VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12269, 13 May 1903, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

[BY SEXTIN'EL.]

The Marsden Mounted Rifles go into camp for instruction on Saturday next at Parua Bay.

Considerable dissatisfaction exists in Christchurch volunteering circles at the- delay of the Defence Department in erecting & new drillshed for the district.

The No. 8 Company New Zealand Garrison Artillery Volunteers (Ponsonby Navals) headed the big gun practice among the local corps again this year.

General' Babington, commandant of the Now Zealand forces, commences a tour of inspection of the Canterbury district at the end of the present month.

Volunteers who have used the Gaudet miniature ammunition, issued recently by the New Zealand Government, for practice speak highly of its accuracy. An improvement in shooting may bo looked forward to as the result of its use.

On Saturday afternoon next (May 16) the Akarana Rifle Club's trophy competitions for the- present season will be brought to a conclusion with the final round for Mr. F. Kearsley's championship shield and medal, and Mr.'.J. G. Buehanar's aggregate medal.

The Mount Eden Rifle range will be at the disposal of the Devonporfc Coastguards and the Newton and Victoria Rifle Companies on Saturday afternoon next. The Victoria Rifles will have the services of the resident marker, and Captain Plugge will be in charge of the firing point.

The airship which Dr. Barton, of Beckenham, was commissioned to build for the War Office will be completed, it is expected, about the beginning of August, when experimental trips will be made in the presence of the Department's experts. Work has been commenced at Alexandra. Palace on the building to be used by Dr. Barton and his assistants.

Lieutenant-Colonel Oldershaw, a member of the Selection Committee of the Australian rifle team for Bisley, when recently questioned concerning the delay in publication of the names of the members, said this was duo to the decision that the selection should not be announced till the sum required to cover expenses (£1600) had been secured. According to the original arrangement the team should have left for England yesterday.

When Lord Kitchener recently visited the garrisons on the Indian North-West frontier, he created some little surprise by seeming to be singularly indifferent to that kind of inspection to which soldiers are accustomed from most generals who visit their posts. All his inquiries, and they were most minute and categorical, were directed to the state of the country, the roads, the military facilities, and the military difficulties; and, in fact, to the essentials. To the set of a tunic or the polish of a button, he appeared to be altogether indifferent.

A good deal is to be said for the suggestion that we Britishers do not attach enough importance to praotioe at short ranges, and that even if a range is unfit for volleys and field firing, and goes up to only 300 yds or 400 yds, useful training can be done on it (says tho Daily Chronicle). It is a pity so many of these "short ranges have been closed, and those still available should certainly be maintained. Most of the musketry training of the armies of the Continent is done on what wo should call short ranges, and a man who can shoot steadily at even 200 yds or 300 yds will not be a bad shot at 600 yds or 8600yd3.

It is now- practically a certainty that a flying cruiser snuadron will be constituted to undertako a two years' voyage round the world (says St. James' Gazette). If rumour is to be trusted it will' consist of eight vessels, with the Leviathan as flagship, and will be quite distinct from the present cruiser squadron. Its functions will bo of an organising nature, in pursuance of a scheme with which Sir John Fisher is credited, for doing away with the present weak squadrons of inefficient ships which show the flag in South American •waters, tho Pacific, and elsewhere, and establishing an Imperial line of communications all over the world. The present idea is of course ' experimental; but if it works out satisfactorily we may look to see the establishment of at least three new cruiser squadrons, based on Simonstown, Esquimault, and Sydney; possibly a fourth on Trincomalee— and the complete disappearance of the ideal of local defence.

Anyone who has studied _ the question of military shooting must admit that the range work as carried on in the colony to-day certainly needs amendment (writes " Bull'seye"). Quite recently the authorities have put out a series of regulations for class firing in which there is still too much deliberate work, while the whole of the shooting- is fixed at known ranges. The latter is perhaps the weakest part of the regulations. To put a portion of the course at fixed targets may be defended on the ground that- young shots require • steadying practice, but there is no reason why the balance of the course should be carried out from fixed distances. The whole principle of rifle-shooting to-day is that a man, while taking a rapid aim, should be able to estimate his range, and yet we take all the trouble to peg off a range to suit him, and then when he puts up a fair percentage of points designate him a marksman. What will have to be done, if the Defence authorities are sincere in their wish to make the volunteers a really effective foroe, is to entirely abolish all fixed firing points on Government ranges, and make the volunteer judge bis distance, while at the same time giving him a target which partakes of the character of what he would meet in the field. This has been done in the case of our artillery, and has proved successful, and if it does so well with one branch of the service why not with another? What should be the highest form of volunteer shooting— Government medal matches— are still conducted in the old cut and dried lines of 20 years-bade, and when the competitions are closed we are really no further advanced in the knowledge of the effectiveness of our volunteers with the rifte than we were before. The present range farce must go if we are to raise a force of volunteers that shall bo other than ornamental. _ Field firing should certainly form the principal feature of the volunteer'? course, yet under the present regulations this is a matter that appears to have been entirely forgotten, and the only chanse the volunteers have of doing it is when some private individual gives a trophy to be fired for.

