SOUTHLAND NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 17

SOUTHLAND NOTES.

My Southland correspondent writes as follows on May 9 : —

A commendable step towards general efficiency wps made on Monday, when a representative gathering ol met and formed what is now to b& known as No. 2 Battalion O.R.V. Noncommissioned Officers' Debating Club. B.S.M. Lennie was elected president, with Sergeant Kelly. 1.C.G., as secretary. The membership will be honorary, and privates will be welcomed to all lectures and discussions. In this connection Colonel Robin will be approached for a eericß of lectures during the winter months. For the remaining evenings it is the idea of the committee to choose subjects of a debatable nature, sides to be fixed, and one man's knowledge pjtted against another's. It i& to be hoped that tho club will receive th© support the promoters deserve.

Something of a practical nature and i.ofc without some attraction as a masterpieceof engineering art strikes the eye of the visitor to the Garrison Hall. This piece, of mechanism consists of two sets of model targets for the use of companies with tho Morris tube, one set being arranged on the disappearing-target and the other the running-man principle. To StafF-«»rgeant-Majors Grant and Thomson must be given tht credit for this ingenious contrivance. Lieutenant-colonel Henderson, V.D., f ( r many years connected through many ranks with Volunteering in the district of Otago, has, owing to the heavy pressure of business sent in his resignation as commander of No. 2 Battalion O.R.V. This step will be a matter for regret throughout the battalion, as the O.C. was perhaps the most popular man in that body. His association with Volunteering goes back somo 25 years, b^s first corps being the X Battery, located at th-e Bluff. He was transferred to the Bluff Navals; thence: to the Awaruae. His appointment as adjutant to No. 2 Battalion was but a step to further promotion. His attention and support to Volunteering Fas earned for him high commendation. The City Guards paraded last Monday evening for Government inspection, with Captain Flan-s in command, and a rank and file of 32 After inspection the company was handed over to the different^ noncoins, for instruction and company drill. On Tuesday evening the Oreti Rifles held their annual meeting and smoke concert at Raeside's Rooms; present — Captain Lennie, Lieutenant Roach, and 43 men. The report and balance sheet were read and adopted. "Very satisfactory, indeed," is the only comment that can be applied (o the balance sheet. _ The actual cash balance as it now lies in the bank is £253 l£i, -while the liabilities are nil. The O.C, referring to the absence of a statement of assets and liabilities, mentioned that the company was -north nbout £10 a member. The Shooting Committee's report was an item of several sheets, faithfully lecording the events under that heading occurring during the year. Several committees were appointed, after which the meeting adjourned for harmony and the lighter side of thiaiigs. Fifty-nine men capitated for the year just ended, and in the history of the corps there hae never been such an eminently pleasing state of affaire, financially as in other respects, ac is disclosed at the end of the season just completed. Battalion Sergeant-major Lennie was unanimously elected to the junior lieutenancy. Lieutenant Lennie's connection with Volunteering dates back some 12veare,

during which timelhfe'* interest in and devotion to the Oreti Rifles has never ehowoi s'gns of abatement. 'He is to be congratulated upon his promotion, and tho Oretie upon obtaining a .really live »;id capable officer.