THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Br Sentry. In all probability payment will be made ' lo all Volunteers who attend the Easter . r «.noeuvres this year, irrespective of the of company strength attending. ifave Otago companies competed for the *sargood Cup before the close of December •3? ™ ? liies a^ ain head th€ list for' Otago Vitn 79.3, which ie short of their score of 83.4 the preceding year, but is creditable in : yiew of the fact that the range has been increased from bOOyds to 600 yds. *Next in r «»? r como Kaifcangata Rifles, With 60.3; Dunedin Navals, 55.5; Dunedin *fJ Gu f D rQS > 3 16 - and Dunedin Highland itifles, 49. The Guards and Navals fired ' 1 , very dlffi «ult weather conditions, and the latter, through changing their night of «nng, had to replace two of their best IK M W i fci L- men .°^ a leß^ r calibre. The jgighland Rifles bad a good night, but were Jro men short, in addition to which or»e *ian failea to complete his firing. Results from other parte of the Dominion are not yet available. Blenheim Rifles won the cup on the previous occasion with 90.6, Orepuki amnnmg up with 83.4. F Those interested in Barker's night-march-ing compass may see a sample at the Dittrict Headquarters Office. ' i. No J th .P,< in «din Rifles are beginning to be fceard of m the ordinary round of military life. At the Otago Rifle Association's me«t- --; Mig they maintained the reputation of the company for shooting by winning the teems' match from 10 other competitors, and pro- - Tiding the second (Private Miller) and third (bergeant Bradley) men in rhe aggregate ; A speaker who him&slf has a keen appreciation of the humorous, perpetrated an , «*quisito Malapropism at the Garrison and . Pipe Bands smoke social He meant to Jell his audience of the inspiriting and enlivening effect of the Garrison Band's music ' m ?- ha^ he did teU his audience was JnS •? arrJ »on Band's music provided the rift m the lute " at the camp ! A feature of the Otago Regatta at Port ■ Chalmers is the submarine explosion, en- - «ineered by a section of the Dunedin sap- - pers. The poverty of the explosion this year was the talk of all who witnessed it. Ine cause of the failure has not been made . *nown, but is here set down. Lieutenant .Veitch in charge of the section of the Dunj edm ±mgineera who undertook the explo- ■ 2" on thls year> secwred a definite promiee trom the executive to the effect that a suitable craft would be provided for the sacri- : fie*. On arriving at Port Ohalmers, after ' : fome delay, it was found that a rough-and- \. ready, flimsy structure, with a leaky barrel * to assist it to float, was all that had been t provided. Making the best of a bad job, , I he proceeded to attach his charge so that it £. would be in .position about sft below the t raft — the distance necessary to ensure a I (spectacular upheaval. Upon paying out his ■ jU-ne the flimsy structure sank so that it was to know exactly where it was located, and the effect of the explosion with the charge at the bottom of the sea was disappointing to the large number of speotatore, and more so to Lieutenant Verteh and t his section, who, at their own expense, had V gone to Port Chalmers to engineer the explosion, and whose was the mortification of t knowing that the blame for the poor effect . would be popularly placed upon them, : "whereas the failure was due to the mismanagement of the Regatta Committee. The Officer Commanding the District will ', inspect the following corps, as under: — .. January 16, Ist Railway Pioneers ; 19, "B " ; Battery; 22, Kelso Mounted Rifles; B*, ' Wal-atipu Mounted Rifles; 25, Alexandra S. 1 Rifles, 7 p.m. ; 26. Maniototo Mounted Riflee; February 2, Clutha Mounted Rifles; Z, Murihiku Mounted Rifles; 10, 3rd Bafc- - ialion Otajo Defence Cadets, 4 p.m. ; 11, ■ 3i-d Ba*ta?ioa O.R.V. (except Alexandra), 2.30 p.m. ; 16, 2nd Battalion Otago Defence Oadets; 17, 2nd Battalion Otago Rifle ' [Volunteers. * The resignation is just announced of a f ■»err smart London officer, Oapta-in R. P. j 1 ~ Bavies, who was the Gold Medalist and c King's Prize, winner at the Bieley meeting ' £ threo years ago. H© is an old Marlborougn J * College Boy, and served in the Boer war 2 attached to the 2nd Battalion of the 60th ' * Rifles. He is honorary captain in the j army, haying reached that Tank at the age of 23, while still a subaltern in the Volun- . 