THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

3y Sentbt. The resignation of Surgeon-major R. V. Fulton, M.8., New Zealand Medical Corps, bae been accepted. - The award of the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long-eervice Medal to Captain G. 3D. Ross {Dunedin Engineers) is gazetted. 'The armourer will be in Dunedin to inspect arms from September 7 to October 2. The Canterbury Engineers have ventured apon the publication of a. small monthly journal, which they designate The Sapper. Besides dealing with the history and the present work of the corps, The Sapper ■will refer to the traditions of the engineering branch of the service, and will outline the story of how each man member of that branch who is on the V.C. list ■jron his cross. The first number contains a short account of the career of Lord Kitoh«ner of Khartoum, who reoeived his training in the Royal Engineers. Under the heading "The Corps at Work," mention is made o£ events of the moment, and In a short but instructive article the story da told of how Lieutenant Lennox, R.E., i»ron the V.C. at th© siege of Sebastopol. The Garrison Band is organising- an fcesault-ai-arms, to take place in the Garirison Hall, probably about the end of next month. It is proposed to include in tfie programme competitions in manual 4nd €ayonet exercises for Volunteer teams, land a competition in physical drill for Defence Cadets. The officers commanding _je various unito have been notified to this fcffeofc, and entries are now coming in freely. The Garrison Band has b^righttened and enhanced the interest of so njany Vojxm*eer that a r«nm on jte jMfjg aooojirjt commands the generous a&q practical 'interes£ of every company in, the district, in addition to which it %s bmlt pp a heavy claim upon the sympathy and

assistance of the general public. I bespeak for the aeeault-at-arms a healthy and spontaneous support. Visitors to the Garrison Hall on Wednesday evenings find the B Battery busy at what has been previously referred to as bivotiao practice. The men enter with great spirit into these competitions, which are interesting and exhilarating for both the Volunteers and tfie onlookers. Captain Ritchie 'tells me that the way in wbioh, Tshe numbers have heen maintained during th© winter leads him. to expect that this year the battery will be stronger numerically than during the previous year. Daylight .parades will be taken up again presently. Captain Richardson will be in Dunedin in Sepetmber' for his annual inspection of the artillery. In connection with certain references to irregularities in the matter of carrying out class-firing-, it is to be noted that a stricter oversight is in future to be insisted upon. An officer is invariably to be present during class-firing. The register rnusj; be completed (in ink) and signed by him before leaving^ the range, and he will be held responsible For the accuracy of its contents. Whenever possible, a staff-sergeant-major is to be present to assist. Lieutenant Duigan, R.N.Z.E., the engineer instructor, has during his stay in Dunedin. been going fully into tho ■work of the Engineers here. He gave a lecture on " Communications in the Field " to the company and the Railway Pioneers, and specially emphasised tho importance of the work of signalling and telegraph sections, showing how, i| messages are not sent in promptly and ooyreofely, tbe commander of a force" must work blindfolded--Th,e opening stage of the. football tournament organised by the Non-commissioned Officers' Club has proved a huge success. 411 the teams en^ejed turned up to gpmpete, and the scores show, in ftlffiOofc every

ease that the matches wej-e closely contested. The popular fancy as tns first winner of the banner is the Port Chalmers Navals, with the B Battery close up. The Port Navals found the Highland Rifles no light task on Saturday. Had Lieutenant White not injured himself in a practice match tho Port boys would have had their task added to. The second round will be played at Forbury on Septembej: 5The semi-final will be played at Tahuna Park on September 12, ana the final on the Caledonian Ground on September 19. Th,e games are to be started promptly tp time, and before play is started each team jnxxet hand a complete Hat of the actual players, certified to by an officer to show tha>t eech player is a bona fide member ot the company he is representing. The following is the draw, with number of ground and referee for each match: — No. 2 ground, Pioneers v. Clutha, Mr J. Dey ; No. 3 ground, Highlanders v. Hussars, Mr D. Cairney; No. 4- ground', Guards v. Green Island, Mr G-. P. Smith; No. 5 ground, Engineers v. Wakari, Mr W. Shelt<sn ; No. 6 ground, Port Navals v. Dunedin Navals, Mr N. Lawrie; B Battery a bye. The Hussars, having drawp a. bye the previous Saturday, will meet, the B Battery on the 29th on the Caledonian Ground. The match will be played aa a curtainraiser to the Otago v. Southland match. The Dunedin N.C.O.'s Club held its weekly meeting on Friday, 14-th inst.' in its club foom, the attraction for the evening, " Exhibition of Fencing- by the French Expert, Monsieur de CLeene. and Pupil 6 ?" proving a great draw. Previous to giving thf» exhibition, the fencing master, in his quaint and humorous style, gave an interesting account of the different weapons used in different countries, together with the various styles adopted with each, Touching upon duelling, he pointed out : that the duolli-t's object was rarely to kill an opponent. The usual purpose was to disable him 2 henqe the popujarity of the

