days, commencing on November 1. The ramp will be on the old tramway shed site, at Devonport.

An inspection parade of the whole of the corps in the Auckland Garrison will be held by Lieutenant-Colonel Davies, officer commanding the district, on Saturday afternoon next, at half-past three o'clock.

Captain Walker, of the Auckland Engineers, who has been transferred by the Education Hoard to the Waikato district, will retain his command of the corps mentioned until the close of the present volunteer year, in February next.

Sergeant-Major Hoare, at present drill inslructo - to the Hauraki Battalion, got great kudos from the local papers for the manner in which he arranged the details in connection with the ceremony of depositing the Thames Navals" colours last Sunday.

Lieutenant-Commander G. W. S. Patterson, of the Ponsonby Navals, who has not been enjoying the best of health lately, has. I am much pleased to hear, greatly benefited as a result of a rest at Te Aroha. He will in all probability be sufficiently recovered to go into camp with his company next month.

Sergeant-Major Rogers has been added to the permanent staff of the Auckland district at the request of Lieutenant-Colonel Davies, with a view to the improvement of the mounted branch of the service. SergeantMajor Rogers, who is an old army man, served with Colonel Davies during part of the South African war.

v „ There will be no shooting at the Government range at Mount Eden on Saturday next, owing to the parade of the whole of the volunteer corps of the garrison being tailed for that day, but on the Saturday following the corps to have the use of the tango will be the Nop. 1. 2. and 3 Native Rifles. Captain Bartlett has been nominated to superintend the firing.

Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville expresses himself doubtful as to whether the Government will be. found desirous of taking over the future management of the New Zealand Rifle Association. Failing this being done they will certainly have to give tho Council more assistance than in the past if the annual shooting meetings are to be made thoroughly attractive and beneficial to the volunteer forces of the colony as a whole.

From Sydney exchanges to hand by last mail I note that very largo entries have been received for the 41st annual prize meeting of the National Rifle Association, to be commenced at the Bandwick ranges on the 31st of the present month. The competitors will include 400 from New South Wales, 80 from Victoria, 40 from Queensland, and several from New Zealand, South Australia and Tasmania, but as far as I can gather the marksmen from this side will not include any Aucklanders.

From a report furnished by our own correspondent I note that tho rifle range at Coromandel allows of the local volunteer corps firing up to 900 yds. In a match on Saturday last for a medal presented by Mr. W. H. Kennerley, Sergeant Morrison, firing over the 500 yds," 600 yds and 900 yds ranges, scored no less than 88 points of a possible 105 four points over inners. At the shorter lange he put on 34, at 600 yds 29, and at 900 yds 25, capital scoring for the ranges in question. Captain Kenrick finished second with 82 points.

The Ohinemuri Rifles' (No. 1) shooting team now touring the Waikato district fired their first match against a team drawn from the No. 3 Waikato Mounted Rifles last Thursday, and, as I anticipated in my last week's notes, gave a good account of themselves, beatintr the home team by no less than 195 points, the respective scores being £66 and 671. The particulars to h&nd arc brief, and the ranges fired over are not given, but the figures indicate that the catch was one of three distances, and Sergeant Shaw, who returned the highest score of the day, is to be complimented on an excellent perfonnmce in putting on 94 of a possible 105 points. This is 10 points better than inners. On the Saturday following the team fired a second match against the No. 1 Waikato Rifles, when they had another easy win, and Sergeant Shaw again headed the scores with 97 points, three points better than the first-mentioned score. The ranges in this instance were 200 yds, 300 yds and 400 yds.

According to a letter received by Mr. J. D. Webster, local representative to tho New Zealand Rifle Association, from the secretary, Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville, the Government has promised monetary assistance and free railway passes to intending competitors to the Wellington and Wanganui districts, in connection with tho annual shooting matches, under the auspices of the rifle associations in the districts in question. The sum mentioned is £250 to each centre, and if this is to be granted I trust the Auckland Rifle Assosiation will set to work to obtain a similar grant for the annual shooting meeting in this district. With £250 in addition to the money raised locally a most attractive prize-list could be prepared, and competitors would be drawn from practically every corps in the district. No time should bo lost in lodging an application with the Government, as the knowledge that a substantial grant was to be made would lead to volunteers going into regular practice for the meeting.

Passing Mr. Hazard's Queen-street shop yesterday, I noticed in the window a very handsome silver medal, presented to the Auckland Navals by Master J. F. Clarke, for a shooting competition, and on making inquiries was informed that the youthful donor is a son of Seaman Clarke of the corps in question, and one of its oldest members. Seaman Clarke was some years back a first-class petty officer in the Auckland Navals, but had to retire from the service for a time owing to an affliction to his eyesight, returning again with the recovery of his sight. About fourteen or fifteen years ago he presented a medal to the company, and the younger Clarke has now come forward with a similar gift. The medal takes tho form of a star with the company's motto (Britons, Strike Home) in the centre, and the conditions provide that it must be won twice in succession, or three times at intervals before becoming personal property. The ranges to be fired over will bo fixed by the officers of the Auckland Navals.

