Volunteer and Bifle Notes

Southland Times, Issue 19133, 25 August 1903, Page 3

Volunteer and Bifle Notes

•o> By " Vernier." Tho quarterly examination of candidates for commission will be hfcld on Wednesday, 12nd September, at. 10 a.m in InvercargiU, Lieut-Colonel Hawkins Conducting the examination at the local centre as usual. In future, form V-14, '(appointment, and promotion ol" officers) must concontain the following information in addition to that provided for on form, viz, age, christian name in full, and cause of vacancy. An alteration of considerable importance to every volunteer has just been made in the -regulations "governing the issue of free railway passes, and is herewith published lor general information : " Cabinet has decided that in future all railway passes must have the name written in before issuing, and corps when applying for any pass authorised must give name or names ly whom it will he used, or &. pass cannot be granted." Much comraient* arose in Dunedin about a month ago over a member of the Dunedin Highlanders, Private Hogg r ,who refused to pay fines imposed hy his CO. for absence from drill, on tho ground of being back at work and so unable to attend in reason. The case was taken before the court, and discipline upheld to the' amount of £25. This wa* rather rough on Private Uogg, although he should havo known better, and doubtless his military lervour will now have evaporated somewhat. Jf not the latest phase- of the matter will hardly appeal to him, for in general orders of August 19th, under authority of CO. Forces, Private Hogg is dismissed from the Volunteer Force of F.Z. for '" conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline," in that ho refused to pay*' cartain fines ordered by his commanding officer under powers of the Defence Act and volunteer Regulations. Although perhaps no parallel case to the above has occurred in pivercargill, the matter of non-attendance is a perennial source of complaint by those in authority. The vast majority ol volunteers of course, act up to tho spirit of their enlistment, and ho officer would be harsh with anyone doing this part of his duty to the best of his ability, but frequently men join for the novelty of the drill- and- ---uniform,- and. foy.-dclib^ erately stopping away from parades, hot only lose capitation to the corps, but lessen /the -interest of others perhaps, and cause any amount of grumbling. This is the class of man with whom iininjT is the only resource, and. although "•Vernier." would be sorry to make comparisons in the case under notice, it is fairly evident that military heads .in Dunedin regarded' his attitude in no uncertain way. The drill manuals for use by mounted corps, being now out of the printer's hands, are being issued, similarly to infantry corps, in lots of 1G", to be taken on charge by each company. Application has frequently been made in Parliament' regarding free issue of overcoats lo volunteers. Such liberality is hardly expected, and it is very doubtful if the ofler now made by the Defence Department will receive much support. Greatcoats, of khaki cloth, approved pattern, with cape, infantry or mounted, will be supplied on requisition, half cost accompanying order, balance to stand against following year's capitation. The price for infantry coats is 325, and for mounted men 375, and stock sizes from -sft 7in to 6ft 2in, can be obtained. Delivery f.o.b. Wellington. The coats are to remain the property of the company, and may not be disposed of to individual members. Sample coats may bo seen at the various centres, but not at lnvercaegll. The programme of Dunedin annual Boxing Day tournament is to hand, and proves quite up to the standard of former years. The 30 event? comprising same are open to all members of Permanent Forces, active and reserve volunteers, and Defence Cadets, and include' ambulance work, rifle exercises, signalling, bicycle and flat races, tent competition, etc. In all cases the prize money is very satisfactory, and, apart from the honour, should be a big inducement to competitors. This year bayonet exercise is not included in the programme, but two new events fill up this gap; the first reads "bayonet fighting" for two v men; bouts of IJ minute or hit." la case of no hits judge to decide 1 : while the second is in the shape of " squad drill and manoeuvres," open to sections of 12 men with N.CO. in charge • judge to give movements. The" latter "Item; -Tii -iny mtnd, has = been the missing link in previous otherwise well-compiled programmes, and with the. present-day system of: section control should, prove one of tbe most keenly contested events of the day. The Hallensteih Cup which -has previously been awarded to squad receiving highest aggregate points in manual and firing, bayonet and physical drill, is this vear to be competed for under slightly altered conditions, necessary through the elimination of bayonet exercise from the programme, aiid will be nwarded to squad making highest points in physical rifle and firing exercises, practice with service rifle, and squad drill. '"- There is ample time from now to work up a real good squad, and I hope to hear of all the local corps being represented by at least one squad each. The Wellington Non-Corns' Tournament programme is . also to hand, and as usual is a well-compiled and varied list of events. They have in addition to the usual infantry and artillery items made provision for close on a dozen mounted items, which are always interesting and enjoyable. This tournament takes place on New Year's Kay, and a team having the necessary time and capital at their disposal could not do better than follow the Dunedin Tourney by a visit to the Empire City, where they would come in contact with the leading teams of N.Z.. and I feel confident after the excellent name the local boys made for themselves in Dunedin last year, they would quite hold their own. With Thursday night's parade the staff officers completed a thorough inspection of all individual sections of local corps. The procedure was to call out the corresponding section of each corps on the same night and exercise them as one company without officers, which left each sergeant, as commander of his own .little unit The parades, I understand,, as a whole were very fair throughout. This method can. hardly fail to induce section commanders to do their very best .to further strengthen their sections, as well as make themselves thoroughly acquainted with duties, etc. A great deal could be said on the matter of section control, and I hope to present an article on same in future issue. ■ The Battalion Band is at present cpnsidoring ways and meansr of replacing their khaki uniforms with something more striking. With this jmd in view a meeting of members was held last week when the matter was discussed, and several designs and , a sample uniform Were placed before them. It was practically decided to go in for a blue uniform, but the design; trimmings, and liead gear were not finally arranged. Th Patriotic Fund Committee have generously voted the Band £75 towards this expense, in recognition of their valuable services during the sending off and welcoming home Of contingents, and all the other patriotic functions mi which they took part- Khaki has been a great eye-sore for some time past, and 1 uo not think* there will' be -much trouble in convincing. the public that this is a necessary change, although it may be quired to ask them for a little support in raising the balance. ItW> almost a pity the Patriotic Committee have "Ot sufficient funds to donate each corps a hundred pounds towards new uniforms, as they are badly in want of them. The Patriotic Fund Committee have allotted £50 for improvements and lighting of the reserve attached to the Oatrison Hall. This should prove a great benefit to volunteering as, apart from -the hall being very warm in summer, it i^al^pethert^too small '-to carry out any detailed movements, and il lop- ' dre^ssed,*.the. reserve -would .make an I v cßl -pje*rade- j^o-dnd. -