COLUMN FOR VOLUNTEERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 200, 19 July 1860, Page 4

COLUMN FOR VOLUNTEERS.

Another Account of Hythe. —ln compliance with a requisition from the Secretary of State for War, I and seventy-two other volunteers made up our minds to attend the course of instruction in musketry which commenced on the 29th October. On that day I left London Bridge station for JKestenhanger, a distance of 75 miles, and, after three miles farther of a ride outside a buss, arrived at the Swan hotel, Ilythe. Here all was bustle. About sixty young men had tumbled in upon mine host from all parts of England, Scotland, and Wales, and as all were equally hungry, the landlord had a miserable time of it till dinner was ready, and all got seated. We soon became known to each other, and ere the cloth was removed were as friendly and communicative as possible. It is wonderful how rapidly the edge of etiquette rubs off when a number of young fellows are met together for the same purpose; and a similar sight of so many volunteer embryo soldiers miy probably : never have been witnessed before. Shortly after eleven'we all retired, and most of us assembled at the bieakfast table ou Sabbath morning at eight. This most important duty performed, a few of us who had no prayerbooks, and who could not haye discovered the 3>roj.er place even had we been in possession of them, agreed to visit the large military camp at Shorncliffe, about three miles from Hythe. We wvere much pleased with the neat, comfortable-looking iron and wooden liuts surrounding the quadrangle of at least several'hundred acres in extent, and also with the means of instruction provided for the men. The camp is admirably situated, and is said to be very healthy. It occupies an immense plateau, at least 200 feet above the level of the English Channel. There are at present 5000 men accommodated, as also several parks of artillery. With such an admirable military force, and the Dorn Castle not far off, with its*' 600 of a garrison, the coast of Kent is not quite so unprotected as many alarmists would have us believe. While looking about the contents of the little iron church were suddenly discharged, and we found ourselves in the midst of 600 soldiers, who, to judge from their alacrity to gain their quarters, were evidently more bent on quenching their stomachic cravings than impressed by the sacred words to which "they’ had just been listening. This surmise proved but too true, for on our j return we observed a number of them playing at leap-frog—by way of aiding digestion, 1 suppose. Those of us who were in uniform had our vanity somewhat gratified by the great amount of touching caps to us as we passed. Pieturning from the camp, we made our way hack by a species of gutter cut by the troops down the face of the hill, which was evidently intended for a road, hut which appeared only to answer the purpose of a drain. By eight on Monday morning we were again assembled at breakfast. The variegated tints of uniforms, contrasted with the white tablecover, formed quite a picture. I could not have believed the tailor’s art could have pro-

