THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14358, 30 October 1908, Page 2

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

By Sentry. 6 [Items of interest concerning corps (town n ami country), shooting, and de'-mte matters - 1 generally will be accepted. Copy, addressed '•> to " Sentry," should lie in hand by noon on fl Thursday.J \ V Tlin maiiTiivi'M on November 9 will tnkc v place in the v'u-inily of llio hills at llio 1 hack of ('avershaiuand St. ('lair. r, '!'!■(.• annual meeting ot llio Ulnjjo Rifle 1 Association will ta held thi* evening. The o amount of the Clovernment grant, to he i handled li.v the association this year is £H5, I lnvcrcnrc;ill fiats £25, Onm&ru £16, and ( lioro £14. _ i: The Dur.rdm Xavals %o into camp I his (l evening' for the annual 16 days' training ' at Central Mattery. The shooting- from ' Central Jiaitery will take plsco on Wednes- ' day and Tlmi";duy, 11th and 12th Noveni- s l:er, in llio inqrniiig!;, and on .Saturday, V. Hill. Colonel Davis inspects the eoiiinany f at, the Heuds, when tlie 6-inch - gun and j , Nordenfeldt will he lived. The \iast niouth ' Inn been taken up with examinations, so T as to allow the time in camp.to he wholly a . devoted to training gun trews for llio ' practice, j> B Battery are in (lie midst of their ' Saturday afternoon |iara<lcs, and the ' musters show the enthusiasm anil loyalty j of members of the corps, fin October 17 ' : there were present. 61 out of a total of 66 ' ■ men ill Imvu. and this was baton nn 1 lie ' occasion of (be elmrsh parade, when 65 out 1 of 67 men in town turned out. ' The Knginocrs go into camp for their annual (raining from December 1 to 16, ; both (lavs inclusive, ami tbe i-jiiginoer ' Cadets from 9th to 16th. During the, ( ramp Ihe instruction will be carried o'.il under the supervision of Lieutenant Duigan, ; who lias recent ly undergone a course of ■ training- in field ensinoerinj; in England. Special attention will he paid to posilion ! and design of trenches, and i-chenics will Ire set for defence of localities, villages, etc. North Dmictlin Rifles' mailers provide a note asain this week. The company is moving alone; a well-defined course with ■ a. confidence and iissuranco which suggests >■ a considerable backing somewhere in the vicinity of the powers that he. This week ' 'the company's intimation that the resolution todisband has been rescinded rocs forward to Wellington. The next step—the 1 re-election of Lieutenant Begg—was accom- . 1 pli?tal on Wednesday cveiiin:,'. The silna--1 lion is full of curious issues. Lieutenant ' Hogg's commission "in the North Dunedin ; Hides" was cancelled, and at the request : of headquarters was handed in. At the request of headquarters it lias since been haiukd back. Is Mr Bsrk or 1 is he not at present a lieutenant'; ' Will his election again bo approved by ; headquarters'; The company js evidently. ; quite satisfied it will be. In this connec- ; tion it has been asked whether the com- ' ]jany in its present position is competent . to elect an ofliccr. The company's decision to disband was so far accepted by head--1 quarters that all Uovernmont property was 1 ordered in, anil the election has taken \ place before the.Defence Council was aware ' of or had appro.vcd tho decision not to disband. On the other band, it will doubtless bo maintained that the company is not disbanded, not having been gazetted out; \ and as a matter of fact the propertv, , although collected, has not'been handed in. Important developments are yet possible. ' Meanwhile the company is parading regularly, and in spile of the long spell L of inaction has a fair number on tbe roll. One important outcome of the whole [ affair is that the regulations have been so , amended that the approval or non-approval ' of an, officer elected by a company will be | at tbe discretion of the Council of Defence j in In the. case of an election tho 0.0. Comjwny will report the result of tho | election to the O.C. District, who shall do j nothing more than forward tho report on to the Council of Defence. I Another .amendment to the regulations j removes from tho O.C. District tho power to I dismiss a Volunteer. He may recommend ; a dismissal, but he may not dismiss. An ) addition to sccton 51 of " The Defence Act, , 1908," reads as follows:-"An 0.0. a dis- | trict may disrate any non-commisisioned • officer thereof for any causes mentioned in Par. A [disobedience of any lawful com- ! mand or order of any of bis superior • officers while doing any military duty, or > misconduct by him as a member of a : corps] of this section, the existence or t sufiicionoy of such cause to be determined > by such district commanding officer." , After gun drill one evening last week . the Dunedin Nqjwl Artillery presented two : of its members with marriage gifts. Liour tenant Phillips (who is leaving for .Mel- ■ i bourne) and Loading Gunner Garfcait both ; thanked (ho company lor its' presents. Two companies of No. 1 "Battalion have , complied with the request to submit a syl- , labus of work covering a period of three i months. The Walrari Rifles and the Dunedin City Guards havo submitted such c schemes. I have seen a copy of that pret pared by Captain Douglas, and it covers [ an inrc.restinir and highly practical round f of work. In connection with the. syllabus . tho Guard!', has instituted a section eomr, petition which should have the effect of ! keeping the men thoroughly keen all along. '; It is a most comprehensive competition, of . whicV I hopo to give a few particulars next week. Tho Guards were inspected on ~ Monday by the O.C. Battalion, who, after 0 testing the officers and non-com:;., expressed ■satisfaction with the work and condition of ,_ the company. There was the creditable [ muster of 50. The Guard.; havo at, prer S3nt .73 on tho roll, and it is Captain . Douglas's intention to take advantage of this excess of strength over establishment ~/ to weed out such as may exhibit an indifferent or careless spirit. At the close of the 1908 session the Otago Bistrict non-commissioned officers' exocuT tivc are to bo congratulated upon the fact £ that they have raised a nioriibund instituj tion into a vigorous, pulsing health. Tho smoke concert arranged as a fiwdo was a. fitting conclusion to a succca-ful, useful and it is to bo hoped the'same '" enthusiasm will character's?, the organisers a when tho- nex,t - session is due. A very 5 considerable 1 ' word of praise is duo to the J live secretary, Sergeant Fraae-r. r The field telegraph section of the P Engineers will again he utilised bv the B II Battery during their 'annual field firing. Arrangements will bo made for the section T to have : some instruction with the Battery during tho time the latter is in camp. The competition for No. 1 Battalion • 0,11,Y, Shield will bn carried out between December 1 and February 23. Tho condidit.ions governing this year's competition will be as follow.;:-(a) Companies competing must parade one half their enrolled strength (two marks will be allowed tfor every man above this minimum); (l>) com- | panios below the minimum establishment I cannot compete; (c) competition tc le ,_ completed before Febriia.iT 23, 1909; (d). ." the lesls to eompriso-(l) judging distance, " (2) entrenchments. (5) drill and irainiusr. The Wnkari Kiflcs wore inspected at the Drill Hall, Kaikorai, last week by Major Crawford, there being present-Captain ftasliei-, Lieutenants Doi.son and Al'Kenzie, " and 35 non-coms, and private. The roni- ■ pany were instructed by fHa-ff Sergoant- . major Kibblewhite in company celumn formation, passim? words of command, and rifle exerci?e. Hajor Crawford expressed himself as well pleased with the turn out and the way (ho drill had been done, and trusted that (lie corps would scon resain ' full strength. It is one thing to have a. knowledge of drill, but quite another to impart that knowledge to other.;. Staff Sergeant-major Kibblewhite has both' qualifications in a verv marked manner. He not only clearly explains how a movement is to be done, but—what is perhaps mere imnorlant-the reason forjhe movement. Although the Wakari Rifles at their recent inspection B narada had a large proportion of recruits 11 in tbe ranks, yet tbe instructions given by - the Sergeant-major in such a simple s manner as to b'c understood bv the voumrcst . - recruit in the rank-;. The rifle corps'are - to he congratulated on having the services , of so capable an instructor. '■ On Saturday a team of 10 boys from the . Snutbland High School Cadets journeyed to it Balclutha. in answer to a challenge from t the Olago High School Cadels. and ther fi - tried conclusicns with the. northerners on e the local range. The weather conditions 1 were anything hut favourable 'or good '■' slicoting; but, on reaching Br.lcltilha, the I dri7.7.!0 cieare<l off. though llio sky remained r overcast. Tlio rout hern boys worn rather dubious a-~ to their cliances a suree.-s, for their nnriheni oppanents have for some S time been practising with the sub-target, L ' Rniiihliind, lioH'ovor. dofpalcd Olago'hy ATX to W,. Jly Oamarii correspondent w-riles as fol- ' lows-.--"The North Otago 'Mcuntrd Kifle.s 'j weni into camp for their annual training " on •Saturday, lOib inst.. the site selected II for the camp being t|, P old golf-links at , I'edcastle. Tbe spot is admirably chosen. being sheltered by magnificent 'belt* r,[ p b!i!3 g iims on three side;, whilst there is ' plenty of open country in tbe vicinity for j ilriil purpoJuis. Major La-eelles was present with th? corn.;, which numbered about ! " 45 of all rank*. Captain MaeDoinld. re- ■ eentlv appointed as adjutant, was also wiili bis eld corps. T.:eulen:uit-colonel Smyth, O.C. District, and Contain Ilickcy, A.A.G., s wore up on a short, visit of inf-ieclion. The N.0.M.8, appear to' have a fright future

