FOURTH CONTINGENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11714, 23 April 1900, Page 5

FOURTH CONTINGENT.

ON- THE' MONO WAI.

THE TRIP TO ALBANY

A SMOOTH AND PL3A3ANT PASSAGE.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT WITH THE CONTINGENT.)

(Telegraphed from Wellington.)

-The first question usually askecl bj- one who lias just crossed the hiffh seas is, " What kind of passage did you have? '" ■ Well, so far, we have bee* extremely fortunate in that respect. During tile course of a conversation to-day with Captain Chalfield, that gentleman remarked that he has not experienced such a period of fine weather on the Tasman Sea for three years, and the run from Bass Strait to Albany has been equally fine. There lias, therefore, been comparatively little seasickness among the troops, the few cases there were being of a mild form. Apart from seasickness, however, Ul2 general health of the officers and men has been excellent. The health of the horses, too, has been very good, this being largely due to the continued fine weather. We have, so far, lost only one horsethat belonging to Sergeant Mead, of the Nelson section. The cause of death was peritonitis. The horses are under the care, of Y.eterinary-surgeon Edgar, a gentleman of high skill and considerable practical experience. He makes a daily, round of the stables, and quickly recognises and attends to any slight ailments a horse may have. At the moment of writing there is only one sick horse aboard, the case being by no means a serious one. Given average weather from Albany to the Cape, 'we do not anticipate any more deaths.. After the send-off from Dunedin and Port Chalmers on. March 24, the fine steamer Monowai steamed away, and we passed lha Bluff at 8 a.m. on Hie 25th, and stood away to the west, with our dear little island rapidly fading, to the view, and on the Monday morning were out of sight of land. Work then commenced in good.earnest. During tl« firEt two or three days little drill was done, the time being occupied by the allotment of berths, making out of division rolls, and by the distribution of the remaining portion of kit, etc. All the saddlery was brought on deck, dried, and cleaned. On tiie 28th March a general inspection of both companies was made by the officer in command, Major Frances. After the parade he complimented the men on their general appearance. Parades;, are held morning and afternoon, in' which the men receive instruction in manual exercise, physical drill, etc. Each division in turn has had a rifle practice, the target being a box with a small flag affixed, which is towed at a distance of about 200 yards astern. The object of this is not so much to teac'.i the men marksmanship as to accustom' thorn to holding the rifle. On the 27th, at «■ p.m., we sighted Barren Island, one of the Flinders.Group, and were occasionally in sight of laud until the afternoon of the 29th, when we pasted close to Cape Otway Light. We ■ signalled .;.' All well," and the lightkeeper signalled back " f4ood luck, and a, safe return." He. was answered by throe ringing p]ieer3 from Uib " hoys." We speedily passed out of sight of land into the bight, all looking forward with pleasure to having a run on ter;-a firms at our. first port of call, Albany. On the afternoon of the 29th both companies paraded in the salcon, when Captain Fulton, of No. 2 Company, lectured on outpost duly. The practical experience which that officer has had in India, together with his* theoretical knowledge, made the lecture very inlcre3lingf and instructive. Special attention will bo paid-to >this branch of active service, for it iV anticipated that the greater part of our work will be of the nature of scouting. Lectures on this branch of work will be delivered frequently during the voyage. Through the medium of the regimental orders of March 24-. Major F. W. Francis, in assuming command of the contingent, confidently appealed to all ranks to assist him in .maintaining that good order and discipline which should at ail times characterise a well and regularly-organised body of military men. He expected that overy individual member of the contingent would consider himself personally responsible for the upholding of the honour and credit of .'the battalion, as well as the colony we represented. A member so far forgetting himself as to commit a breach of discipline. was • not only bringing discredit upon himself, but upon the whole of the New Zealand forces. ; Breaches of discipline, bad ' language, or any irregularities would ba at once reported, to.the> ; proper authorities, and any member kiioiyinjr of such breach occurring and not reporting it would be considered guilty with those .committing the offence. How fnr the Major's appeals were respected may be judged from the following which appeared on the regimental orders of the 28th: —

" The officer commanding is desirous of showing his appreciation of the good conduct of llie men during the. first half of the voyage IS Albany, and would, therefore, request the officers commanding companies not to issue any orders for work or drill outside that which is necessary for the feeding and care of the hm-ses." This, of course, meant a general holiday from parades, which was duly appreciated by the mcii.

During the afternoon a tug-nf-war was held, one team from each division competing. Six teams entered, and the rime (which was presented by the officers) was won by No. 1 division o[ No. 9 Company, No. 3 division of No. 10 Company being; second. The contest was very keen, and created n. good afternoon's amusement.

On Sunday morning, Ist April, church service was held in the saloon at 10.30 a.m., in accordance with British army regulations. The commanding officer conducted, and after the service was over took occasion to compliment the mcii on their good behaviour, and hoped that they would uphold the honour of the contingent when ashore at Albany. The time passed quickly; indeed, we are all busy from reveille to tattoo. The following time table will give a good idea of the daily, round of work:—Reveille, 5.30 a.m.: stables ond water, 5.50; feed, 6.30; breakfast, 7.30; drill, 9to 11; stablesj-roll call, and water, 11.30; feed, 12 noon; dismiss, 12.30 p.m.; dinner, 1; stable guard parade, 2 p.m.; drill, 1.30 to 4.30 p.m.; evening stables, water and feed, 5; dismiss, 5.30; tea, 6; first post, 9; last post, 9.30; lights out, 10. A good deal of time between parades is occupied by the men in cleaning carbines, Belts, and other articles of kit, and in keeping the.carbines in order. An inspection of the cabins is made every second day by Surgeon-captain Neill, and the occupants of any untidy, cabin are speedily brought "on the carpet." Dr Neill is highly pleased with the general appearance of tidiness of the cabins.. So far there has been only one case of carelessness in this respect reported. Major Francis, our commanding officer, has been very busy sines he took command of the battalion, his duties so far being carried out in' the orderly room. He is ably assisted by Acting-adjutant Davy. Lieutenant Seddon, son of the Hon. the Premier, has been appointed assistant acting-adjutant. The following acting-appointments have been made since the",date of sailing: — No. 10 Company: W. Jickell to be sergeantmajor: Snxby, Diir.can, and Mead to be sergeants; Hickier, Murphy, and Woof to'be corporals; D. H. Cameron and M'Knight; to be farriers;' ,T. T. M'Kay, saddler.

No. 9 Company: W. Shatters to be ser-geant-major.; Hickey, Collisj and F. H. White to be sergeants; Alien, Newman, and Roberts lobs corporals; Bowling, Jones, and Orbell to be lanes-corporals; Thuriow to be saddler..

We arrived at Albany this morning at 8 o'clock, and are anchored in the stream, the water being too shallow to allow our boat berthing at the wharf. No. 10 Company immediately went ashore for a run; and during the afternoon a. similar privilegewas accorded to No. 9 Company. Mr Johnston, of the Gen-/ tlemen's Club, Albany* . cuine' aboard/: and • very kindly hivited the officers of the Contingent to spend the evening at the- club, the invitation being readily accepted. .' Immediately on arrival the hulks came alongside, and the work of taking coal on board was begun. Wo expect to leave' to-morrow •morning at 2 o'clock. * ;■

The mail closes at once, and prevents nr^ sending you particulars of the stay j"B Albany.