VOLUNTEER SERVICE NOTES

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9944, 20 January 1900, Page 4

VOLUNTEER SERVICE NOTES

(BY "SERGEANT KNOWALL.")

[Commanding officers and secicttncf. »! Volunteer Companies thioughout thi 1 district arc invited to assist 111 ii'a' pig this column of gcneial interest ro tlio public. Reports of meetings, entr'tninments, shooting matches, etc., will bo thankfully received, but the n^lit is reserved to deal vilii suc-h .is -kcmou may require. Addic&s all tommnmeitions to "Seigeant Ki'owall," Hehald Office] I have a suggestion to nvk». and it is tlua. Many ot my iculcia, 1 know, h.ue had letteis from their nap.unt uilvh who weie foitunate enough to find a place with the intt New ZmKuul Contingent. As no i'lcoiisuiciciblc amount ot public interest attaLlies to these lettors, I should be pleased li thobc poilions of tiiem wimli aie not of too pn\ato .1 liiitiup, and moie ch[i"cially nny poition b",mng' on any action m which the CViit'Mgonl I'iiy l'.ne been encaged, be ficnt to me in publication m volunteer Sen ice Notes lii the other centre? these letters, 01 lather poitiou* oi them, iia%o been published, and have pro\cd o\tiemely inteicsti'ig. Vvliy should we twt hoar thioiigli tlio mcdi'im of the l'icsg o( Vac v ell-being oi our own moio iiiiiiicdiito ac^imiil.uices iv Africa. Letteis, aridrp°scd Sergeant Knownll," t,!ioukl reach me not later than Thuibd;y evening. A bittalion pir.iilc of the Wanganui G'luison Coip:> took place on Wodnes(iiiy evening. Tlipio was a capital lnustci of both Complines (Wnixjaiim Rifles and Wauganui Guaicls) and the Band. Lieut. -Colonel Wall was 111 command, Vdjiitant Neill, Quaitcimai>ler-Srrge.int Kuise, and Serireant-Major Taylor being also picbciit. Both Companies weie hilly oiiucied. 'Ihe ni^lit beiug tlio one set •p.ut ioi the patriotic meeting in the Dull Hall, no dull was indulged in, the 111011 beiiit; 111.11 died into the hall foi tho [jinpoic ol assisting; to s'\c!l the v.a\o ol I j> 'I '101 -in that liab foi some tune past ij > 11 "aUiciiH'4 m the winds ol Natig.iuuitcij. It, is, pel haps, ■mniewhat noeclIcsm to say that the mon, one and .ill, i nterod 'iito tho ■-pint (1 tlu* pioteednigi, and ilul they arc all rfoldiors of thu Quoou" wab e\ideuced by the manner m winch they g.ne \oice to the several patriotic choiuses in which they weie at \<iriouf> tun CD iibkcd to join. After tho niocling b^ci<il details in connection with tho welUbcuig oi the Companies were discussed, and the men were theu dismissed. I was pleased to notice Lieute unit Redmond (Wanganui Guauls) who tor ijimo time past has be'Mi out i'l ton 11, 011 p.nade (»i dncofliiy immiiii" I.i ittoii.iiii lti'duiiiiul It iih enthusiast, mi bu- 1 hall ut lii 1 - ''mupaiiv, and, nidi ed .'s id- ! •J.XHl 1 ' Volu itc'Lllilu; lll.ltlOls I! f m.l l'lV, met iiL'\er imss'.s a pauule ot any kind, i.iiless he is unaio dably foiccd to abbeut himself. The Wanganui Guaids intend making a presentation to their comiadc, Giiuner Dan Ross, who represents tho Company 111 the Hotchkiss Batteiy detachment of the second Now Zealand Contingent. The sportsauiu'a knife, presented bjr the Wungaiiui Non-Commitsioned Officeis' Club to Trooper Cotter, of tho Contingent, is .in exceedingly useful affair, and leflects great credit on the judgment of the members 111 selecting such a useful present. The knife, which was procured from the establishment of Messrs David M Farlane, has been suitably inscribed, and will e\er sorve to keep in the recipient's memory the feeling of cordiality which prevails amongst all classes of Volunteers 111 Wanganui. A largo number of tho members of both local Companies proceeded to Welhiigton by the 1.40 special train tuia morning to take part in the "Good-bye" ceremonies of the Contingent. The news that two more of Zealandia'e onus had lost their lives in Afiica strikes !"nno a tono of sadiiebs to tho hca-its of v .ill, and proves conclusively that onr mtributioiis, as arc the contributions if tho other colonies, to tho Imperial Umy are of far gicater Morth than can 'jo reckoned by any monetary value. We i" contributing the 1 fo's blood of the i,?st ot our young men — young men who Uaio held nnpoitant and honourable •uisitiuiib in the public sen ice, and who alight lcasoiiably bo expected to play a g;reat part in the building up of onr ('ololli.il Empiro. To tho immediate mends of those whose lives have been _o far lost one and nil will extend their heartfelt sympathy. Major Hobin seems to havo formed a good opinion of Serin ant Gourljy, for in a letter to his tuonds 111 Dunedin he s.iys — "MobSie 1 Lulett .in'! Gourley should be prnnd ot rheir boys, both sergeants. — division sei;eants — in the same Company." Following is an extract fioin Sergeant Gourley's letter to his father after aiming <it ho Caps, and the l'ght sti'unjjt-^Wfe-it 1-. written serves to jluji^-^JexcoUe,^ M^IUU-Hr-fffcrtT >I 'riiol)oys' then were — ■** In time, of war it s 1 Tommy to the flout .i'id vith very short notice, too, as just beCorc 'Ligbta out' last night wo receded oidois lli.it roioillo would l» ;it i .1 ni , kits to be patkod at > a m., and icady to march during tbc day. . . . Regulai uffircrs hero say that wo are- the smartest Volunteers they have seen, and it would i>(«eia ho, as we arrixed only on Tliuisday, landed 011 Friday, and sent tiS the fiont on Monday." Tlio following BHggestne linos woie found wiitten 111 pencil on a liorse-boi, 1 tweoii docks ou tho troopship Waiwora, duung lier late passage to Capetown — 'Sentry on tho lioise lines Trumps with tired feet, Up end down, and bade Again, On hib blooming boat, ping up the chaff an.l hay, \\ orkmg fauly hard, But kpop'ng Ins cyo opoji For tlie corporal of (.ha o^iavd."