FORBURY CAMP NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2501, 19 February 1902, Page 26

FORBURY CAMP NOTES.

A parade state made up on Tuesday at the Forbury camp showed 459 men. This leaves 13 to be selected from the emergency list, the need for which arisss from the fact that several selected men failed to report themselves, consequently they forfeit theii* places.

Sergeant-major Kean, musketry instructor, took a squad of 40 men down to the butts and drilled them in the use of the .303 rifle. The quartermaster has 10,000 rounds~of ammunition and 100 rifles in camp, so that the shooting of the men ought to show a perceptible improvement by the time they are ready to embark.

The West Coast section of 19 men arrived early on Tuesday morning.

Mr A.' R. Falconer has provided a marquee in camp to s/erve as a quiet place for -the men to read and to write their letters in. '

The reserve list has been* drawn on to the extent of five men to fill vacancies in the Otago battalion of the ninth contingent. The following have been selected: — R. J. Cbirnside, Jenkins, K. Cooper, Woodhou c e, and Familton.

The men were kept busy on Wednesday wi \ squad drill, musketry practice, fatigue duties, and laying horse lines.

Captain Jackson ana Lieutenant M'Millan reported at the camp on Wednesday morning.

Sir Frederick Sargood and party drove out to the - Forbury camp on Wednesday and spent some time in looking round. They were received by Captain Nicol*on, who gave the visitord an opportunity to inspect the men on parade. Sir Frederick expressed hip satisfaction at the general appearance of the camp md the physique of the recruit*..

There is little fresh" to report in regard to iho Foiburj camp. Tlie men are- settling down \eiy"well to the daily routiue oi squad drill and musketry practice, to which is now added the task of looking after the- horses. The first lot of 44- horses arrived yesterday, % and, taken as a whole, there is little fault to be found with them.

Colonel Robin visited the camp yesterday afternoon, accompanied by Chaplain Bates.

The health of the moil continues good, and ! they appear to be well satisfied with their quarters and rations. Nothing is decided as yet as to when Captain Jackson will take over the command of the camp, but doubtless the matter will be settled in a few days. The wet weather retarded the work at the camp on Friday, and drill was practically out of tiie question. The time, however, was profitably spent in musketry instruction in-clooi-3, nnd some of tlie men learnt things about the .503 rifle and its capabilitiea that were quite new to them. The camp was taken over by Captain Jackson on Friday, and iv addition to the staff officers already mentioned, he will have the assistance of Lieutenants Wray. Orbell, and , M'Koach, who have repotted themselves at j the camp. The question of the appointment of officers will doubtless exercise the minds of the authorities at an early date. Each of the four squadrons will require a captain and three, if not four, lieutenants, so that in all probability there will be a dis-^ tribution of commissions among some of the returned men who Imve'fitting qualifications. The' recreation marquee, which gees under the name of the '* Soldiers' R?st," is proving a--.. b00n -to the men. ' It* is in pb(*Tge-"bf Mr A. R. Falooner, and Is f equipped .with, tables for "writing", and a' quantity of ' Htera-: tine in the form of periodicals-, etc. ** Horses continue to arrive, and a lot are coming down from the north by the Mararoa-to-moiTOxv. ' . On Saturday a number of acting appointments were made at the camp, and are as follows:— To bo squadron sergeants-major— Troopers West, Webster, Durham, and Courtis; to be sergeant«— Trooper* J. Williams, F (i. Williams, J. M'Larpn, A. Olapcott, R. 8011. G. Adamson. A. Riddell, W. Moyle, F. W. Robertson. J. D. Lindsay, A. Moodie. Sundin, Willis. Connolly, Brown, and Crayfar. Trooper Hutton has been appointed farrier-sergeant. All the above appointments are in no sense to be regarded as permanent, and have been merely made to faci'itate the handling of the squadrons. Church parade was held on Sunday morn- j ing, the Rev. T. G. Brooke conducting «ar- j vice. Th: • wns largely attended by the men. who showed a readiness to jiartioipat-e _by joining heai-tily in the singing. Servicecommenced by singing the hymn " Onward, Christian soldiers. Mr Brooke thrn delivered a very practical address from the words "A good* soldier of Jesus Christ" (Timothy ii, 2-3). He said Paul often found his way to the camp. For two year 3he was chained as a prisoner to a soldier, whose life was dependent on the safety and security of his prisoner. He could therefore observe the loyalty of liis soldier guard to his duty. The Christian's life was a warfare, and the Apostle was a loyal soldier of Jesus Christ. Every Christian must be loyal. He must never betray the trust God/ has committed to him. Loyalty was the fi&st request. Nextto loyalty we must .feel .pur repponsibihty. A Christian had only one Commander, so we take our orders from the highest power, and we work together. Take-one part of a machine from another, and all was useless, but in the proper place how necessary. As soldiers of the Empire, comrades in arms, their {--afety depended on each other, each doing his own duty. There was- no better opportunity of showing their Christianity than when they were in camp and field Again, they were not going on their own charge. Christ would look after them. Today they were seeking the safety of the Empire — not their own honour, ease, or success, but the safety of others, — and they would be all the. better soldiers of King Edward by being loyal to Christ. After the hymn ""God of our fathers, at whose call." a verse of the National Anthem was heartily sung. A tent inspection was made during the day by the commanding officer, who expressed himself highly fcatisfied with the cleanliness of the lines. The camp was thrown open to tlie public in the afternoon, and a large number of people made their way out to Forbury to see how the boys were getting on. The Garrison Baud, under Lieutenant George, considera-tely gave their services, and went out to play musical felections for the entertainment of the men and their visitors. Leave was granted in the evening, and thia was largely availed of by those who desired to come into town.

The Maraioa brought down 25 horses on Sunday, which were from Wellington, i»nd a party was sent into town at 8 a.m. to bring them ashore and take them out to the camp. Like those that came in on Thursday morninr. they are a very average lot, and it i.« freely stated that better horso^ could have been bought locally.

Cpptain M'Millan has been temporarily placed in command of the Otago No. 1 SojLiadron^ Lieut enanta Wraj and OxbeJl to

Canterbury No. 1 and Otago^^o. 2 Squadrons respectively. Lieutenant M'Keach "i 3 on leave till to-day.

The preliminary work at the Forbury camp, although being conscientiously carried out, is not yet of absorbing interest to any but those immediately concerned in it. The recruits are taking their course of dismounted drill under the instruction officer with commendable aptitude, and are acquiring a familiarity with sectional and squadron movements that will shortly justify their being called recruits no longer. As the necefsary equipm^it arrives they will be put to mounted work, and taken out on to the Beach, where patrolling and scouting work can be carried out on the Sandhills. But that interesting stage is still some little distance ahead, and meanwhile the men must be .thoroughly grounded in first principles. The course of musketry instruction and practice under Sergeant-major Kean is having good effect, and the men are making inroads into the generous allowance of ammunition from the defence store. Yesterday a great deal of time was occupied in swearing the men in and completing the attestation paper?. Dismounted drill was given to the squadrons t ind riome profitable work put in, the iuual detachment was sent to the nui'.s for shooting practice.