.'duced such a-variety. There were,dark aud 11 light greys, greens, browns, and neutral tints, Ifaced up with every known colour under the 'sun, and embroidered with all the usual metals land silks. As,to the cut, tho variety was not IquTe so striking, the favourite.style being the : short tunic, either double-breasted or . single, with a few specimens of knickerbockers. The : hitter weie not favourites, and the CochinChina fowl-like appearance they--imparted-to ! the wearers afforded great amusement, to the tunic and trousers advocates. . Lord.Elcl.lo is, perhaps, the best among them, as regards shape and colour, but the tout ensemble is far from satisfactory to my ideas. By far the most brilliant man amongst 11s, however, is isometliing to look at. Ilis Uniform is a. very light silver grey, and all the r seams of his coat, trousers, and , cap are , covered . with heavy silver cord. In short, die is a perfect marvel of triumphant tailoring, and would make the fortune of any lucky Zouave who might chance to effect his capture. The contrast between the English and Scotch - uniforms is somewhat striking. The former, with a few dark green exceptions, being all light in colour. It is not at all unlikely that the colours .of the uniforms have been in a great measure determined by the appearance of the country from which the various volunteers come. After breakfast we marched to the School of Musketry, and were immediately divided into sections of about a dozen each, and consigned to the care of qualified instructors, having been previously supplied with long Enfield rifles and knee caps. The Scotchmen were all placed together in the right hand section, and from the moment we weie ordered to order our arms our peace of mind fled. A few of us dropped in for it to an unparalleled extent, and all because the superintending lieutenant, happening to be a Scotchman, imagined we were all Admirable Crichtons. However, we were much the better for his strictness, and possibly to-day several of us might net have got out of the third class had he been more lenient. After about an hour’s position drill and platoon exercise—which, by the way, ought to be called the horrors of the Inquisition revived —we were marched to the lecture-room, our left arms hanging listlessly by our sides, where Colonel-Wilford lectured for about half an hour on the ; rifle and the system pursued at Hythe. He is a noblelooking old gentleman, and perfectly enthusiastic in his profession. By turns grave and gay, he never allowed the rivetted attention to flag, while at times he was so irresistibly comic in his humorous descriptions of the use and abuse of the much lauded and much maligned old lady, Brown Bess, that to curb or even curtail our laughter was impossible. A little more drill succeeded the lecture, when vve were dismissed- for dinner. When the cloth was'.withdrawn, Sir Paul Hunter, of Reading, proposed that we should subscribe half a guinea each, to purchase three of the finest known rifles, with which to reward the three best shots at the end of the course; and accordingly about <£3s were raised in a few minutes, by passing a dessert plate along the table. A Strike in the Parlour. —The wife of a distinguished Private in one of the Rifle Corps lias stiuck for an increase of housekeeping money; for she says her husband comes home now with such an enormous appetite after having been two hours at drill, that it is utterly impossible to provide the dinners for the same allowance that she has hitherto done, too, were formerly an unknown thing in her establishment; but now, regularly three times a week, her lord aud master complains of being so hungry before going to bed, that the tray has to be brought up purposely for him. His consumption is full three times greater than it was before he became a Volunteer. It is, therefore, under these indisputable facts—to prove which butchers’ and bakers’ bills can be brought forward in scores too formidable to admit of a sneer, or much less a denial —that an increase of the home estimates has been peremptorily demanded; and we believe that matters have reached such an alarming height in the establishment in question, that the lady lias found it necessary to make a special appeal to her respected mother-in-law to induce her to interfere in the matter, with a view of arbitrating upon it, and getting it properly settled as it ought to be. It was only yesterday, we are informed, that this poor unfortunate Volunteer, whose appetite is seemingly iar beyond his control, finished a leg of mutton almost by himself; and the worst is, with the small Government pittance which as an underpaid Government clerk he draws, that this is a degree of voraciousness which he can ill afford. From the additional exercise that he has lately been taking, his appetite has completely outgrown the small size of his means, which at the best of times was always a tight fit; but now shortly it will be quite impossible for him, without pulling in a great deal, to make both ends meet, if he goes on much longer at the same extravagant rate. What with the drilling lie gets abroad, and the drilling he gets when he goes home, his present life will soon •be too much for him; though the latter.it must be confessed, though carried on with the greatest severity, has not the slightest effect in diminishing the enormous powers of lition sharpened to an unnatural degree by. the former.— Express. . .

The Stump Extractor —The new patent tree ancl stump extractor is now an established fact. On Monday afternoon Mr. T. E. Aston (the agent for the sale of the machine), and several others interested in agricultural pursuits, were invited by the patentee to witness the first experiment with his novel invention. The first “subject” operated upon was a gnarled stringybark stump, standing some five

feet ; out of the.; ground,; and measuring 46 inches in circumference. .From the time the machine-... was. got' into gear, until the stump, with its - manifold roots .was laid horizontally on the sward, scarcely four minutes elapsed. The .work was done as clean as could be wished, this being attributable to the peculiar steadiness with which the motive power of the machine is applied. There is no jerking in the operation, but a, gradually increasing strain which would evidently have been beyond the resistance of a,much tougher subject. The machine was then shifted, and . was easily got into a position for a more formidable trial. The subject this time was not a stump, but a full grown Tree, a she-oak between thirty and forty feet high, and measuring . fifty inches in circumference. The wide spreading branches were no hindrance to the operation, as from the peculiar construction of the implement; the trunk of the tree (especially if, as is nearly always the case, there be the slightest leaning) can be easily grasped by the massive grappling chains, and is raised by the roots with equal facility. In this trial the steadiness of the power was remarkably exempliRed. As soon as the machinery to * tell,” the ground, for some five or six feet round the trunk of the tree, was seen to bulge and heave as though an immense mole-hill were suddenly being formed, while at the same time a succession of sharp sounds under ground told a tale of the great power that was at work upon the roots. A few seconds more, and the tree, leaving a cavity of three or four feet, was raised bodily from its place, and seen ignominiously swinging under the machine, with about a ton of earth clinging to the close twisted roots. IVumerous other experiments w r ere performed during the afternoon with invariable success. The whole process was efficiently performed by tw r o meif. Another important feature, which by the w r ay is an improvement on the model, consists in t.he ease with which the machine can be moved from tree to tree. To explain this, we have but to mention that the machine is fitted On four travelling wheels, which by an ingenious piece of mechanism can be almost instantaneously unshipped, the whole weight and pressure of the machine (while at work) being transferred from the axles to four movable sleepers. —Geelong Advertiser.