THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11855, 6 January 1902, Page 5

THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT.

APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS. ' - PROTEST BY MR, FOWLDS. In connection with the appointment of /* ■ officers for the Eighth Contingent, . : . Mr.: . - Geo. Fowlds, M.H. has despatched' the ? following telegram to the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, Minister for Defence: —"I don't ■■■'.■ desire to interfere with your military adrisers in the selection of officers, for; the : " r Eighth Contingent,'but would like to draw your attention to the fact * that out., of a. " large number of names ; reported in the press as getting commissions,: ' only .- two / names appear from Auckland, and I have not heard of any other successful applica- ' tions. Apparently '-Auckland is good enough toy supply one-fifth of the men, but only good enough to receive one-thirtieth . . >•; of ■' the commissions. I suppose the Department would contend that this result•'• had rg been arrived at on the merits of the men,but Auckland volunteers and: people ■ can only see in it ; another example of the same;• ; favouritism that secured the acceptance of Southern tenders before supplies had been , advertised for in Auckland. All we ask... : is fair treatment." v V. Lieutenant-Colonel Davies left for Weilington jby -the* Ngapuhi yesterday. ' On - Saturday lie had no definite information »'}] to impart as to whether or no he will command the Eighth Contingent, but his V ' Southern trip 'has no doubt a bearing upon" the matter. r t , ' A telegraph office will be open at the Trentham rifle range, Wellington, during": the encampment of the Eighth Contingent. £, Hours of ; attendance, nine a.m. "to five p.m., and seven p.m. to eight p.m. Sundays, five p.m. to half-past five p.m. [BY TELEGRAPH.—I'R.KSS association*.) Gxsiiorne, Sunday. ' ■ The Gisborne portion (20) of the Eighth Contingent left : for - Wellington to-night. There was a united service in the theatre, , 'J and the military corps and a large crowd >>>:; of the general public assembled to give the troopers a send-off. Napier, Saturday. ' : The bulk of the Hawke's Bay portion of the. Eighth s Contingent left for . the camp ' by express train to-day. '. Although -no -T formal . demonstration took j place, a large number of friends and others assembled to see theiia off, and they were accorded t " three hearty cheer? as the train left the* , station. Wellington". Sunday. " The Wellington quota of the Eighth Conv , tingent went into camp at Trentham on Saturday. -i.-;v- ---* ' . CuEiSTCHURCir, Sunday. • Matters "are now settling : down at the Eighth Contingent camp; at Addington. Yesterday, although heavy rain fell, the men were comfortable . under canvas, and useful drill was : put : in. ' Last night the Otago and Southland"contingent came into. - camp, to the number of ". 203 '•* officers • and men. This afternoon the West ?. Coast, Blenheim, and Nelson quota arrived unexpectedly, in charge of Sergeant-Major Healey. Although the men had been met by a . staff officer at-Wellington, no advice . " 7 had been sent to camp, consequently they. were not met, and no special arrangements had been made for the transport of luggage, etc. The officer in charge, however,. ' soon arranged for their accommodation, and . r they were soon provided for. XThere- are" now about 470 men in camp. As showing the completeness of the arrangements," the / bugle sounded for breakfast at eight a.m., " and by twenty minutes past; all had break- : fasted, and the messroom was again clear. . This afternoon the camp was open to the public, and there was a large 'number of visitors. The Rev. W. S. Bean lias been appointed chaplain to the camp, but noservice was held this morning, the >officer - in charge holding an inspection: parade ; in- * stead, y. So far only 65 horses are in camp, and until the rest- arrive from . the North ; Island, mounted parades cannot bo held. oamaru. Saturday. •• The North . Otago section of the Eighth. Contingent went . North this afternoon. They had a good send-off. • v • ■ - v : ; V Dttn-kdin, Saturday. 5 ) I The Otago and Southland; section left for Addington camp by the twenty minutes past ten express. One hundred and eighty men I were paraded atTahuna Park camp. . There • v " were two absentees . from . the Inyercargill. I section, : whose; places ; will be filled up in " Ohristchurch. Captain . Jackson,' formerly of the Fifth : Contingent, and Lieutenant McMillan, take charge ef the troopers en route to Christchurch. accompanied by Dr. Bauchope. Colonel Robin made a short, spirited speech, in which he impressed on *. the men the absolute necessity for watchfulness on active service, and the need for im- r'' - plicitly trusting their officers instead of in-- .-1 dulging in what he termed' committee busi- . ness, arguing about this.' that, and the / - \ ■ other. An immense crowd assembled at j the station, who gave hearty cheers, and ' > | specially for Captain Jackson. As the men had to be entrained "at 'once' to keep them /i together, the Mayor got no chauce to 'V . liver his iptep^dfipeech^liteiiMSll^SS^^^g