'teers. He has also been captain, in the Victoria and St. Gec-Tge's Rifle Volunteers Mid the 9th Battalion County of London (Queen Victoria's) Regiment. The question of providing the funds for ±hs despatch next May of an Australian Srifl? team to Bisley will shortly have to be iiefmitely decided. The Commonwealth Government has placed only half of the $2000 ftecessary on the Estimates. The trouble to raise the extra money tho lest time a jfceam was Kent to England is likely to cause the same difficulty again, and the Victorian Association decided that the full amount should be provided by the Government ' The Pr^mo Minister suggested that a shilling subscription from 20.000 riflemen would ireis© the other £1000 ; but this, considering iho result of the previous attempt, does not tnec-t with approval. The S&w South HATales, Association is anxious to secure a ssritL>h team at its matches next October, fend, although it lias bsen .-tatcd that EngB&nd will not e&ad men out, the association slopes thai by a team going from Australia fit 'Jvould secure a return vl6it. A Sydney writer staiee that Canada may Shave its Ross rifle, but New South Wales lias a movable wind gauge that it is diffi- J iult to b2at. Sergeant D. M'CaJley, of _^sxiaey, tlie inven-lor of the M'Calley wind |

gauge and elevator, informs him that h< has sen* over 600 of his patent sights tc Canada. These have all been sold, and be has orders on band for more. South Africa is taking supplies, ami H&w Zealand hat I recently approved of their use at all rifle ' meetings. In England hundreds have been sold, so that this particular sight is achieving something like a world-wide reputation among riflemen. An extraordinary invention is said to be at present engaging the attention of the military authorities, and it is believed it will cause a complete revolution in our present system of searchlights. The invention is saad to consist of a portable- searchlight apparatus of such power and ligihtness that a beam of 600,000 oaawJle-power can be developed with an outfit weighing no more than 351 b. The wonderful thing about it is that there is no electricity in this contrivance, the principle involved being one of a combination of two gases, which, acting upon a new metallic pencil, produce by combustion a light of extreme brilliancy. It is claimed for the light displayed that it is so powerful that it can be used for heliogiraphing over long distances by daylight, when there is no sun. By night it is said to have an effective range of over 30 miles. The German aaid Greek Governments are reported to have already ordered a large number of outfits; wJiile the British and TJ.nited States military authorities are now carrying cut a series of experiments with it. The United States Navy Department has called for tenders for four aeroplanes. The first to be delivered within five months after the contract ie closed. The other three must be supplied within eight months. The minimum speed requirement is 40 miles an hour, with a carrying capacity of one operator and one observer. The machine is to be capable of a four-hour" flight. It must carry fuel at the start for a flight of 200 miles. The navy specification differs from the requirement for fehe army aeroplane in that it must have a supporting device to allow it to alight on the water, and must be capable of starting off th« surface of the water without any auxiliary starting device ; the supporting surface must be such as to keep the flying machine from being wet on alighting. The Navy Department has made the specifications a« broad as possible so ac to give anyone who has a practicable heavier-than-air machine a chance to bid It in not known who are likely to compete for the contract, but it is thought that there will be offers from three or four responsible bidders, beside hundreds of irresponsible ones such as wer« attracted by the War Department's advertisements about a year ago. The machines are to bo delivered at Annapolis, and a month will be allowed after delivery f or the builder's trials before the official test is made. Encouraged by the pronounced success of theur recent lan,g-distanee signalling venture, the Dunedin Engineers propose to attempt a. eimifeir feat on January 30. Attracted by the account of the previous experiment, the lightk-eper at the Nuggete, wno has had experience of signalling in the Imperial Army, lias • offered to assist m experiments if the company will send him hehographing apparatus. He estimates the distance from the Nusggete to Ditnedm as about 40 miles. It is pros'*** I ™'? ta £ e advantage of his offer. On the 30th the telegraph section will be engaged with the B Battery at Hampden, and it is proposed to occupy the ■engineering section the same day in the building of a bridge over the Leith above the George Street Bridge.