THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15824, 24 July 1913, Page 9

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Bx Sentbt,

From the latest issue of the Gazette:—sth Mounted Rifles' (Otago HussarsJ: Second Lieutenants T. R. Mitchell and A. to' bo lieutenants; No. 2 Company New Zealand lvngineere: Lieutenant il ' N Vanes resign.;; _«h (Otago) Regiment: Captain S. D. Noill resigns, Lieutenant J. , • Saunders transferred to> tho Ist (Canterbury) Regiment; Bth (Southland) Regiment: Second Lieutenant G. D. M'Kenzie transferred to the Unattached List (b) for service with Senior Cauets; 10th (North Otago) Regiment: Second Lieutenants J. S. Bam and i. Mackenzie, to be lieutenants; i , B °' Regiment: Lieutenants J. M. ohanks and J. Steven resign, Sergeant L. G. Wilson to be second lieutenant on probation); the Rev. 11. Packe and the Kcv, J, Perkins to be chaplains. <( Only ono Territorial now remains in tho detention .barracks" at Taiaroa Heads. I lie otliem. having completed their terms in a satisfactory manner, have resumed their cnil duties. The young man remaining, who-has a fairly long ternV to comnlete, has becomo to a certain extent disaffected by tho attitude of tho. Ripa Island martyrs. ' Until word of their heroics readied him this Territorial, who is a oocia ist, and does not allege religious scruples as an objection to service, was doing his military training in barracks without a murmur. Then lie declined to do military work. Ho has since been kept at iat-:guo duty, to which he has offered no objection. Last week an official representative of tho local branch of the Peace Society sought permission to visit the barracks, and was offered every facility by Colonel i>auciioj).

"Dear Soniry,-While reading the Defence notices m the isc.uo of the 'limes of tho 9th _ inst. I noticed a couplo of paragraphs in regard to c«mt> cooks. I write asking you if you could enlighten me on the subject contained in them. Firefly, oould you lot me know the options previously authorised in regard to oarades? Secondly: I n regard to pay, have we to rake it that sergeant cooks arc to rcceive 2s 6d extra, that making 8s per dav and assistant cooks 7s M per day? 'iliirdlv You say it is proposed to hold another camp of instruction in October. Will that take place at Trentham. or will it bo a district camp.' Fourthly: Are those who went last year able to attend again? I know several from Duncdin who' would go that were at the last camp. Now, you say that those who took advantage of it received free passes and no pay. ell, as I was there, I bog to inform you that wo were paid. We received 4g per day and incidental expenses. Trusting that yon will be able to secure a few moro details,' and kindly answer tho few questions I have asked you. I am. etc. Cook. The option with rospeet to parades refon'Ctl to above is that Ihe sorgcajii;*cook nc-ed not attend any of Ihe drill* during the year, and need not do the lnuskotry. " Cook " has rightly ajjprchohded the clause with, reference to nay. Under the now arrangement a sergeant-cook would reooivo 9u per day, a corporal on similar service 7s 6d per day, anil a private 6s 6d per day. As lo whether those who attended the previous

uwu.oc «ivt muiw iu itituiia [jift iortncommg one, 'Cook " lias raised an issue which lias to lie .submitted to headquarters at Wellington. As soon as a rcnly comes to wind ho will lie advised, Tito oonditionu is ro nay and expenses with regard to which 'Cook" kindly puts me straight, will be as jefore- -the pay of (he rank and. incidentals. Practically the whole of the local group jtalF will leave to-morrow to attend tile reresher course at Trentham. During their ilsence the instruction of Territorial and ,'adet companies will ho accomplished euire!y by their officers. Major Dodck, Officer Commanding the )t.a,go Division, New Zealand Government. \rtillery Territorials, has, owing to the csienalions of Sergeants Facer and' W'Crradie. notified tlio following Dromoior»:—Corponis O'Connell and Connor, to acting sergeants; Bombardier Wilson, to acting corporal; Gunner Stevenson, to acting Iwmbardier. Efficiency badges have been issued, 55 having qualified in gun laving, 23 as marksmen, 5 in signalling, 3 D.li.F?, 3 engine-driving, and 2 in electric lightins. Gunners K. J. M'Donaid, J. Mains, and D. Hm land get the badges for the most efficient gtmner in the 6-ineli, 12pr. Q.V., and 6 pr. P.F. f.cctions rcepectivclv. An energetic committee has lieen appointed to carry out, the annual ball, which is to be held oil ilic 15th of August. The secretary, with his Usui I courtesy, has forwarded an'invitation, for which thanks.

