THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

v-Bt/Sbntbt.

There is. in; the air .alproposal to form , a Volunteer ;*cbrp6_ in -connection with the local T.M.C.Ai.,r The- proposal has every thing to command it. ; -The membership of the Y.M.O.X\ covers" a large body of j fine healthy- -manhood, x some of which is ' already included, in -the various corps, but ' much of which is outside of the defence • forces. A corps" formed of such young ' men would-be a valuable adjunct, and would help ;tihe tone of Volunteering a good deal. Not that the stamp of men -in the V.M.C.A.. is any i higher than that of a very large > proportion- of those at the present time i doing their duty _in the forces, but that the j estimation, in which' the uninformed general ' public holds Volunteering would be en- J 'Lanced considerably by the knowledge that the V.M.C.A. manhood was taking up tfcte' | duty of defence. # ■ ' TJpon the; .same topic, I learn ..from Mr Slinger, who -has the matter . in hand, that | a_ meeting" of those cqneerfled- in the ,forma- j tion of the proposed new 1 mounted infantry j corps in Dunedin wilPprobably be called khis week to iiscuss the matter. So far, Jie says, the names of about 30 pros- ■ peotive soldiers are in hand. In -future the art of bayonet fighting is ' to receive attention amongst the forces of the Dominion. Staff sergeant-majors are to give instruction in bayonet fighting, as far as can be carried out with the ser■vic"© rifle. ' Private ' Henry Watt, of the Green Island Rifles, died on the 4tb inst. after an illness lasting only four days. The company paraded in full force on Sunday and accorded the remains a military funeral. The deceased was very popular, and the funeral procession was one of the largest sver seen in the district. The Otago Rifle Association's annual shooting meeting is increasing in popularity. This year's was, in point of numbers^ •of those taking' part the mosi successful held for many years. The number of com- | petiton was 122, as against 111, 94, and 67 rpspectivejy for the three years preceding. The weather, although' dry and pleasant snough for holiday-makers, was execrable for shooting, .as is evidenced by the fact that only five possibles were registered throughout the meeting. -The prize-money [which will be paid out this evening) was well distributed, 100 competitors taking prizes. In our report of the meeting .the remarks of Jjieut. -colonel E. R. Smith were 'inadvertently credited to Lieut.-, colonel Smyth, O.C: District. In the '" aggregates, too?' a -prize of £2 was by mistake attached to the, -first prize, which was only a trophy. ' ' , "■ The shooting of the six men from Kaitangata is"" deserving of special mention. Besides winning the Teams Match (£4 10s) by 64 points, they carried off prize-money to the value of £17 18s. Four of them were in the aggregate and a, fifth only one

point behind. They have done honour to their district. » Corporal Munro (Murihiku Mounted - Rifles), who won the championship this year, was fifth last year with the score of 241. This year his score was 242, which was a tie .with Private Dippie, but Munro won, as he had the best scores at the longest range in each match. Private Dippie, who put on the fine score of 99 in the Interprovinoial Match, had a miss in the laet shoot at 700 yds, and this lost him the championship. Particulars of the moneys won by the various companies are appended, the numbpr of ni"n from the dorp 6 being attached in parentheses : — • « Kaitsmgata, Siflers (8) £17 18 0 (and £4 10s for first in Teams Match) Dunedin Engineers (5) .. .. 11 9 8 j (and £2 14s for second in ' j Teams Match) ! North Duntdin Rifles (5) 10 7 0-| Murihiku Mounted Rifles (5) .. 815 0 (and £1 16s for third in j

The meeting has an especial interest from ' the fact that a triangular interprovincial i match was got off between Otago, Canterbury, and Southland. It is proposed to make this a feature of the meeting each year. A return match against Southlan^^

will be firfed at Invercargill, possibly next month or in March. Lieutenant Timbrell intimated that Canterbury would Be willing to receive an Otago team if the trip could ' be managed, but that is perhaps less likely. ! In the course! of Lieutenant-colonel ' remarks made on the Pelichet ; Bay range at the close of the O.R.A. j meeting he dwelt on the utility of rifle j associations, and •expressed the opinion j that they were giving good results in training -young shots, and more than justified the Government grants. H,e urged upon captains and non-commissioned officers the decidability of inducing their recruits to attend these meetings, a 6 the keenness of the competition and the emulation which they engendered were more valuable than a full season's shooting in company matches. The Volunteer who could keep i all his shots on the target at 600 or 700 j yavds was distinctly a more valuable mcmi ber of the community than the footballer i who kicked a goal every Saturday. He } instanced the case of a well-known athlete, who maintained that because he was a good shot with a gun he did not need further training/ He was, • however, induced by some of his comrades in the Dunedin Engineers to join that corps, and on his first appearance on the rifle range was taken in hand by the sergeant-major. The sergeant tried him with seven shots at 500 yards. As they '< were all misses he tried him at 200 yards, but with the, same, reteult. The sergeant in despair ordered him to the -position of " Attention ! ' Fix sword ! Charge tjje target ! It's yer only chanst ! The anecdote was perhaps meant to illustrate the need for every young man learning at least the rudiments of rifle shooting — at anyrate the recruit in question has taken his lesson in gooA part, and is now busy learning something about trajectories, elevation, wind allowance,, effect of light, and the other little etceteras of rifle shooting. ! The Dunedin Highland Rifles sent a team to Timaru *at Christmas time and sustained defeat by 56 points. In view of the fact that the' Dunedin team arrived at Timaru at 5 a.m. and commenced the match at 8.30 a.m., the result is not surprising. The trip was, however, very , enjoyable, and the smoke ooncert given by, t>,e Timaru City Rifles was a first-class en'teitainment. ' It is gratifying to be able to record the following little incident in conneotion with, the visit of the Dunedin Highland Rifles' team to Timaru. The team travelled by -the midnight train.' Near the end of the journey an old" gentleman expressed a desire to say a few words. He said that he wished to express his pleasure at travelling with Volunteers who conducted themselves in such an orderly and sociable manner. This is as it should -be. ' 1 Sergeant^ Cook, formerly o£ the Dunediu , City Rifles, has been elected junior lieutenant in the Awarua Rifles. A Southland paper says of the election: — "Sergeant " Cook has served 10 months with the Awarua His previous experience was gained

