VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14017, 24 March 1909, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE JOTTINGS.

BY SENTINEL. ' ' "

■' The annual meeting of the - Auckland'' Non-Commissioned Officers' Club will be held on Friday evening. The offer of the services of the Auckland ."" Highland Rifles has been accepted by the '- New Zealand-Defence Council. '- ■"■'■&■ : ' yw}& ; ——- ; ; V V'; ■■: '•'■■- M^ In - the > Second Regiment Auckland ' Mounted Rifles (Waikato), 290 men- have ; earned capitation this year. This should V constitute a record for the year. No. 1 New Zealand Native Rifles will fire a match at \ Penrose next Saturday,;;-: for./ a:, trophy : presented ; by Captain A. , i Coutts. The handicaps will be made' .'." known on the range. » Colonel Allan 1 Bell and Staff-Sergeant- | Major Coleman returned from Putaruru til on Saturday, where" they ■ successfully or- '-'" ganised a new mounted rifle troop, which ?t will be attached to the D squadron, Cambridge. The annual meeting of the Piako « Mounted Rifles was held at Te Aroha last ~ week, Lieutenant Campbell in the chair. :' A parade will be held at Waiata on Sat- 1 urday, April 3, when the election of a " captain will take place. Rodney ■ Mounted Rifles fired for their ff - challenge belt last Saturday. The com- ** petition was keenly contested, and resulted •- in Sergeant Harvie getting his first "leg "", in" for the belt. . The; previous winners ..- were Private G. B. Ashton and Sergeant ■,".: H. King. 6 It is gratifying to . the ; No. 1 Natives 'S to have such a remarkable young shoot- ** ist in their company as Private A. Pur- ,' chase, who, it is interesting to note, has .' secured the championship ;, belt, a gold ■-* ring, gold medal, and a, valuable rug, ■''£- presented by Messrs. Hallenstein Bros. ~ All through the season Private Purchase" ~ has fired with exceptional* consistency. ,;:; No. 1 Company Natives are doing splen- 3 didly in the way of recruiting, no less ■'.-.** than eight recruits being enrolled in the -■'- last three weeks. There axe numerous ' trophies for competition every year, the " handicapping for which gives every man "'' an equal chance to " commandeer" them. -; The coaching of members is carried out by Lieutenant M. Atkinson/ champion of ■ • Auckland. '■■"- : "- ■'■'~_. - W;Sergeant H. King, of the Rodney Mount- ;; ed Rifles was the winner of a gold meda?, presented by Mr. Skeats, of Warkworth,. he having been the highest scorer for two • years in .succession. This squadron has j? recently had two medals presented 'to them .-" a gold one by Mr. . Smith, 'and one by .'. Private Wait, of, Warkworth. Both these gentlemen ; have been keen shots, -and al- 1 ways taken a great interest ;. in shooting r,;;. matters. . rAt thatparade of the No. 2 Company /- G.A.V., on Monday,. Mr. Finch was elect- .-• ed lieutenant of the company. Mr. Finch '" is a recent arrival from England, where .'" he served for several years in the En- "'- gineers, and was also editor, of an elec- i trieal paper. He has had practical ex- ;, perience with electric light, and should be of great assistance to the electric light sec- ti tion of ■ the company. ■'■;?-._ He is an engineer by trade, and is at: present in the em- "- ployment ; of / the Auckland Harbour £ Board. At this parade the bonus money, ;.. badges, and certificates were paid out to the successful men. This is the first com- : pany in Auckland to pay out its bonus ■"- money. .The: following, promotions have "'." been made in the : company:— >; geants, Corporals Maxwell, and Thomp-r:; son; acting-corporals, .Bombardier Bur- ? rage, i Gunners R. G. Black, H. W- Dixon, ' T. Battersby, and •Agnew.! Acting-bom- „ bardiers, Gunners Perston,' Pbilpot, ■ Lupi ton, Kerridt,','.. Isbister, Faucett, and Tuc- .;. key. A paid daylight parade will be held I| .. next Saturday at the" forts. " fe* - No. 4 Company New Zealand Engineers made a start with their championship belt ; and shield competition on -Saturday,500 yds and 600 yds being the ranges; the remaining two ranges, 200 yds and 500 yds, will be fired next Saturday. The' following are ; the" leading scores to ' date:—Lieutenant Reardon, 61 ;-.* Quartermaster-Ser-geant McGregor, 58; Sergeant-Major Robertson, 54 ,v Sapper D. Johnson, 53; Lance-Corporal Pierce, 50; Sergeant Dow, 50; ,;Captain.;" Shera;".: 49 ;-• Sergeant Marks, 48; Sapper Hastie, 46; Sapper ;Porter,' 38. A handicap match for four trophies is being fired for in conjunction with the ; championship."; The /Shooting Committee have declared the following ' ' handicaps .' for the trophy ,: match:—Sergeant Marks, scratch; Lieutenant Reardon, 2 points Sergeant-Major "Robertson, 7; Sapper Sayer, 9 points; QuartermasterSergeant McGregor, 10; ' Sergeant Dow, * • Corporal Butterworth, - Lance-Corporal Handley, Lance-Corporal . Pierce, Sapper Duff us, Sapper D. "Johnson, 12; Corporal Taylor, Corporal Blomfield, ■ Corporal Paine, Sapper Burge, ; Sapper Chillcott, Sapper Donnelly, ; Sapper Hastie, Sapper Rea, k 15 1 Sapper 5 Gordon, 18; Sergeant ' Burgess, Sapper Colman,j ; "Harvey; ;:. Sapper S. Hi: Johnson,, Sapper Sinclair, Sapper Robinson/20; Sergeant Fricker, Corporal Sprinz, Lance-Corporal Hansen, ; Bugler Markwick, Sapper Elliot, Sapper i Rennie, ; Sapper Pethybridge; Sapper Porter, 25; Sapper Vincent, 30. .;..;,;-,'■ '~:;;;:■-. ;''•<.■:■. o*ss: " '-'■■■>■ •:« \, ;"';'■-?.';f>?■>■; c ': '..;: <$MSV%' For many years there has been, tically only one shooting corps in ■ Auckland, viz., the Victqria Rifles, : and volunteers generally, and.' shooting men in particular, are pleased to" Welcome ,the advent'of a new star on the horizon. By their showing at; the recent Trentham , meeting, the Newton Rifles have proved that they have some "top-notchers in their company, the whole -of the seven {* men who made the trip (Sergeant McKerras, Corpor.il Magee. Privates Boys, Cooper, Murphy, Sorenson, an dLyford) receiving in all a total of £55. Of the five matchesi;/ ■ in the championship series, two were won' by members of the company, a record.no othsr company can show. Private Boys won the Nelson match, shots at 500 yds arid * 800 yds, with a score of 98, two points off the possible. Private Murphy won " the Canterbury . match, \lO shots at 900 yds and 1000 yds, with 95, scoring 47 ' at 900 yds and -48, at 1000 yds.. Private. Murphy finished ;in c 10th place in ' the championship, winning £5 and a N.Z. R.A. badge. Priva'te Sorenson also put up some fine scores, notably 100 ' out of '.-.■■ 105, in the teams match, which included a possible at 200 yds and 500 yds. His- 97 ; in the volunteer match was another fine effort. In the .teams -matches championship the company finished 10th, 48 teams competing. This' company claims that it offers more, inducements to •■ its members than 1 any other; company i in the : garrison, and as there are a few vacancies for good men, the ■ company should not; be long in recruiting up to full strength. !