In the Home country it is the recognised practice for officers on the reserve to notify change of address and report themselves to their regiments at least once a year. It is tile wish tlwt this desirable nraelice should obtain in New Zealand. It has been decided that _ adjutants will ly responsible for the keeping of a record of tlm_ reserve and retired officers of their regiment?. All officers on the reserve and oil the retired list are requested to communicate forthwith their names and i'ddrcsses to the officer commanding the district. An officer failing to ropimunicate Ills nd.lri'ss mi writing to the district or regimental iicnririuarters )>v May 1 in c.'ic'i year is liable to havo his name removed from the list. It is obviously desirable that it sliould be possible for the authorities to get into immediate touch w'tli officers ou the reserve and it tired lists in the ease of emergency— else why the reserve? Officers and non-commissioned officers travelling In Trenlliam to take part in the' r"fr r «her ei'iirsp are advised to carry exfi-n blankets and heavy imdnrclolhiiig, in addition to tho waterproof sheet. The Agricullurid Hall nt Palmerston North is being used for billeting purpose?, but reports to band speak of "enell" weather.

On the initiation of the new defenco scheme, tlio wholo of tho arms, etc., oa issuo

to tho old Voluntcor companies were transferred over and placed on charge to the newly-formed Territorial unite and regiments. As the arms were taken over in uio condition in which they were handed in by the Volunteer companies, and had on issue to th-cse companies for n considerable) time, tlie General Officer Commanding has decided to forgo all charges which have be<!ti made for repairs and fitting- of small arms parts which were to he carried out as a result of armourer's inspections from 1912-13, i.e., for the period ending September 30 next.—This will afford needed relief to unit commanders. Tile July issue of tlic New Zealand Military Journal, just to hand, maintains its standard tis an informative, instructive, and interesting publication, calculated to be of considerable service in the btiilclinp: up of the New Zealand army. Amongst the features arc camp reports, "A Few Remarks on tlio Oringi Camp of tlie Wellington Infantry Brigade," by Lieutenant-colonel Hughes; "Territorial Operations iu the I'lelrl, and Some Lessons." bv Colonel E. S. Heard; "History of a \Vhofc-day Parade," by Major H. Hart; "A Few Notes on the Duties of a Company Commander," by Major H. S. G. Harper, etc. The programme for tlie 54th prize meeting of the National Rifle Association of New South \yales is now available. This meeting grows in importance. The prize money has been increased to £6000, including £1000 for the King's Match, and £800 for the Long-lield aggregate. The meeting will be held on the Randwick range from October 8 to 18. Deposits on entries are due on September 3. The Crown Law Officer has been asked to advise -whether a Territorial who has /to close his shop or place of business in order to proceed to camp for annual training can be transferred to a Defence Rifle Club instead of applying to a magistrate for exemption.—The answer is in tho negative, After consulting with tlio controllers of local cricket, Lieutenant-colonel M'Ara has already arranged for tlio holding of daylight parades on the following dates, which will be free of cricket fixture.?: November 8, 15; December 6 and 13. After this the 'territorial cannot fail to admit that he is treated w:th consideration in respect to his athletic engagements. Other units will probably make use of the 6.ime days for the holding of day parades. Lieutenant-colonel M'Ara lias issued in booklet form an interesting comprehensive review of the past year's work in connection with the Ist Battalion 4th (Otago) Regiment. Tho report differs from many annual reports in that it speaks plainly of the defects as well as of the excellencies of tho battalion, and avoids the use of the loud pedal when commendation is to be bestowed. Inasmuch as tlio infantry has to ateorb amongst its good quality practically all the indifferent and unwilling servers of country, the officers of a battalion are