in seven years' experience as a private and as a non-com, in the Dunedin City Rifles under that .particularly smart officer Captain M'Ara. It may be- mentioned that Colonel Davies, Inspector-general,, during his last inspection in. lirVercargril}, we.nt out of hi§._way to take fepecial notice of Serjeant Cook, and he then expressed the opinion, that Mr Cook was one of the best nonoome. he ha"d seen, at work." Under a new Regulation, 418 a* badges "M" in red, distinguished "M" in gold, and personal payment of £1 each will be granted to the eight best non-commissioned officers and men in eaoh regiment and battalion who qualify for such for efficiency in the use of machine guijs. The qualifications and subject of examination will appear in the amended regulations. Every now and then members of the defence forces have impressed upon them the desirability of upholding the dignity of the Volunteers by correct soldierly bearing and the wearing of uniforms in accordance with regulations. There is need -for this reiteration. During the holding of the O.R.A.'s recent meeting it wss not uncommon to see in the evening hybrids — half volunteer, half \civilian. The ideal soldier would never be found in that state. Volunteers should note that the clause requiring the fining of ,officers £5 and Volunteers £1 for failing, without reasonable excuse, to appear at the annual inspection parade of the Inspector-general is now Incorporated in. "The Defence Act, 1907." At one time it was t, question of may" fine. * liater a regulation was framed providing for " must " fine, and this regulation has now been included in the Defence Act. - - _^ "When uncertain- of the range at ranges from ' 1000 yards ' upwards, in order to cave time, instead of giving eaoh section a. range the following procedure will beadopted: — If a captain estimates the distance of a target at (say) 1600 yards, he should give the word 'mean range 1500,' upon which Nol* 3 section fires a,t that range, No. * at 100 yards over it, No. 2 at 100 yards under it, and No. 1 at 200 wards under it. This should be frequently practiced." — Extract from District Order, No. 215. A -new clothing scheme for Imperial soldiers will be brought into operation on April 1 next, but only as an experimental measure, as the change is of too sweeping a nature to be accepted on faith 1 , without first giving it the benefit of a fair' and exhaustive trial. Briefly stated, it amount* to this, that instead of the State renewing the soldier's clothing as has- been customary heretofore, the soldier will in future be credited with the cash value of any uniform he may become entitled -to, and out of this money* he wilji be expected — nay, compelled— to clothejhimself. Every recruit will get a fair start, being supplied in the first instance with a free outfit, to be there- j after kept up out of the funds supplied j Jko him for that purpose. It will certainly prove a great incentive to the soldier. to take better care of his clothing than he I does at present. j

The members comprising the team from the Dunedin 'Engineers which fired at the Otago Rifle Association meeting- are to be congratulated on tlje pood scores put up. Although three of those firing were " tyros "-^ they secured second place in the teams' match.

The individual winners of prizes of £2 .Os and over are as follow : — Corp. Hunro {Murihiku Mounted Rifles) .., £4 10 0 (ana Trophy,^s) ,Priv. Dippi© (North Dunedin Rifles) ■ 6 6 0 Sapper Parker (Dunedin Engineers) 5 18 3 Srgt. M'Donald (Dunedin Rifles) 4 7 0 Col.-srgt. Bryca (Kaitangata Riflts) 3 15 0 Priv. Smith (Kaitangata Rifles) 316 0 Srgt. Smaill (Kaitangata Rifles) 312 0 Priv. Duncan (Kaitangata Rifles) 3 6 0 Trooper P. Ayaon (Murihilcu Mounted Rifles) 3 5 0 Corp. Windus (Waikari Rifles).. 212 3 Qms-srgt Facer (Port Chalmers Navals) .. ..' 210 0 Captain Wain (Studholme Mounted Sißes) . . .... 210 0 Srgt. Bradley (North Dunedin Rifles) A . . alO t Corp. Cowie (Otago Hussars) . 2 10 0 Priv. Anderson (Kaitangata Rifles) 2 10 0

Junedin Rifles (3) Jreen Island Rifles (5) . ., .. )unedin City- Guards (5) )unedin Eifle Club (9) „-. . *ort Chalmers Navals (5> . tt, Vakari Rifles (4) .. .". Junedin' Highla-Jj? Rifles (5) . )tago Hussars (3) Jouthland Mounted Rifles (5) .. fcmuka Rifles (3) >amaru (6) • ,„ . ?almerston Rifles (2), „ .. Junedin N avals (5) )reti Rifles (5) Itudholme Mounted Rifles (8) . . 'aversbam Rifles (2) .... -ima.ru (3) ..- 7 5 3 6 9 9 6 7 3 6 5 0 8 4 9 6 16 3 5 4 3 6 2 0 5 0 0 4 3 0 3 15 0 3 12 0 3 11 0 3 7 0 2 18 0 2 0 0 1 12 0