America is a fertile field for the production of merry jests, but there seems no reason to doubt the bona fides of the report of a curious military invention which appears in the science column of a serious contemporary. The invention in question, if practical, should prove of considerable value, and the notion is so simple that it seems singular that it has not, so far a- is known, been previously worked cut and acted upon. The inventor, who hails from Denver, Colorado, claims that he can readily ascertain the path of a projectile from the mouth of a rifle or gun by means of a patent mixture with which he paints tho surface of the bullet or shell. When the projectile is filed fcho friction set up by its passage through the atmosphere induces a chemical action in the compound, the result of which is a track of smoke, which actually indicates the trajectory. It will be readily s?pu how useful this invention should prove at rifle practice. One is often at a loss on the range to know, especially when handling' a strange rifle, why time after time the bullet fails to hit the target, and the firer would give a good deal to be able to ascertain the erratic departure of the projectile from the correct line of fire. A troublesome little matter like this should now be a thing of the past. A little patent paint from Denver, Colorado, U.S., and — why, there you ire!

Military inventions and methods are making headway in Italy, although there is little fuss made, and almost no " advertisement," so that the outside world abroad is almost unaware of any progress. For instance, just in these days some exceptionally interesting experiments have been tried at the Tor di Quinto, just out of Rome, where tho military shooting butts are situated. Signor Ernesto Benedetti has invented a " protector" against bullets, the experiments with which have been so satisfactory that the Minister for War will acquire the invention and introduce it at once into tho army as a means of defence in case of war. The experiment was tried of shooting a revolver at the protector" at a distance of oft, and a rifle, model of 1901, supposed to have the greatest penetrating power of any in Europe, as it will pierce steel plates of seven and even 10 millimetres thickness, at 162 ft to 325 ft, and from 650 ft to 975 ft distance, the result being that the bullets were levelled in the most mar-

vellous way, not making the least impression on the target. Bottles and glasses of water were then balanced on the top, but the water did not move, perceptibly at least, when the bullet struck, proving conclusively that there is no kicking or vibration. Signer Benedetti is most jubilant over the success of his invention, and not only predicts great things for it in war time, but also invites discussion, particularly criticism, which latter he declares himself more than ready to controvert.

Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville, chairman and secretary of the New Zealand Rifle Association, has been in communication with, the local representative of the association with regard to the next annual shooting meeting to be held at the Trentham range in February next, and the selection of a rifle team to represent this colony at the Bisley meeting at Homo next year. In tho course of his letter Lieutenant-Colonel Somerville offers some valuable suggestions as to tho mode of the selection of the Bisley team, and I trust that his proposals in this connection will meet with favourable consideration, as their adoption would prevent parochial feeling being introduced, and would lead to the selection of a team in every way representative of New Zealand. He suggests that the various district antinomies should select and assist as manymen as possible to attend the association meeting at Trentham in February, tho fifteen'highest aggregate scorers in the championship to be taken out, and the council to select two further competitors and the members of the association one other competitor by ballot, thus bringing the number up to eighteen. The eighteen will then tire oft, say, two matches, and the highest twelve scorers will constitute the team for England. Nothing could bo fairer than this,, and in anticipation of the proposal being, given effect to Lieutenant-Colonel Sorrier-* ville urges shooting men in all districts to' commence practice at once. Tho Government, it appears, have distinctly promised that a rifle team shall be sent to tho Old" Country in 1902, but the only fear seems >to be that the sum to be voted will nob. be adequate. It is a well-known fact that : Hie last team that was sent to Bisley from* New Zealand found tho amount voted alt too small, and it is to lie hoped that any( future team will not be allowed to feel the same pinch, as want of sufficient funds is bound to hamper any shooting team to an extent and probably materially interfere with its chances of success.

The new rifle for the British army, which.' was recommended by Lieutenant-Colonel i Hopton's special committee, baa been sub-' jected to a series of experiments of the most severe kind (says an English exchange)., Out of them t\io rifle, has emerged with,' flying colours, and has pleased the exports in every way. The title, rather than being a new one, is an improved Lee-Enfield, as it is recognised that it is of no value to introduce an entirely fresh weapon unless it will place us in a position of superiority equivalent to the former sole possession of the needle gun by the Prussians. The magazine rifles of the worlil are in the main of a common merit, and tVe vahie of the British arm lies in the barrel. The Lee-> Enfield barrel is the best extant, and upon", this excellent foundation improvements have* been effected in other ways. The sighting, has been made a special study, and the result is p deadly accurate long range sight far in advance of any other rifle. Th« foro-" sight is round, and the back sights are graduated to scale on a, movable ywin-' ciple, and are U-shaped. The scaling: and marking of the sights has given; some of the advantages of tho ver« nier and the painted line, which will be an enormous advantage on service. Of course, the magazine still leaves something to be desired, and there is some indlJ cation of the favourable consideration ol rapid single loading for mounted men all least. To this end several hundred riflea have been constructed for experiment upon/ tho prinopile of tho Martini brooch and: En-H field barrel. This is a most interesting de* velopment, consequent upon tho partial failure of magazine firo at the Cape and the* necessity for deliberate marksmanship. The* improved weapon has satisfied the experts ati the School of Musketry, who pronounce itt immeasurably superior to the existing paM tern. At the present moment, with the now, weapon excluded, the relative values of the' rifles of the nations have been estimated to bo as follows:— Dutch Mauser. 2. Roumanian Mannlicher. 3. Spanish rifle. _4j Russian rifle. 5. German rifle. 6. Turkish rifle. 7. Lee-Metford. The superiority of the: Mauser is, however, highly deiiatablo, one oS its great drawbacks being its comparatively short life. Among the weapons served out to the Boers were many which were spoiled after firing 400 rounds. "Whatever export | committees may advise, tho final 'decision; I rests largely with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From his point of view, the Lee* Metford would rank first in the above list.