VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12523, 16 March 1904, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

[BY SKNTINSL.I , A POWEBFUL: movable searchlight■< has s been provided at fort Bastion. , The Auckland Engineers hold 'a meeting after parade next Monday evening for the election of officers. ■ v : 'The College Rifles are forming a club in connection; with the corps, and cx-membsrs are to be allowed to,join. ' -.--., j- The College Rifles hold their annual general meeting on Tuesday evening next, the 22nd. The corps is in '.& very sound financial position.,- "-,-. -'{["■ The': members of the Auckland Garrison Non-commissioned Officers' Club intend holding a concert in the Choral Hall at an early date in aid of the club funds. ' The attendance at. the New Zealand Defence Forces' .'Rifle Association's }, meeting, concluded at Treiitham ';on Thursday; last, was 335, as against 310 in 1903. : The members of the Dovonport Brass Band have been sworn in as the regimental band of the First Regiment Auckland Mounted Rifles. Thoy will go into camp with the mounteds at Easter. Lieutenant-Colonel Sommerville having resigned the position of manager of the Veterans' Homo (Epßom), it is thought probable that he will assume control of the annualRifle Association meeting next year. Quite a new departure. among local volunteers is the formation of a hockey club by members and ex-members of the College Rifles. The team will compel© in the Hockey Association's championship matches during, the winter months. ' The ''A" Battery Artillery and No. 8 Garrison Artillery Corps paraded for divine service on Sunday forenoon last. The blue uniforms with red facings, surmounted ; by busbies, looked decidedly well, and were much admired by those who saw "the parade. ■ Although Wellington is only some, 17- miles distant from the Trentham rifle range, the volunteer corps of. the Empire City were poorly represented at the recent Rifle Association meeting. The majority of the Wellington competitors present were rifle club men. ■Lieut-Colonel Holgate, officer commanding the First Regiment Auckland Mounted ■ Rifles, inspects the B squadron (Pukekohe Mounted Rifles) on Saturday afternoon ne<xt (19th inst.). He also attends the annual meeting of the E squadron (Waiuku Mounted Rifles) the same evening. .::;; ■■'•'':■.'•"-. "■'<■:: ■ ' ■'■ ' "■'' 'jvi--'.'- >i "' V'- ; . .-';•" After taking part in the Easter manoeuvres the squadrons forming the First Regiment Auckland Mounted Rifles will go into camp for three days. In order to capitate a full week's training is necessary, and all squadrons will therefore be expected to join the camp on the completion the manoeuvres. The Auckland Volunteer Bearer. Corps appears to be in a very "healthy condition at present, both as regards;, membership ;>and efficiency. Surgeon-Captains Knight and Parkes are among the most regular attendants at the weekly drills, and. under their instruction the members of the corps are making splendid progress. ' There may be seen in the window of Messrs. B. and W. «F. Munro the trophies carried off by.the members of the First Battalion Band at the',. band contest held at Palmerstbn North recently. These comprise eight silver medals won in the solo competitions, and a useful aoetyline • gas , lamp, which was the fifth prize in the march. '

Mr, Nepean Kenny, honorary colonel of the No. 2 (Hauraki) Infantry Battalion, has presented the. battalion with a massive silver cup for competition in 'shooting. The trophy j is to be fired for annually by teams of five members from each company in the | battalion, and must be won three times before becoming the absolute property of any one ; corps. ; > i '

■ *•. General dissatisfaction appears to;- have been expressed at the wretched offered at the recent New Zealand • Defence Forces' Rifle Association's.. meeting- J.at-"Trentham. One Writer asks where the _ Government support comes in, and as an illustration of the scant assistance given points to the fact that £62 were distributed in one match, in which the entry money amounted to about £85,:,'■'.-■ ','.

..Reports concerning recruiting for the Home infantry are hot encouraging. The causes that inflated the returns in the.early months of 1902 have ceased to operate, and there is reason to. expect that the next report will'disclose a considerable decline (says the Army and Navy Gazette). Representa-tions-have been made as.; to the feeble efforts put forward by some of ; the permanent, staff of militia and many sergeantJinstructOrs of volunteers. The physical qualities of recent recruits is also often unsatisfactory. ;

The British War Office has decided to arm pioneers, pipers, bandsme, drummers' and buglers with the rifle, and an army order to that effect will shortly be published. Musketry is in future to be the all-important subject of instruction for the soldier, , and the higher rate of army pay coming into vogue on April 1 next will only be given to first-class shots. In order that all soldiers may have an opportunity of acquiring the higher rates of army pay, all are to be armed with the rifle. .