before them, as they havo been recruiting largely lately, and will probably be one of tho strangest squadrons—if not the elrongcst squadrou~ii> Oiajjo. This >s a, matter for congratulation, as officers ami men have worked linid to bring this about. -Mr K. Piper, the popular recrelary, lias given a- cti|i, !o bo won by the best ami most eli'icienl. lance-corporal or tiooper. On Wrduc-sday (Labour ]>ay) tbe annual sport« Were held, (onards lb? leriniiiation of which the camp was attacked liy the King's liilles. This was quiio unexpected by tho men of tho N.0.M.1!.. who were just preparing for a tng-of-war, although tho officers hail J,ad a hint of what was coming. A detachment, of tho King'* Rifles, under Lieutenant Gillie, worked round behind Boys' High School, and got into « position fronting the lamp, about WO yards distant. The main body made a wide detour of some three miles, which necessitated some Ktiff climbing, and eventually managed to reach a snot about 400 yards south-west of the camp. Op a signal iipingKivoii the little puny at the High School opened a furious fire on the lent*, hoping to delude ||, e Mounfcds. thai an attack waa imminent from that, direction. This waa rather overdone, as events proved, for ill a remarkably, short space, of time the main Dotty ol the lung's woo locate am | „ «iarp engagement ~n s, ,o t! ~„,„,, l!lp fi!< j Wur-gums on the. Itedeaslle boundary. After '• T v 'f' ralli "»"M their itmmnni. •on. ho; North Otagons. with their HW tei» hospilabt,-. .nvHc.l their orstwhil,. onemic, to their tents for refrcsbmonls. A (u-0!-war and football match terminated a very pleasant atloriic.on's work with tie two companies." Owing to the exigencies 0 f \\ w po | itlcal world, with its inndablo demands upon t.lio space- of Ihe newspaper, several of news have to he held over till „ C vt wok.