straight weapon. A splendid exposition of tbe art of fencing was then given, Monsieur de Cleen© and one of his best pupils (Mr Shepherd) treating the members to a brilliant display with the foils. The ease, and rapidity with which the thrusts were guarded proved an eye-opener to the members. A vote of thanks to tbe performers was carried by acclamation. As tihe outcome of this exhibition it is probable that a fencing class wiU be formed under the auspices of the N.C.O.'s Club, a large number of members having signified their willingness to join su<#i a class. The club, which appears to have taken a new lease of life, is certainly to be congyatuloted in upholding its earliest traditions, promoting sociability among th© N.C.O.'s o.f the different companies and at the same time furthering the objects of Volunteering generally. The tootba-H tourna.me.nt inaugurated by the club this year, for instance, has, 4fc-ia claimed j>y the promoters, given a welcome impetus to Volunbeerin-g. Every N.C.O, in the district Should regard it as an honour to belong to the club. A pretty good hint (writes a London contemporary) has been given that stronger measures will be introduced next year i$ the event of the failure of the territorial army scheme. Doubtless the intention is to put the Ballot Act in operation, in this contingency ; but it is quite possible a. mild form of compulsory service mjghfc be introduced, for there is a deojd«d tendency ig thjs direction at headquartersThe country w'buld not care for any kjnd qt enforced service"; but it js tolerably certain that if the present plan faojs to secure the- force necessary for defence, plronger legislation will be introduced to bring about the desired result. Th© man in the street must bear in mind the fact that, if conscription is to be staved off, some sacrifice must be made, not only by the man who is willing to soldier, but by all.

"Quite- 50 par cent, of the men in the navy are more or Jess deaf." says a- writer in the Naval Warrant Officers' Journal, who attibutes it to t the disturbance of th© air by the discharge of modern ordnance. He points out that the "ring," which is-so disturbing to the ears, varies considerably under different conditions." 'Thus the disturbance from the discharge of one of tho Dreadnought's 12in guns is muchness than" that from a 3-p<yunder, because the crew of a gun is stationed at the breech end, and, the distance between the breech and the muzzle of a 3-pounder is nine times less than that of a 12in, and, while the men working a big g-un are isolated in a barbette, the crew of the small gun are nearly always exposed. A gun held in a fixed position has a 'much sfiarper "ring" than one that is allowed to recoil, as the effect on the surrounding atmosphere is distributed over a greater area with a recoiling gun. The nature of the structure en which the mounting is secured also plays an important part. No ill-effects follow from the discharge of a gun mounted on shore on a solid foundation, but the result is bad when the gun is mounted on a steel deck, and is ten times worse when, mounted between two hollow steel decks. The propellents of modern guns, with, their great velocity, are more disastrous to the ears than the guns of a shortf periodago. Again, the position of the man with. ' regard to the gun muzzle mokes a' great difference, because on it depends whether the ears are to be affected by the concussion of th© air as affecting sound, or whether one also gets the effect of the blast. Finally, the constant gun practice • of modern days causes a severe strain on the ears of naval men. As remedies, tho writer suggests that a. piece of indiarubber should be held between th© teeth in order to keep the mouth open, and that a day fibre plug should be placed in the ear. Lord Kitchener of JHiartoum has reached his fifty-eighth birthday. He has been Commander-in-Chief in India since 1902, and passed 17 years of his life in. Egypt. During that time ihe took part, three times, as commander, in six campaigns in the Nil© Valley arid Soudan, from the expedition for the relief of Gordon to the smashing of the Khalifa at Omduxman. During the last year and a-half of the war in South Africa he was Obmnnander-m-Onief of the British forces in the Bub-contmen-t. For his services north, and south he wears four medals, 14- clasps, and a bronze star, and his many decora,tions include the muoli. prized Order of Merit.