TARANAKI GUARDS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13664, 1 April 1908, Page 13

TARANAKI GUARDS.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of the Taranaki Guards .Rifle Volunteers was held in the orderly room last night. Capt. C T. Millsi presided; There were nearlj forty present. v ANNUAL REPORT. Speaking on the annual report Capt. Mills s«jd the corps had started, the year with a credit balance of about £63 and now had £24 cash in hand. Tho liabilities were .£l3 los, but thesi were considerably • ov«rriddoji by tht assets whiqh wore. j£293. Since the formation of the Company over £700 had been spent on uniforms.' On the motion of Lieut. Beadle and Private Gray the report and balance ihoot Were • adopted. . ADDRESS BY THE CAPTAIN.

The. corps, said Captain Mil^s, wat to be congratulated on the stat^ of ilt iinauces. The shooting of the corps, wag.gapable of great improvement. JMus ,waa a very important master. Although s tbere were several good sho.b. there wej-6 some, who neglected, attendin^f'the range. To be fiffishod soldier, it was absolutely necessary tc team tq shoot There woro men in, the corps who .might make oxQolleu^ shots if they £r»ctised. .'l ho attend-, ances at drill had not been satisfactory. Some attended regwlarjy-jkvhile others, practically made it their business to be away. Tho daylight parades had bee» well attended, the corps always being the strongest unit present. . Attontion would have 'to b1e f paid to rejaruibt*- He emphasised *lio necessity for v s6od teaching -for the young members. Train a man well' and the devil himself • would not shift' Mm*. ' lit lamented the death- of Private Roch. Twelvo months agd| Private Upeh had beon one of tho most pffcmi&ing "of theit poyaX v The management of tho. corps hadbeei practlcdliy tho same as id tho previous year. He regretted the loss of Setgt. Griffiths whose business had demanded his withdrawal. He would like to see other members take up tho. work as Sergt. Griffiths ', had donp. He was an ideal scout and in thut members might follow him. lit Had also made himself proficient iir signalling and the Captain would like to see $is department taken up b> 6thers. There were two or three in fho.corips familiar %yitb. it, but there reaUy should be a signaller with each sqqud. As to the attendances they had often had full strength but sometimes tho attendances had been ridiculously small. It was very disheartening to have jqst the officers and non-commis-si»ned.v«fflcers present. The roll had been well purged and now, only contained^ good attenders. He urged the members to make up their minds to attend. As regarded those who made oi p their minds not'tp atend, the sooner they 'were fired put 'the better. (Applause.) They expected to go to the Easter camp sixty strong. If they did they would be t&e strongest corps in the field., Steps nlust be taken to have the instructional classes held. At thest classes members would get theoretical knowledge which they could, practice in the field. He had to repp*t that His term of office would expire in May next. Then it Would be for the corps to select another leader. However good a m.an might be, ther* were always others tS take, his jtface,, When he had taken office,,, he had, determined n»t to>Jiold> it fop'r taore. than three years. Ji man should not hold office for more. He h*"* ' n *^ his cx * perience and should wish for no more: Just, aftet his appointment ; to the 'Captaincy of the corps he was offered an appointment on the Batallion staft ? but declined it as hb wanted the experience he would get in the position the. corps had elected ,him fa. Probably^ there were no vacancies on the Batallion staff just now but that was his misfortune. .REPORT. ,Colour*gergt. Hartnell reffcrted thst, altlibugh tho Company had not indulged in so much shooting as in the previous yeaj, it could not be said that the' members had in any way beon stinted j» this matter. The Company had been represented in nine matchea. Two had been triangular matches, both o| wbich the corps had lost. The match- oi|' perhaps the greatest impor-.taJMJfe-^qHainly the one in which" most interest frad been taken — was tfie one of twenty men a side against the Wanga,nui Rifles, which was fired at WaliMttui. This match also went against the corps.' It cannot hk Cettied that the Conditions trader whiph tho shooting was done 1 w'ero not .at all favourable to ttjo NMv Plymouth nien. Teams had "Wen sent to Wanganui) Stratford^ Urenui, Tariki, antf Mangorei. Over 2000 rounds of ammunition had been given oui. , The class firing, which unfortunately was lief fc till late the season hka been very saticTactory , * the average p^ing the highest .tKe Company had attamed. Several' prominent shots had been^ost during the seaspn-t—Lieut. Messonge.^, Privates Shorty Bennett, apd SJartain. There was marked" impr'AVettierft in some of the young shots. Sergt. Hill and Priyatje Oliver had attafned soijie success at Trentham. ColSeisgt.' HfertneU had won the <»rp's champion belt. The Taunton Challenge Shield hajfl not been fired for list, year so/it wa»' still held bs Sergt. Oliver.