: The public schools cadet movement has in the past been taken up with less enthusiasm in Wellington than in any other part of the colony. This state of however, ;is being remedied. The companies belonging to the various city schools have, without exception, requisitioned the Department for a full equipment, and the.uniforms ..'.the officers have been ordered. A shipment of 10 cases/bf equipment has just come to hand, so that the boys who have become fired with enthusiasm since the outbroak of hostilities in the Far East will not be kept long in suspense. ... .:.,- :■ '.

The Easter volunteer roanosuvres are being looked forward to with great interest, and from all. I can gather should prove a valuable lesson to our forces as to the best means of repelling a hostile invasion should they at any time be called upon to defend ; the colony against an enemy. . The' details of the scheme will, of course, not be, made pub.lid,"but in all probability 'the fortification at Mount Victoria will, be made the base of operations for the defending forces, as from the fort in question telephonic communication can be opened with the other forts and with Devonport and Auckland City. .

It is rumoured that the No. .1 Company New Zealand Garrison Artillery Volunteers.. (Auckland Navals) will shortly abandon their present naval dress in favour of the garrison artillery uniform. It would certainly be a great improvement to see the corps forming the garrison artillery division in the one. dress, as few uniforms are -smarter in appearance than that adopted by this branch of the service. There was," I believe, some talk ol,khaki for the division,' but this cloth . does not look half as smart and soldierly as | the uniform recently imported by the No. 8 Garrison Artillery Company (Ponsonby. Navals). ■ ■_.. , '■■.■;.. ■ :-v '

The Eden JJ&fence Cadets will parade for inspection* fey Captain Hughes on Mondayevening next, and in all probability uniforms, arms, and- accoutrements will be banded in after the parade, and the company disbanded. This is to be greatly regretted, as Captain Shepherd has, worked the corps up to f satisfactory state of efficiency as re-, gards drill, and many of the lade had from time to time been recruited into the adult corps, thus giving, the latter efficient volunteers- instead of raw material. The officer commanding, lias, I understand, not lost any. of his enthusiasm or interest in the corps, but finds it necessary to disband because the. capitation grant (some £15 at most),is not sufficient to enable the company to carry on. without running into debt. ..The capitation does not meet, running expenses,' and there appears to be no, prospect .of securing fresh uniforms to replace the dilapidated wearing apparel now in use. ; ..

An inspection: parade of the Maraden Mounted "Rifles was held at. Mangapai oh Saturday last, ; 12th inst..-' There were two troops from Waipu, under Lieut, H. McMillan ; the Whangarei troop, under Actings Lieut. Rastricfe and- the. Manngaksramea troop, under Sergeant-Major. over 80 all told. After parade the annual general meeting was held, ami _ also an election of officers, s>t which Captain Clark-Walker was elected squadron eomrnender. arid, SergeantMajor Morey a lieutenant. ;, The meeting of the finance, shooting, and, oth&r committees then followed. It was decided during ■ the evening that the camp of : instruction for the current year , should be held at Waipu, and next year at Whangarei. , Mr. Ormandy. J.P., was elected a life honorary!member; of the corps, and arrangements were made re shooting matches to take nlaee at an early, date. —[Own Correspondent.] ' ~

