OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1848, 22 April 1887, Page 26

OUR VOLUNTEERS.

The assault case at Napier, in which Lieutenant ' King r of the Napier Rifles, charged Major Garner with assault, caused much interest;. The case lasted a long time, the evidence befng very lengthy. It was a most peculiar affair altogether, a squabble arising out of a stupid mistake by Sergeant Carey, who had to summon a meeting to discuss an appeal by a volunteer against a fine, of 10s imposed for some irregularity, forming the groundwork of the charge.The summonses for the meeting were, by Major - Garner's orders, copied out of the order book, whore the time was fixed for half-past 5 on the sth April; Sergeant Carey wrote 5 o'clock on one notice. This went to Lieutenant King, < and he - was at the orderly room at that time. Major Garner turned up shortly after half-past 5, and was reproached by King with fooling him. Words passed, and eventually Garner called King a liar and shook him.. Both ! were heated and excited.,- Private Veal, another member, got between the parties, and received a blow intended for Garner, who, according to plaintiff, afterwards struck him. This was strenuously denied by Garner. Finally King charged Garner with being drunk, and formally placed him' under arrest. .Afterwards there was another altercation in the street, when Garner said King ought to be - horsewhipped.- Next morning King wired to the Defence Minister that Garner 'was placed under arrest for drunkenness. The next thing heard of the matter was a newspaper paragraph stating that Major, Garner had been dismissed, although he was never informed in any way of the accusation against him. The court held the assault had been committed, and said that if the accusation of drunkenness had not been made a severe fine would be imposed. -The fine would be £2 and costs. Sevrral highly respectable witnesses, including the mayor of the borough, deposed that they jvere in Garner's company from 5.15 till past 10 on the evening of the sth April, and so far from being : drunk' there ' was no justification for saying that Garner had partaken of any liquor at all: It is said that proceedings are to be taken in connection with the fact admitted by King in court that he wired to the Defence Minister that Garner had been placed under arrest for being drunk. The' new Garrison Hall, Port Chalmers, was used on Friday evening last by the whole of the local Volunteers for the first time, and was found to suit the requirements perfectly. Battalh'on • and - other movements, which have hitherto had to be conducted outside, were on this occasion gone through in the hall with ease and comfort. The number on parade was 120 'men, and there appeared to be room for as many. more. ; Captain Taylor, L Battery, was in charge, and after inspection of arms and accoutrements,' put the men through a severe drill of over an hour and a half's duration in company and battalion »'.»r:i»\! i-ms. The parade state showed j — Porfc'Obalmers Navai ArtiJ-f;ri. -Captain Thomson. Lieutenant M'Donald, I uh »f petty-officer, 4 first-claes petty-officerß, 2 second-olnss petty-officers^ I drummer,- 42 seamen; total, 52. X Battery. — Captain Taylor, Lieutenants "Waters" and TCettle," 1 sergeant-major, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 1 trumpeter, 36 gunners. Garrison Band.— Bandmaster M'Connell and 19 bandsmen. ' After parade the various companies held committee' meetings, and the L Battery elected seven new members. The second competition for the- picture presented to the members of the B Battery by Corporal Arhesen took place at the Pelichet Bay range on Saturday last, the 16th inst., at 2.30 p.m. The conditions were -seven shots at 300, 400, and 500 yds. The following are the highest aggregates in the first two competitions :—: —

The dismissal of Major Garner, commanding officer of the Napier volunteer district, is gazetted, and* Captain Hammersley, of the Timaru Artillery, ia gazetted major of the regiment; > The New Zealand war medal has been issued to the following :-4-Private Richard Julian (Taranaki MJUtia), , Private Arthur, Harrison. (Taranaki Rifles and Taranaki Bush Rangers), Private Joseph. Street .< (Taranaki ' Militia), Private Edward Chatterbourk (No. 9 Company Taranaki Military Settlers), Farrier Ham Hazzlehurst (No. I. Troop Colonial Defence Force and Auckland Militia). Major Garuer.has announced his intention of proceeding with a libel action against the Wellington- 4Post^and JPres3 Association for a paragraph- ijuSißh6d-hy f the^|o?iner.^nd-telegr«qjhed - through the .colony by the latter, to the effect

that the Defence Minister, after inquiry, had determined to dismiss him (Garner); one of the alleged grounds being an 1 assault- by him on a voluuteer in uniform. He denies that there, was ' any inquiry'int-o this charge, and 1 states that l the first he heard of the affair was the paragraph io question^ ' He was' never asked for any explanation or defence/ although the" regulations' pro*' vide for inquiries into all such charges. '■ v , It is stated that Colonel Tosswill has withdrawn his resignation of the commitnd of theFirst Canterbury Battalion. * ■

Junner W. P. Webb hinnerLaw " ... lombardier Bayner gunner J S. Webb lergeant Chaliner' tombardier Stout Ist 2nd Ck>mp. Comp. Hdcp. Tl. 13 62 20 — 125 52 54 6 — 112 38 61 10 — 109 33 14 80 — 97 39 48 scr.— 87 19 58 10 — 87