FOURTH CONTINGENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2408, 26 April 1900, Page 67

FOURTH CONTINGENT.

XQ'N THE MONOWAL .

THE TRIP TO ALBANY.

A. SMOOTH AND PLEASANT PASSAGE.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL. CORRESPONDENT WITH THE CONTINGENT.)

(Telegraphed from Wellington.)

The first question tisually asked by one who has just crossed the high, seas is ; l> Y\ 7 hal kind of- passage did. you have?" Well, so far, we ,<&s£ve-baeii extremely fortunate in that respect. "During the course of a conversation to-day Ohatfield, that" gentleman re- j iftafked that he has 'not experienced such* a period of fine wearher on the Tasraan Sea for three years, and the run from Bass Strait to Albany has been equally fine. There ha*, therefore, been comparatively little seasickness among the ' troops', the few cases there were'bemg-of a mild form. Apart from seasickness, however, the general health of the officers and men has been excellent. The

jrealth of the horses, too, has been very good, , ■> *»a being largely due to the continued fine weather.' We have, fo far, lost cn'y or c horse — j that belonging- to Sergeant Mead, of the Nelson section. The cause of death was peritonitis. The horses are under the cave of Veterinary-surgeon Edgar, a gentleman of j high skill .and considerable practical experi- j ence. He makes a daily round of the stables, and quiokly recognises and attends to any slight ailments a horse may have. At the moment of writing feiiero is only one sick Iborse aboard, 'the ca?e being by no means a jjfctibiOti \>ne. Given average weather from 3S3&&&ijr^to the Cape, we do not anticipate any %&O£e. 3 .4fKiths. •After the send-off from Dunedin and Port Chalmers on March 24, the fine steamer j Mpnowai steamed away, and we pa&eed - the Bluff at 8 a.m. on the 25th, and stood -away to the -west, with our dear little i&la:id x^pidly fading to the view, and on the Monday morning- were out of sight of land. W.ork j then commenced in good earnest. During t! « . £rst two or three days little drill was done, " - jhe time being occupied by the allotment of berths, making out of .-division rolls, and by r'ftie distribution of the remaining portion of fcit> etc. All the saddlery was brought on deck, dried, and cleaned. On the 28th March a general inspection of both companies was made by the officer in comirantl, Major Frances. After the parade he complimented the men on their general appearance. ' Parades are .held morning and ft afternoon, in which the men receive instruction in manual exercise, physical drill, e'.c. i Eaoh division in turn has had a rifle practhe -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 bo much to teach the men marksmanship as to accustom them to holding the rifle. On the 27th, at 4 p.m., we sighted Barren Island, "~OS^ of the Flinders Grotip, and were occasionijallsfin sight of land until the afternoon of the 291h, when we passed close to Cape Otway Light. We signalled "All well," and the lightkeeper signalled back " Good luck, and a safe return." He was answered by three ringing cheers from "the 1 " boys." We speedily parsed <jglrt(rs!ght of land intcrthe bight, all looking forward with pleasure fo "having a run on •.Aerra firma at our first port of call, Albany. On the afternoon of the 29th both companies paraded in the saloon, when Captain Fuftbn, of No. '.2 Company, lectured on outpost duty. The practical experience which that officer has had in India, together with Ms theoretical knowledge, made tho lecture very interesting and instructive. Special attention will be paid to this branch of active HService,. for it is anticipated that the greater i Rpatt of our work will be of the nature of scout- I ■jpg. Lectures on this branch. -of work will

be delivered frequently during the voyagp. Through the medium of the regimental order? 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 all times characterise a well and regulars-organised body of military men. Pie expected that every indhidual member of the contingent would consider himself personally responsible for the uph^J'ling of the honour and credit of the baUalion, a=, well as the colony we represented. A member .so far forgetting himself as tc commit a breach of discipline was not only bringing discredit upon himself, but upon the whola cf tlie New Zealand forces. Breaches of discipline, bad language, or any irregularities would be ot once reported to the proper authorities, and any member knowing of such breach occurring and not reporting it would bo considered guilty with those committing the offence. How far the Major's appeals were re:pected may be judged from the following which appeared on the regimental orders of the 23th : — " The ofncsr commanding is desirous of showing his appreciation of the good conduct of the .men during the first half of the voyage to Albany, and would, therefore, request the officers commanding companies not to i?&ue any orders for work or drill outside that, wh'ch is necessary for the feeding 'and care of tie horses." This, of course, meant a general holiday from parades, which was duly ap-