■canteen martamen, from wliom tae Jsew .-. Zealand' rifle team (12 men) -'for the BJBlej'H; ; meeting are to be chosen,' have been selects! ■by the executive of the New Zealand De* :,. fence Forces'. Rifle Association, and.(Sergeant's Chiug and Irvine, Corporal SahclWd, and ■ Private A. Ballmgsr. are mentioned aS : ce*»' tainties. It is difficult-'to understand "Why ' Arthur Ballinger, good -marksman though .' he undoubtedly is, should be thus early . sort&d out as a certainty, while othors who finished higher up in the championship aggregnte are not mentioned. Ballinger failed to gist, in the -first twenty, being oonsider-J ably- lower down the tot -'tkaA his brother, W. ' 11. Ballinger, who finished 10th. :",,/>-? ."' ,'■■'' Arrangements for firing for the Buchanan '■■, Cup, at Penrose on :• Saturday .: are well forward. The trench is being'enlarged, so aS" - to; : admit of■' four targets being used at <th<B same time! ' Each battalion company is sending p. team, and the Victorias «re putting iIIP : S a second string. Captain Wynyard, of tfo» ' Auckland Mounted Rifles, will be in 'charge";'\ at the firing point, and a squad of eight men, under Lieutenant Macintosh, will' be in : the butts. :■; Some' slight alterations have beea made in 'the conditions; the sighter at 500 yds '■;'/ iis:.'struck cut, and class firing scoring is usoS•;. ;:-'■;' instisadfof Eisley scoring;, also, .' there; wiill bo ."time limit for individual shots. - Tha ; teams, go out by the; ten minutes ■:' past' two train, although, to ensure the completion of -? tile first two ranges, -ah officer will "go out , •by .the ton minutes past twelve p.m. train', "■■■'■ to "superintend the firing of those who. caa get there earlier.; No one willbe. allowed to are. unless in uniform. • ■ . -

. Although the Auckland Garrison and New-* ton brass bands did : not succeed in annexing; any of .the principal competitions at the recent band contest at Palmerston- North, some of the individual members showed up well, and the bands as a whole have evidently benefited through coming in contact . wiisb. the crack bands of the colony. There has undoubtedly been an improvement in .the quality; of the musio supplied! by the bands in. question since they decided on competing in the contest, and it is to be hoped that they- will continue their efforts •to raise the standard.of brass...band musio in Auckland. It; has often been remarked that Auckland is well behind ether centres in this respect; and it is quite probable that the cause may l>e found in the fact that the talent is so widely distributed. We have in, our midst three or four bands of average quality, ; gome of the members of which are really -first-class musicians. If only the best from" each could bo brought together and trained for these annual competitions the Auckland representatives would be in a position to:.'give a better account of themselves. , Maybe the : rules go-■ verning the contests do not permit of a band of mixed membership competing, but if they do I see no reason why the suggestion should not be considered next year. .

