VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13725, 15 April 1908, Page 5

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

BT SESTIKEL. The Seddon Horse and Te Puke Mounted Rifles are at present in camp at Castor Oil Bay, under Captains W. R. BloomfiekJ and L, t'razer-Hurst respectively. i The members of the No. 2 Company Garrison Artillery will fire a teams match. Married v. Single, at Penrose on Saturday. The J team,; will be picked on the range. Captain Freeman, officer commanding the I'etone Navals, the crack Wellington corps, has been spending a few days in Auckland. He left for the South, on Monday. The annual meeting of the Volunteer Rugby Union will be held at the Drill Hall on April 30. and a meeting of the Management Committee will be held the week previous. Ait unusual feature of this year's rifle shooting meeting of the. Christchurch Defence Rifle Club on Easter Monday at Redcliffs iii be the inclusion of a ladies' shooting match at 200 yds. Pressure of business has prevented Lieu-tenant-Colonel Porritt from taking over the command of th> defending force at the Easter manoeuvres, and his place ill be taken by Major Kenrick. The competition for No. 1 Natives championship belt was advanced a further stag" oil Saturday, when Corporal Lucas, who has been showing good form of late, jumped into first place, and now stands a good chance of winning. The signallers in the No. 2 Native Company are making excellent progress. This has been brought about by the establishment of two divisions, one in town and one at. Richmond, with the result that there is keen rivalry between the two. Members of No. 2 Company Garrison Artillery fired the second match for the company's championship on Saturday, and Sergeant, Clark made top score with 87, thereby making a total of .167 for the two matches, which aggregate places him ahead of Sergeant W. J. Morgan and Bombardier Bell by eight and 10 points respectively. A praiseworthy attempt is being made by the officers of No. ?. Company Native Rifles to infuse a greater interest: iit" shooting amongst the members of the corps, and the latest addition to the prize-list is a gold medal, presented by Lieutenant 11. Skelton. Members fired the second of a series of matches for the A and B class trophies on Saturday, Corporal A. Jillings and LanccCorporal C. W. Speary, with scores of 64 and 48 at 300 yds and 600 yds, being the respective winners. The resignation of Quartermaster-Sergeant Feudal!, of No. 3 Company Garrison Artillery, has been accepted by Captain W. H. Hazard, officer commanding. Owing to pressure of business Quartermaster-Sergeant Fendall, who is the oldest enrolled member of the corps, found it impossible to carry ovit his duties in the company, and his resignation has been received with regret by Captain Hazard, who, in the latest company orders, expresses his high appreciation of the retiring " non-com. V services. Sergeant J. B. Hobbs has been appointed to the vacancy. ' The names of the best squad gunner, signaller, and range-finder in No. 1 Company Garrison Artillery for the year 1907-8 have been printed on a " merit" board, and hung in the gun-room at the Drill Hall, and the intention is to repeat the practice as the years go by. The idea is certainly a good one, as not only does it tend to inspire the competitive spirit among the men, but it also makes for efficiency. The- example set. might well be followed by other corps throughout the Dominion, and I understand that several corps in the district are about to adopt it, including Nos. 2 and 3 Companies Garrison Artillery.

Colonel Tuson, adjutant-general to the. New Zealand Forces, in a letter to the Harbour Board, read at yesterday's meeting, pointed out that in connection with the Easter coast defence manoeuvres at the four .principal harbours, it was intended to rehearse certain war conditions, including the examination of vessels entering the harbour, if the Board had no objection. This examination would be carried out by a vessel specially detailed to act for several hours each day. and it was not anticipated that harbour traffic would be inconvenienced, as the examination service would probably only be put into force during "hours when traffic was inconsiderable, probably 11 p.m. to three a.m., on the nights of the 17th, 18th, and 19th. and from three p.m. to five p.m. daily. The required permission was granted by the Board.

The town members of the Auckland Rifle Association will be pleased to hear that there is every probability of their wishes for the next South Auckland meeting being carried out at Te Aroha being realised. Ihe meetings of the association have formerly been held at the Paeroa range, which has been utterly unsuitable for the purposes, being absolutely devoid of shelter and very uncomfortable. After urotraeted negotiations, writes my To Aroha correspondent, a property, about, a mile from Te Aroha, has been acquired by the Government, and is being fitted up as a rifle range. The laud is well adapted for the purpose, giving a range of 1000 yds, and being a suitable site for an encampment. The official opening of the range will take place on the 25th inst. In view of the clamours of the town competitors for a change, the committee of the South Auckland Rifle Association have now practically decided to hold their future meetings there, and if they do so it is expected that the entries from town will be doubled, if not trebled. GARRISON AND FIELD ARTILLERY "WORK. In consequence of the enthusiasm displayed in garrison artillery work in Auckland, and also in a less degree in field artillery work, the following instructions which have been issued to field and garrison artillery corps by the director of artillery (Captain G. S. Richardson) should prove interesting: — Subaltern officers of the artillery service are all to learn semaphore signalling, as in future they will all be examined annually in this subject. All non-commissioned officers of garrison and field artillery units are to be formed into classes, and also taught semaphore signalling. Recruits, before being reported as having passed recruit drill, are to go through a course of semaphore signalling, and acquire sufficient proficiency to be able to send and read messages slowly. The ser-geant-major instructor in gunnery at each centre will arrange for classes to be held accordingly. During the past training season the director of artillery has noticed that in some cases insufficient care is taken in the appointment of non-commissioned officers in artillery units.' The efficiency of a unit depends so much upon the standard of efficiency of its non-commissioned officers, therefore the greatest care should be taken to appoint none but the best men. Very often a man may pass an examination satisfactorily, but in other respects he is not suitable; the. personality of a man must be considered. In the appointment of sergeants and staff-sergeants seniority alone should not be considered, as there are very few noncommissioned officers who make really good sergeant-majors, hence the necessity of selecting the best men for that rank. In future the screens used by field batteries when at service practice will be of red material, and they will be used in the seme way as the red flag, at coast artillery practice, i.e., red screen raised denotes range clear. No firing is to take place unless the red screens on the ranges and firing point are up. Should, during practice, any one of "the red screens be lowered firing will at once be stopped Owing to the practice of some companies and batteries not being completed, the results of the _ artillery practice throughout the Dominion are not yet available, but in order to avoid delay in the issue of badges, the following units having qualified as first-class for shooting may demand first-class badges accordingly: 3 Company, Auckland N.Z.G.AV.; No. 2 Company, Wellington, N.Z.G.a.V. ; No. 1 Company, Canterbury N.Z.G.A.V.: Nos. 1 and 2 Companies, Otago N.Z.G.A.V.; B Battery, N.Z.G.A.V.