THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Bt Sentht.

The award of the Colonial Auxiliary Forces officer's decoration to Major Barclay has been gazetted. •?*> - j - >-" * Captain Loasby, formerly of the Caver- , sham Rifles, has been transferred from the Chrietchurch City Rifles to the Active List (unattached) with his present rank. ' t The transfer of Captain Souness, of, /the Kaitangata Rifles, to the Active List (unattached),, with the rank of captain, has been approved. The entries received at the local Defence Office for the Sargood Cup competition are as follow : — Dunedin N avals, Dunedin Engineers, Orepuki Rifles, end all com- , panics of No. 1 Battalion O.R.V. The . City Guards will fire on December 16, the i Green Island Rifles on December 18, and ] the Dunedin Navals on December 20. ' ] The Dunedin Field Hospital and Bearer Corps will go into camp at the barracks ' about the third week of January. I Entries for the Otago Rifle Association's forthcoming meeting are now reaching" the ' secretary, and a large field is expected. It. has been decided to use scoring boards at the meeting this year. j

The first meeting of the class for non- ' corns, of No. 1 Battalion O.R.V. brought together at the Garrison Hall 18 non-coms. ' The muster represented but a small proportion of the non-commissioned officers of the battalion, but it is hoped that upon succeedlrifc nights this number will be greatly increased. On the opening night recruit drill occupied most of the time. "Staff Sergeant-maior Bishop p;ave instruction from 7.30 p.m. to 8.15 p".m., j and hereafter Ihe members of the class j will "be divided up into small squads and set to drilling each other. j In connection with the North Otago j Rifle Association's meeting the secretary \ advises me that the pull* of- the -trigger,; (minimum) has been reduced from 61b to , * 51b. This, .of course, will now be the same aa Trentbam. Only those alteration* to the Trentham regulations which have already been published to tal^e effect at | the next New Zealand meting will be put i into effect at the- meeting. The email j target -will be:— Size. 4x4, with bull's-ey* 6in diameter (no other black outside this), , inner 15in, magpie 24in. Micrometer •■ slide wind gauges will not be permitted. ] Practice shots, four for Is, will again be ; obtainable a* the meeting. The new , Government sliding wind-gauge "will, however, be allowed. } The annual competition amongst the local defence Cadets for the trophy prelentad by No. 1 Battalion O.R.V. took place at Pelichet Bay on the 30th ult., four teams firing. Eight -members of the Wakari Cadets turned up at the range, but did not compete. The shooting resulted as follows:— No. 2 Company High School' Cadets. 690; Dunedin Engineer Cadets, 639; No. 1 Company High School Cadets, MBj N«. 3 Company High School Cadets,

•483. The shooting thi6 year showed an improvement upon that of last year. The winning score- last year was that of the Engineer Cadets, who put on 640. The No. 2 Company High School Cadets have ■shown an advance upon that standard, registering the very creditable score of 690.

The programme for the Trentham meeting is Being inquired for. It is suggested that it is being delayed to permit of the' embodiment of whatever useful hints may have been acquired by the members o f Ac team which took part in the New South. Wales,' meeting a^ B4ndiraek.j, r . : . . , 7 ? I It is rumoured in Christchurch that the Government intends to grant annually to each efficient Volunteer a pass entitling | him to a fortnight's free travelling on the railways. I baye it upon the best rity that there is no intention upon the part of the Defence Council to take any steps in • this direction. . j It , has been suggested to the Defence Council that the Defence Regulations should j be amended to provide for the enrolment ] of naval Volunteers as an auxiliary force for service afloat. The romance of sea fighting has a great attraction for young men, and there would no doubt be many who would join such a force. The popularity of the naval aspect of service is apparent in the healthy condition of the various garrison artillery corps who were formerly naval Volunteers, and who still preserve the naval uniform. The proposal is nude in the course of a letter forwarded to the Minister of Defence by Mr C. E. Archibald, formerly officer commanding* the Wellington Navals, and Captain C. P. Murdoch, of the Auckland Navals. ' Details of proposed training are set out, and it is stated that it might be possible, when H.M. ships are in port, to obtain the services of navy men as instructors t>to tern. Messrs Archibald and Murdoch think that arrangements could be made with the Admiralty to take men belonging to such corps to sea occasionally, thus giving them a taste of the practical work am carried on' in the deep water. As a substitute for thi6, should it be found impracticable, it is suggested that during the visits of the Amokura to the various ports, the boys might be "sent ashore for exercise and training, and the men of the corps sent, to the ship in their stead. The writers of the letter beg that the Minister and the Council of Defence will put the matter before the Admiral commanding the \ station.

Whilst the Canterbury Mounted Rifles were encamped at Burwood recently it was observed that a party of civilians, armed with -sporting rifles, and preceded by a man on a bicycle, who was apparently acting as a scout, was approaching the camp, evidently intending to take the Volunteers by surprise. Captain M'Gartney, the officer in charge of the camp, at once detailed 15 men, under Lieutenant Nicholls, to surround and capture the attackers, and after half an hour's careful «talkinjr seven prisoners, seven rifles, and one bicvclc were taken back to the camp as th<> spoils of war. The prisoners were searched and then

handed over to the guard, who kept strict watch over them, and on Saturday morning the conquered detachment was paraded, and after being marched to the officers' tents wae escorted to the gate at the point of the bayonet, the guard presenting arms as the prisoners stepped through the gate and regained .their freedom.

It is understood that Sir Charles Ross, the inventor of the Ross rifle, has for some years been experimenting with a new bullet "which will fly straighter than those now in ■use, and . with igreater velocity. He ha« been enabled .-to carry' the scheme of the subject a step further by securing a, 2,900 feet velocity with a cartridge that will not wear the rifle out quickly. Two years ago he succeeded in getting up to 2700 feet and over, and successful trials have since been made with the bullet in Europe and India. It is now being largely manufactured in Canada, and also for sporting rifles. "Various Powers are testing the cartridge, and at 1000 yards' range 53 degrees less elevation are required than with the British service arm.

The deputation sent to Switzerland by the National Service League have returned divided in their opinions as to the adaptability or otherwise of the Swiss military system to the needs of Groat Britain. Some are inclined to favour the belief of the National Service League that the system is the one thing that we require as being most suitable to our circumstances, while there hold to quite the contrary view. But in justice to the league, let it be said that although they are obsessed with the potentialities of the Swiss system, they do not actually aim at a slavish imitation of it, but would take it as a basis to work upon, making such f alterations and deviations as . would aopear necessary to meet the differences of environment. Tha one great error | into which the league has fallen ie that, whereas the principle of national service has been enarrafted on the little Swiss Re- ! public by the cult of patriotism, it is proposed to- impose it on fhe pconle of this country by methods of compulsion, the exponents of the league's doctrines maintaining that unless compulsion is resorted to there is not sufficient patriotism among the people to oroduce the required number of men. — United Service Gazette.