VOLUNTEER INSPECTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5171, 28 November 1884, Page 3

VOLUNTEER INSPECTION.

• ♦ The attendance at the daylight parade of the Christchurch Volunteer Corps last evening must be regarded as satisfactory, inasmuch as it shows that an increase has taken placo in the strength of most, if not all, of the corps during ! the past few months. While it is gratifying, however, to see a large number of men on the ground, it is better still to see them put in an appearance punctually at the hour appointed for the muster. When a parade is called for half -past 6, it is not to the credit of the force that several men should Btraggle in at all times between that hour and 7 o'clock. This was the case last evening, but it is to be hoped that at future parades greater punctuality will be observed. Lieut.-Colonel Lean inspected the E Battery of Artillery on the Drillshed ground. The strength present was 53 of all ranks, Captain Martin in command. The men were put through heavy gun drill, filling shells, and preparing fuses, and did their work with creditable smartness. The infantry companies, with the Garrison Band, paraded in Hagley Park, where they were inspected and exercised in battalion drill by Captain and Adjutant Newall. The following is the strength of 1 the -varioua corps : — City Guards (Captain Wolfe), 42 ; College Rifles (Lieutenant Mellish), 41 ; Chrißtchurch Rifles (Captain Fergusson), 40 ; Sydenham Rifles (Captain Joyce), 44 ; Garrison Band (Bandmaster M' Lean), 24; tot.il, 191 officers and men. The various movements were done in a i manner that showed the men wero cvi- i dently trying to do their best. There j wei*e some defects in steadiness and pre- I cision, which, however, regular attendance i and watchful attention at the company ! weekly parades should do much to remove, i A considerable number of larrikin boys ' were to be seen in the Park, but they re- ; framed from the disgraceful conduct that j marked the parade held there sorae weeks i back, and confined themselves to mis- j chievously scattering in all directions the | tussocks which have recently, been up- j rooted and collected in heaps by the men | put to work in the Park at the time of the ] unemployed agitation. j