POWDER PUFFS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8808, 21 December 1906, Page 4

POWDER PUFFS.

'*■ v — r- I . m A lieutenant in th© Royal Navy, of eight or more yeais seniority, ranks | with a major in the Array. The annual effective cost of upkeep of a battery of Boyal Field Artillery on lower establishment is £13,000 and ' that of a battery of Militia Field ATtil- j lery £6500. The word " knapsack " (which, was ' superseded by the valise) is derived from the Dutch, -and means a bag tor holding food. The yeomanry are in the true sense Militia, cavalry. They were first organised by William Pitt in 1761. The cost to tho public of a horse artillery battery of the Hon Artillery Co., of London, is approximately £1100. The Austrian soldier carries less weight in full kit than any other Continental soldier. He ie burdened witli fifty-seven pounds, as against sixty-two by the British and sixty-eight by the Russian. The British forage cap weighs 230 grams (a littlo over half a pound), the French kepi 185 grams, the Russian 154, and the Japanese 110 grams. The new pattern of undress headgear, late* ly decided upon by the Austrian military authorities, is to weigh 138 grama, i The establishment of British, troops | in South Africa is about 20,000 of all ranks. The annual cost of the force, including allowance for the erect-ion of barracks, etc., is about £2,400,000. Natal makes a contribution cf £4000 a year. The British Army has 129 officers qualified as interpreters in French, 108 are -similarly qualified- in Russian, eighty-one in German, but only one in Dutch. A picturesque custom is observed in our Navy whenever an officer gets married. Two wreaths are hoisted in the most conspicuous manner, and interlocked with thorn and hanging from tliem are coloured ribbons. These hang from 8 a.m. till sunset en the wedding day. The cost of the wreaths is generally subscribed by the officer's shipmates. j The last naval battle fought by ns with wooden warships was Navarino, when, together with soane French and Russian vessels, under Admiral Go>drington, they destroyed the Turkish Fleet in 1827. Several drummers have . won* the Victoria Cross for gallantry in action, tho youngest on record being Drummer Magncr, of the Lst West Riding Regiment, who wae only fourteen when ho won the coveted decoration at the capture ol* Magdala, Abyssinia, in ISOB. The twin to " give quarter,''' so wellknown in warfare, had ite origin in an agreement between the Dutch and Spaniards, that the ransom of an officer I or soldier ehould be the quarter of hio year's pay. Hence, to beg quarter was ' to offer a quarter of their year's pay i iov personal safety, and to refuse qua;*- } ter was not to acept the proffered i ransom. " j In Italy caeh regiment has its own I pictorial postcards, on which aro the j devices ci tho regiment, the .list of battles in which it has taken part, or one of tlie heroic episodes in which it has figured. These are sold at moderate prices to officers and soldiers, and their use in correspondence eerves to spread the prestige of the regiment. The first service medal granted to the Royal Navy was to signalize the defeat of the Spanish. Armada, and was oval in shape. No "medal was issued by the British Government for tho Battle of Trafalgar, nor was any granted for the capture of the Cape of Good Hope, two historical events of the greatest national importance. The remote monarchy in Borneo, known as Sarawak, the ruler of which I ie a rajah and a nephew of the EnglisJi- ! man who rescued the oountry from bar- j barism, has a little navy -of its own. j It is made up of two gunboats of 175 and 118 tons respectively, of low speed, j All tailors in the Royal Navy are : obliged to provide themselves with a black .silk handkerchief. They pur- • ch-ase it from the Government .stores, ' t and the price, about 3s 9d, is deducted I from their pay. I