I specially handicapped in tho efforts to ensure uniform efficiency. In spite of this very satisfactory resuits have been attained. The attendance at evening drills lias boon fair, but the majority of the men completed tho requisite 30 drills. It seems somewhat exacting upon officers that they should have to provide for <us many as 59, 52, 43, or 39 (actual figures) evening drills in order to get tho wholo of their men through the required 30 drills. A iittlo more consideration from tho men might reasonably be looked for. Regular attendance, which is urged this year,, would mean that by tho end of February next all the compulsory drills would bo worked off, and tho men could have two or three months' freedom from drill. The day parades were held during November, December, January, [ and February, advantage being taken of the longer daylight available in these months to get in as many whole-day parades as possible, between the hours of 2.30 p.m. and 8,30 p.m. Unfortunately, the attendance at some of these parades was far from what it should'ha.vo been, necessitating the holding of half-day parados for casuals right through March and early April. The largest mustor was 423 of all ranks, and the smallest 270. These numbers, of course, do not include men whose weekly half-holiday falls on Wednesday, and for whom special day parades were held. Tho number who completed the whole musketry course was 384, of whom 333 qualified; 120 fired a portion of the course, while 120 failed to lire at all. Amongst thoso who did not lire were the btHers, colour.sergea.nts serving with Senior Cadets! unci 15 university men who "were in. vaeation in all 41. The number who qualified as marksmen wa6 74, as 6econd-olas6 shots 259, while 51 failed to qualify. A total of 561 officers and men attended camp during the year, or 84.85 per cent, of Ihc battalion.

Those who had leave (including sick) account i f 01 ! ° r 10-76 per cent., the remaining 28 . beinp absent without leave. The strength of the battalion at the close of the year" is 27 officers, 633 non-commissionod officers and men. The band is in an officient state, and the battalion is grateful to the members for turning out to practically the whoe of the parades A table included in tho report gives in summary form the record of each company, Jhe women of Lngland are working hard for compulsory training for men from 18 ,t° 21 ,'.~ 50 runs an in the diary of a Duneuin young lady, whoso observations during a trip to Lurope have been communicated to tho.t'lutha Leader. "I went to a meeting last night on compulsory training, etc.," s)m writes. "It was awfully interesting, but it strikes uio that we colonials arc better . aware of the necessity of being , 'quite prepared' for war. I„ England it seems to lie quite a general opinion that, .is :

Mgliiiid lias always 'come dff best,' it will oyer bo no. My word, when we hour some of the strong arguments and speeches on ■iMig.nnds unpreparednesa it makes one's Wood run cold. This was a women's meetmE, a man spoke. The Kuipire Day meeting at Queen's Hall was awfully interesting, as Lord .Charles Bercsford was in the ehair and the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie spoke, also representatives from all land s colonies. Lord Beresford is a wonderful old man, and such a favourite. He spoke splendidly, nnd got a huge reception. The Hon. W. Watt, Premier of Victoria, also spoke. He is absolutely fine, has a great flow of speech, and is a marvellous speaker. Ive never heard such patriotism He voiced the feelings of all Australasians m every word ta said, and when ho had finished it seemed as if the audience would never stop applauding." It is not gorier/illy known that as far back as 1678 a royal order was promulgated establishing the " Gold Stick in Waitin?" and the "Silver Stick in Waiting" whose particular responsibility is "attend--O,J - e n v s person. from his rising ti l his going to bed.'" These offices, now of course, merely nominal, are held in monthly rotation by the colonels of the three regiments. "Gold Stick" carries, on Nt.iite occasions, an ebony staff or truncheon with « gold head engraved with his v ys e ypher and crown, while "Silver •Stick' carries an ehony staff and silver head of the lieutenant-colonels commanding or second in command, though it was not until 1820 that the pfem of "TheBI„«" these duties th ° 3 " ° f tho Lifofc ' Uar(!s