predated by the men,

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

On Sunday morning, l&t April, church service was held in the saloon at 10.30 a.m., in accordance with British army regulations. The commanding oSlce: 1 conducted, and after the say vies was over took occasion to compliment the rn'cn on tLeir good behaviour, and hoped ihai they would uphold the honour of the contingent when ashore at Albany. TII3 time passed quickly; indeed, we are all busy from reveille to tattoo. The following time table will gh'e a good idea,' of the daily round of work: — Reveille, 5.30 a.m.; stables end water, 5.50; feed, 6.50; breakfast, 7.30: drill, 9 to 11; stables, roll call, and water, 11.20; feed, 12 110011 ; 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; lasi post, 9.50; lights out, 10. A good deal of time betwesn parades is occupied by the men in cleaning carbines, belts, and other arfcles of kit, and in keeping the carbines in order. An inspection of tl>e cabins is made every Eecond day by Surgeon-captain Neill, and the occupants of ai\y untidy cabin are speedily brought "on the caepet." Dr Neill is highly pleased with the general appearance of tidiness of the cabins. So far there has been only one csse 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 beingcarried 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. TII3 following acting-appointments have been made sir.cc the date of sailing: —

No. 10 Company : W. Jickell to be sergeantmajor; Saxby, Duncan, and Mead to be sergeants; Hickler, Murphy, and Woof to be corporals; D. H. Caineron and M 'Knight to be farriers; J. T. M'Kay, saddler.

No. 9 Company: W. Shalders to be ser-geant-major ; Hiekey, Collis, and F. H. White to be sergeants : Allen, Newman, and Roberts to be corporals; Bowling, Jones, and Orbell to be lanca-corporals ; Thurlow to be saddler.

We arrived ot Albany this morning at 8 o'clock, and are anchored in the atieam, the watsr 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 privilege was accorded to No. 9 Company. Mr Johnston,' of the Gentlemen's Club, Albany, came aboard, and very kindly invited 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. We expect to leave to-morrow morning at 2 o'clock.

The mail closes at once, and prevents my sending you particulars of the stay in Albany.

ARRIVAL OF THE MONOWAI AT DURBAN. A SMART PASSAGE.

The Right Hon. the Premier kindly sent us the following telegram from Rotorua on Sunday, conveying information which will be appreciated by the relatives and friends of members of the Fourth Contingent : — " The Monowai has arrived at Point Natal. I have received the following cable :— ' Arrived all quite well. Lost ten more horses. Leave for East London at once, then on to Bloemfontein.' I think this is from Major Francis, but the cable is not signed. Probably it has been signalled to the shore. The Monowai must have made a good run. She loft Port Chalmers on the 24th March, and Albany on the 3rd April. Kind regards. — It. J. Seddon."

The police raided several reputed sly-grog-shops in Taihape and Utiku last .week (says the Wauganui Herald), and seized a large quantity of whisky. As a result of the seizure over a ' dozen informations have been laid and will come on for hearing on the 26th inst. at Hunterville.

Valuable Discovery fob the Ilair.— lf your hair is turning yrey or white, or falling off, use the "'Mexican Hair Bilxewes," for it will positively restore in every case Grey cr White Hair to its original "colour without leaving the disagreeable smell of most " restorers." it makes the hair charmingly beautiful, as well R3 prorno'.jirig the giowth of the hair on bald spots whero the glands arc not decay xl. Ask your chemist for " Tira Mexican Kutj Renewek." Sold by chemists and perfumers every wheie wfc 3s Cd \ er bottle. Wholesale Qepot, ?8 F§VfingsQU £9ss, Jmfijwloa, England .—Adv*.