EJECTION OF OFFICERS.

The following committees and officers Were elected : — General coinnti&be, ColKergt. Hartnell, Sergtd.' Oliver and Lewis, Corporals Green and Berndtson', Privates Hill and Kurta; shooting committee, Col-Sergt. Hartnell. Sergts. Oliver and Evans, Corporals Lobb, Bl^nchard, P. G. McEwen. and Nicholja'j finance committee, Capt. Mills and Private F. J. Hill ; auditor, Private L. Gray ; recruiting committee. Sergts. Evans and, Arnold and Private Dryland; -secretary, Lieut. Boon; social committee, Sergts. Oliver, and Evans.Corporals Lobb and Berndtson^ Privates Dry Und, Gray, Mc<G|o»afile. and Clow, ynt\i power to. add. Officers aro ex ofticio on all committees. COMPANY ORDERS.

Captain Mill* announced the following Company orders of Marcli 21: (1) The following: promotions are mad& as from this 'date subject to candidates passing the prescribed 'examinations within si* months — <a) Corporal W. E. Lewis appointed to the rajik of Sergeant and transferred to No. ftjctftion, taking command, thereof ji) r plpee of Sergt. Griffiths (resigned); Frifrafea H. A^Borndtson and Al R. Green are each appointed to the rank, of corporal, Corporal Berndtson to be* attached to No. 1 section and Corporal Green to No. 2 Beet ion, (2) The following new members are attached to the sections mentioned: — Private W. Gunn to ' No. 3,, Private^. G. Sole to. No. 2, Private. S. Loyeridge to No. 4, Private Robottom to No. 4, Private H. Wood! to No. 1, „ . • March Si. — Sori?t f Evans is app?fint<*<3 Comr>anv Q.M. Sergt. in -place, of Sorgt. Griffiths; resigned. 'The follo.wing new members aro attached to the

seotions mentioned:— Private Bishop to Up, 3, Private Blyjde to No. 2,,Prxvate Shearer to No. 4, anct Private Smith to -No- 3. A LINK T() BIND. Sergt. Evans thougHt there shoulc| I be some provision to keep old members and. the corps in touch. He thought some system of honorary niembershijl should be instituted.^ ' On Set'gt. Evans' motion tho question of admitting ex-mebera to the. corps was referred to the general committee to formulate rules. CAPTAIN,, MILLS' HETJftEMENT. , Lieutenant Boon pointed out that Captain Mills had spoken of retiring. Lieut. Boon thought that the corpq, should make some jeffort 4>o retain Capt Mills. Later on there would he a vacancy on the Batallion staff and he wouhl like to see , Cajpt, Mills receive an appointment qa he, had been a very efficient officer. ; ; , Sergeant Evans endorsed these,, remarks. • , ; «. , Sergeant Hartnell , said that he thought it was the wish. of every meniT ,b"er that Captain Millw Should remain with the corps; It tfould; be ,bad enough to lose him vWien-he v was prof moted;iiQ the Batallion staff,; Then hex would always be helping the corps. The corpj had alw,a^s ' been badly represented oh the staff. Everyone Avould like to teee Captain Mills- renjta.iii with the corps at the very least until there .was a staff vacancy. ' ' ;

Captain 'Mills said /that it was his place 4 to retire and give v s*Maoone, else a chance. (No,, no!) 'However, as tne corps had expressed a, wish in another direction he would consider the matter. APPRISOIA^IONC Captain Mills moyed* that tj\ree;guineas each should *bo votied tp t«« secretary '(Lieut. Boon), i%s r^nge \v>a^den (Gol-Sergt. Hartnell), >jid Qjft. Sergts. Griffiths and Bvans.-rrlCaiTied. A vote of thanks vras' paosed to the secretary. / , %..- „ . •■