SEVENTH NEW ZEALANDERS' PRESENTATION TO COL. H. F. WHITE. Writing from Pretoria, Transvaal Colony, under date of April 3, Major G. R. Johnston, late Seventh New Zealand Regiment, sends particulars of a presentation made to Lieu-tenant-Colonel the Hon. H. F. White, D.5.0., who had the Seventh New Zealanders under i his command for some time during the late South African war. Major Johnston says: — "I would consider it a very great favour if you would cause to be inserted in the columns of your valuable paper (Auckland AVeeklt News) the attached copy of a letter to me from Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon H. F. White, D.5.0., acknowledging receipt of a gold watch and chain, sovereign case, greenstone pendant, with gold fern leaf thereon, which I was requested to convey to him on behalf of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Seventh New Zealand Regiment, as a mark of the esteem in which he was held while under his command during the Boer war in South Africa. Much of the success of the ' Fighting Seventh' was due to this officer's enterprise, daring, and dashing exploits, which on many occasions resulted in the capture or routing of a wily and resourceful enemy. No doubt many of the late members of the Seventh are in various parts of New Zealand, and will be pleased to know, through the columns of your paper, how much their old commander treasures the memento they have presented to him." To this Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. H. F. White sent the following acknowledgment, addressed from the Guards' Club, London: — "Hear Major Johnston,— gift you handed me to-day from the officers and men of the Seventh Now Zealand Regiment I shall always treasure with the greatest pride. It is not for me to speak of the good work done by the regiment. All the world know: how gallantly it did its duty. I had the great honour to have the regiment under my command during its service in South Africa, and ever found it ready to duty's call . • Spleadid horsemen, model mounted troops, and as brave as lions were the Seventh. That the officers and men of so distinguished a corps should have thought fit to give me so beautiful a memento, 7 take it as the greatest compliment ever paid to me. Any success I may have had is attributable to those- gallant New Zealanders who so ably carried out my orders. To them all credit is due. Jt gave me the very greatest pleasure when at Home to hear nothing but praise of the regiment. England is proud of it, New Zealand if! proud of it, but I feel sure you allow me to say that the pride I reel in having had the honour to have the regimen/- undft my command cannot be «>n>»»"L ,£*«& convey to your comrades and my oVInmA my gratituL fo, the preat honour Je, «f e conferred on me? I regret very^ m« *I could not see them to thank them personaHy, i hut many thousands of miles separata

tie 3, and the cheerful' way they did their arduous work will never fade from my thoughts." The recipient or the gift (Colonel White) was for many years an officer of the Guards, and was, I believe, one of those who took part in the famous Jameson raid. During the South African war he joined the forces operating in Rhodesia, under General Plumer, and had under his direct command, among others, the Seventh New Zealand Regiment and a portion of the Queensland Mounted men.

WAHAROA GUN* CLUB. Notwithstanding the fact that the shooting season lied opened, the Waharoa- Gun Club held a very successful meeting on the 10th hist., the addition to the club's plant providing a greater variety of shooting than at previous meetings. Mr. W. Simmons again officiated as referee, and with the usual satisfaction. Three 10-bird handicaps were shot off. the respective winners being:—l. D. Scelly, 12 birds; 2. D. Seeliy, 12; 3, S. Mason tied with H. Simmons (11) and shot off, H. Simmons finally winning. Our Coromandel correspondent writes:--The Government are giving encouragement to cadets to become good shots. Captain iTamieson, of the High School Cadets, has received intimation from the commanding officer that a marksman's badge is to lie issued to every cadet making over 63 points at the annual firing, and to the cadet making the hitrhest score in the company a special badge will be given. The cadet making the highest scor3 in his educational district will be awarded a silver medal.

PATERAKGI RIFLE CLUB. The members of the above met on the Tuhikaramea range for the purpose of firing; oh" the fourth round for the Rosa Challenge Cup. The following were the scores:— , „ ,,. 300yd?. 400yds. 500yds. Total. J. McMicken ... 24 17 22 63 D. Bruce 25 20 17 62 K. James 22 23 16 61 W. Allcock .23 23 35 61 AT. Roth well ... 22 19 13 59 J. Hnnro 25 19 15 57 W. AVorthington... 21 23 11 55 J. Hodgson ... 21 16 15 52 A. Fisher 18 17 15 60