THE VOLUNTEERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4909, 27 March 1894, Page 1

THE VOLUNTEERS.

Encampment at Okair. At about eleven o'clock on Stinday night the camp waa disturbed by an alarm of fire, and all the men were quickly on the alert. It was found that the goree and scrub to the north-west of the camp were on fira, and, fanned by a strong breeze, tbe fl-inif.a made rapid headway towards tho canteen tent. The various companies, under their officers, at once went to work to stay the progress of the fire, and the canteen tent, being in danger, it wa3 taken down ; not, however, without causing a loss of contents to the value of about £15. By dint of hard work, in which the Engineers and Timaru Navala were conspicuous, the fire was got under ; but not before a considerable extent of ground had been burnt over and other tents endangered. During the night a strong wiind prevailed and the oflicera' mess tent waa blown down. The Southern Battalion having to leave by the mid-day train, the mo mine parade of the Brigade waß called for G. 45 a.m., for the purpose oE carrying out a sham fight. Twenty rounds of blank ammunition were served oufc to each man, and the attacking party left camp at Beven o'clock. The attacking party consisted of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, four guns, . and the two infantry battalione. Ths defence, which waa a skeleton one consisting of two guns under Captain J. E. S. Jacknou, who was in command,. and the Mounted Inf&ntry, took up a position aa the sandhills about a mile to the north-east of the camp, on iir Edwards' run. The attacking party marched down almost to the sea beach, atid remained in cover until the defenders had taken up their position, leaving a guv masked under some /sandhills, and supported by the Timaru Eifleß in Karkee. Tho right of the attack consisted j o? the North Canterbury Battalion under Major Francis and the left of the South Canterbury Battalion under Major Moore. The cavalry having reconnoitred the enemy, and found out the position of the defence, the attack waa commenced. The idea was to turn the right flank of the defence, for which pur- i pose the North; Canterbury were detailed while the South Canterbury made a Eh am attack on the left front. As soon aa the commander of the defence discovered the attacking party, however, ha smartly moved his guns to the left to prevent the flank movement being successful. The change of position was bo excellently car- j ried out that it was some time before the commander of the attack became aware of it, the cavalry also failing to discover and report it. As soon as the ohange of position was discovered the attack moved to the left, and eventually the whole line moved up in a semicircle and enveloped the guns, the defending party making a very good retreat. The bugles then sounded the " Cease firing." The whole of the movements were splendidly carried out, competant judges being of opinion that the work waa some of the best ever done at a Canterbury encampment, tha ground being particularly well adapaed for the icanceuvresi The discipline of the infantry in the attack waa excellent, and the intelligence displayed by the I oaii'.era c and non-comml9Bion«d officers leading it waa a vast improvement on what had been seen in former years; the way in whioh the companies were brought up into action being most commendable. The masking of the gun waa a clever piece of work on the part o£ Captain W. J. Jackaon of the E Battery, and the Mounted Infantry could have been swept oat of existence before they discovered it. The advantages of the Karkeo uniform were well demonstrated, the Mounted Infantry being unable to pick up the Timaru Bines supporting the masked gun until close upon them. The men returned to camp in good order at 10,80, the buglers and band playing them in. The South Canterbury and the North Canterbury ware each addressed in turn by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, who expressed his great pleasure and satisfaction at the admirable way in which the manoeuvres had been carried out, and the excellent order kept in camp. He also told the men that in the event of a fire or other alarm occurring, as on the previous evening, ifc was their first duty to get the bugler to sound the alarm and theu fall in to await instructions. He specially thanked the Timaru Navals for their services at the fire. By twelve o'clock the South Canterbury men had struck their tents, paoked j their luggage, and were ready for depar- 1 ture. Half an hour later they fell in, and hearty cheers having been given by the North Canterbury men for their southern comrades and their officers, which were as heartily responded to, the column left the camp for the Kaiapoi railway station, where they entrained for home. Daring the morning a detachment of the EDgineera prepared a gun-pit on the campground, carrying out their work in a finished manner. It may be here mentioned that Colonel Bailey specially complimented the officers of the Engineers on the fine physique and skill of the company. The afternoon was taken up with striking tents, packing baggage and in other ways preparing for the return home. At halfpast two the cavalry and Mounted Rifles paraded and took the road for Christchurch, being heartily cheered as they passed the infantry camp. Half an hour latar the artillery took the road, and also met with a hearty send-off. The closing scene of the encampment came on at halfpast five, when the battalion paraded, and, with the Garrison Band, marched to the Kaiapoi station, where they entrained for home. A prize oS a handsome bouquet, given by Miss Crossley for the neatest tent, to be competed for by the cavalry and College Rifles, was won by the tent occupied by Sergeant Gibson and squad of the latter company. Fortunately the weather held fine all through the encampment, although at times yesterday the wind was too high to be agreeable, particularly to the visitors, who roamed through the camp all day by hundreds. During Sunday and yesterday the services of Sergeant C. J. Wilson, in charge of the ambulance teat, were several times called into requisition for minor ailments and accidents, and hia skilful attention was as highly appreciated by the men as it deserved. The ambulance equipment was of a most complete description, and Sergeant Wilson, who is the holder of a St John certificate, waa evidently quite at home in the use of the various appliances and remedies* Surgeon Parsons, attached to the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, also rendered service in the hospital tent. The camp cooks deserve a word of praise for the manner in which they carried out their work, and some of the companies did not; forget to show their appreciation of aervicea rendered by public acknowledgment. Mr F. Cook, the camp storekeeper and caterer for the officers' mess, also gave satisfaction, and Mr H. C. Bailey's management of the two canteens was praised on all sides. The officers— and particularly Sergeant-Major Barrett, who was in charge of the brigade office— courteously and willingly supplied information to the representatives of the Press..

The Lyttelton Navala and N Battery Artillery broke up their camps yesterday evening. The former have been atationed at Ripa Island and the latter at the 61---pounder muzzle-loading gun on the Summer Road. Both corps have put ia three days' good, useful work at the big gU&B.