THE SIXTH CONTINGENT

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4262, 23 January 1901, Page 7

THE SIXTH CONTINGENT

CAMP AT NEWTOWN PARK. ' Steady, hard work continues to be the programme at Newtown Park. yesterday the evolutions Of tha men of the Sixth were watched with keen interest by bund re els of spectators who were picnicking under the trees. Quite a number of troopers on leave were present at tho Wellington Racing Club’s meeting yesterday. A trooper was.yesterday discharged from camp for .threatening an non-com-missioned officer. The.members of the Sixth in camn are to take part in a. welcome demonstration to tho troopers returning by the Orient on Saturday. _ Lieutenant R. N. Williams, ot (he Canterbury .Mounted - Rules, reported himsoilf and entered camp yesterday, and wifi bo attached to No. 17 company. The horses in camp will be distributed amongst the men permanently this morning. An order has gone forth_ that the men in camp are not. to smoke in the streets. It is understood that the Commandant of tho forces regards it as a breaen ot military etiquette for men to smoko pipes while in uniform outside the coniines of the camp. The ff-t that a x»rominent officer has been seen on more than one occasion smoking cigars while in uniform and on active duty has apparently cscaned his notice. Mr John Plimmer has kindly volunteered a donation of '£'2o towards the amount being raised to. entertain, tho troopers of the Sixth oft their departure from Wellington. lb ,je hoped that Wellington citizens who desire to contribute towards the fund will do so without being waited upon by Messr.-. Aitken and Holmes, as the time is short. The receipt of any Hitch contributions will be acknowledged by the press. A demonstration in honour of Pclone troopers is to be: held at that place _tonicht. Pet one friendly societies, sports clubs and the general public are invited to attend at the railway station at 7.15 p.m.

THE CASE FOR THE LIGHTWEIGHTS. A gentleman whose experience justifies his opinions being taken seriously, informs a “Times” reporter that m fixing the height limit' of troopers at sft 7in tho authorities are making a mistake, because to 1 secure troopers of that stamp the age limit has to be lowered, and instead of obtaining for service mature men between twenty-live ami thirty years of age, a great many green, overgrown boys have been chosen, many of them under twenty years old; numbers of them but 17, IB and 19 years of age. - Yqung follows at this age, ho points out, are less hardy than mature men, and more liable to contract enteric and other -diseses while campaigning. If a Seventh Contingent is to go forth; ho urges' that the height limit Should bo reduced to" sft "Sin. This would encourage: numbers of men- to. volunteer. . who • cannot at present do so. The advantage of a smaller and! lighter type of men is that they reqnircy lighter hor. ses and » smaller weight of equipment and themselves weigh .less than the Cft 7in men. , ,

In connection “with this matter, it is worthy of -remark that nearly the whole of the Indian cavalry are mounted on l‘U‘2 horses, and the men of the English rifle regiments are" all light. The minimum height for Ghoorkas is sft, and nobody disputes their fighting ability. The authority we have previously referred to regards the division of our contingents off into companies as a mistake. In the past it has puzzled the authorities at the Cape, especially when our men became attached to various commandoes; so that when inquiries nave been made about “ So-and-So ” of tile fourth or fifth company of New- Zealanders, for instance, nobody has known anything about him. Our informant says identification would be'.simplified if the divisions were designated ,A, B, C, or D squadron of such and 1 such a regiment—of the Roughriders or .the Zealandias, or whatever the denomination of the particular regiment was, ’

The train arrangements in connection with the departure of the contingent on Saturday are advertised elsewhere.