Sergeant Ching, winner of the rifle oham pioinship at the New Zealand Defence Forces' Rifle Association's meeting at Trentham last week,'first joined the Stoke Rifles in Nelson in 1893, and subsequently transferred to the Waimeas. His first meeting was in 1884- at Auckland, and afterwards he won.a' few pounds at the Wanganui mooting of 1886. At'-Wanganui four years ago ho was fairly successful,: and two years ago had fair success at Trentham. He fired off in ties, for poisitio'n in the 50 last year, but Irvine secured ■ the place. In the Nelson Association he has won the championship. He is a moderate smoker and drinker. His win is a very popular one, and he wa3 cheered, shouldered and photographed at the close of the match. The runner-up, Sergeant Irvine, of Nelson, joined . ' .the Waimea Rifles in 1889, and has remained with them ever since. He attended the association meetings in 1897 at Auckland, and has:' competed three times:for,the.championship., He secured 15th place on the first occasion; 12th on the second, and this time is . second. He is not a smoker, and is a very moderate drinker. Captain Domigan, of the Gore Rifles, who finished third, joined the volunteers in 1882. At Invercargill he had a broken record till 1892, when he joined hia present corps as lieutenant. Ho has- twice won the Southland ', championship,. and i:aa . always taken great interest in volunteering. Starting shooting in 1892, lie went to hit' first association meeting in 1896 at Oamaru. At Wanganui, when Nelson ■won: the belt, ha .•'.-.": : was lying two points behind the leader pireviqus to the' last 10 shots, when he fell away and got 11th place. He is a hard .smoker and a moderate drinker. , • ~ ■ THE TRENTHAM RIFLE MEETING-,, •■■ The New Zealand Defence. Forces' Riila Association's meeting, . just ' concluded ;at Trentham, has been provocative of .much discussion in shooting circles, and the impres- .. sions formed by one who was there, and who has attended many rifle meetings, may be read with interest:—Rifle-shooting has always been regarded as a game of skill, requiring nerve and muscle, and a keen judgment as 'regards windage and lights, but nowadays the tendency is to put a lot of so- j, called service matches on the 'programme. _*"' These are simply pot luck matches,-and al- - ; though not by any means antagonistic ;to them, .they ought never to be included tin the ■ matches'counting for the belt. For instance, Turnbull, of Opaki, pui on 33 points out of a possible 35 at a I'm. bull's-eye in the 300 yds Rapidity "Match, seven;. shots in brie, minute, and when it is considered that \v ordinary shooting a man who succeeds in putting on 32 for nis seven shots, after having hadi a ■sighter and getting every shot disced, shakes ■ hands with '■.himself, it must bi? conceded that Ttirhbull had luck on his side. Again, in the ten men teams'; matches, the, Ohinemuris had a team which, compared with the No,, ' • Waikato- Mounted ""'Battalion team, could have given them.a point a , shot in ..ordinary shooting, yet did not win as much money,as the.,latter team. These matches should. be. open to any 10 meuf from a district, or, preferably, say, first from any corps, second from any battalion, and then third from, any, district;' This would permit of larger entries. This year only six'teams competed, or 60 men, whilst there, were, at least 200 who could have, entered , had the conditions; been more open. Again, why should officers amd non-coms, be debarred? Thereare.of course,' \ : the best men of a company, who have worked. their .way up, and when they have obtained higher rank than corporal find themselves ': debarred from lots of prizes had open conditions been observed. Auckland would ; have entered five teams, and instead of six teams competing there would have been at ,least 45. verniers ■or no verniers was an-, -;'■..;+ other matter of great, discussion, and the shooting in the matches, where they were disallowed proved that men can do just as : well without as with them. The 200 yds, 500 yds and 600 yds match was won with 10? out', of., a possible 10S, and this with a iSye degrees left wind; and, again, Sergeant Searie's great score of 50 at 700 yds was fired: in a 4ft left wind. But then, if it is so proved, why debar the vernier ? If a man .;thinks he can do better with, why, let him • ■ use it. It, however, looks somewhat strange, aai the Government .are sending a team to Bisley to compete against men armed with* the finest weapons.procurable and equipped . with the best scientific instruments to assist them, to take men who have not proved them-, selves the best with these accessories, but a team who ' have come out; on'- top, on the Shooting as carried out' at Trentham. There is another; matter that the management might take notice of, and that is the number • ; of prizes in a match as compared with the, number' oi entries.- With 350 men shooting' and only 33 prizes the odds are too much.: The main matches are at present no more than a sweepstake, for 350 men each paying £2 to enter means £700. The obnoxious rear wind, so well known afe Trentham, was not so persistent this year as. last, when we had four.days in succession of it; but to make up we had one day's heavy rain'and a - fierce gale another morning. The one blot on the,management was that of carrying out a match that wet morning. {: Although it did. not rain so hard at half-past eight a.m. as it did later on, still it was bad enough then . to have postponed the shooting.- No one would have grumbled, for all were there for a holiday, and another day meant • little but to force men to lie for close on an hour in the downpour was not giving the men fair play. Colds were the natural result tor many, and when it is considered how Little indisposition it takes to put a man off colour, - ,-■ their comfort and health should have been considered. Colonel Collins' management, ; with this exception, was, however, very good, and he must be complimented on his first _ essay as chairman. Another small matter may be also mentioned—-that of the commissariat arrangements. ; The cookhouse is some 40 yards from the dining hall, and there are no arrangements for keeping food warm aftercoming in from the fire, and this naturally resulted in nine out of 10 getting' meat'and vegetables, nearly cold. Perhaps this can also be rectified, even if we cannot succeed in getting the range itself shifted some 700 yards further into the open country. , ■■■■■") ..-•Rifle associations are Springing up throughout ,the colony, and there;; is also to ,be a lout the colony, and there and to be a North Island championship and a South; Is- ■ land as well, and these mean more of th» ; straight-out rifle-shooting, and the Trentham , management will have to look out that a j national New Zealand Rifle Association is I net formed. At the presentation of ; prizes -General Babington spoke of bringing next , : year's., programme even more into service* •': condition,;, and tins will certainly not Jiaeefc j with approval from shootistii generally. One L significant' feature of ■ the meeting this year , : ['■was. the absencu of many old faces and thepreponderance of new ones. At least onethird had never' been there before, and last. ~ year it was the same, and many leavingibis I tiiitnfJ'.-spoke of never returning, preferring t(%' , ' i compete (,' disirift associatidtt moctifigSt. •■;