Volunteer News.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume II, Issue 71, 3 December 1891, Page 7

Volunteer News.

[Contributions to this column are invited. All communications should be addressed to “ Torpedo,” and reach this office not later than Tuesday in each week. Notes from country corps will be specially acceptable.]

The'Auckland Rifle Association have passed the programme for their annual meeting, and have fixed upon Boxing Day for the firing. The programme this year includes a nursery match, which is confined to men who have never won a Rifle Association prize. The match is to be ten shots at 300 yards. The Herald Cup is given to the highest aggregate, who also receives a gold medal or two pounds optionally. '• Jimmy ” Parslow is the holder of the trophy at present, and the “ old shark” appropriated £l3 at last year’s meeting as well. The Star Cup is at present in Peter Weir’s (of the Thames) hands. It is a handsome new cup which the proprietors of that journal imported last year. Captain W. B. White, of the Gordon Rifles, having von the old one outright, this Cup goes to the second highest aggregate, and both cups have to be won twice in succession or three times at intervals. Peter Weir also holds the Citizen’s Trophy, which has to be won twice. Harry Doughty, of the A Battery, Osborne, of the Guards, and I think Henderson, all have “ legs in” for this, which should be nearly won by one of them. I fancy Doughty, as Henderson and Osborne seem to be quite “off.” Beck’s Cup is also competed for, and it must be getting mouldy with age. It has to be won three times, but nobody appears to be able to carry it off. It certainly has a charmed life, but “ Charlie ” Taylor, who has won it twice previously, may be able to break the spell at the forthcoming meeting. The usual Martini-Henry match is provided for, and Wingate and Co., the new firm of ironmongers, of which Gunner “Monty” McCallum is a member, have notified their intention to give a trophy. A teams match of three men has this year been included, and while I do not approve of such a small number for a team, as it cannot by any stretch of imagination be called representative of a company, it is perhaps wise to include it on this occasion, as several corps are at present so weak in shooting that they could not possibly pick a team of five to average magpies. Webster, Hazard, and McCarthy, who went over to represent Auckland at the N.S.W. firing, leave Sydney on their return journey to-day. Capt. Kohn acted rather shabbily to the A Battery and Navals in his disposal of the longlost Campbell Belt and vases. It appears that he was authorised to draw up fresh conditions, the old ones being unworkable, and in doing so provided that the belt should go to his own company, the City Guards. To this little objection is taken, as most other companies have already company shooting belts, but the injustice of providing that the vase should be competed for by rifle companies, only leaving out the A Battery, Auckland Navals and Ponsonby Navals, unquestionably the three best companies in Auckland, is most keenly felt, and was most probably never intended by the donor, or even known when the new conditions were signed. Having brought this forward, I hope it is even now not too late to be remedied. Sapper A. G. Baddiley seems to be the only man in the Engineers who takes any interest in shooting. He has held their champion belt for the last two years, and as he does plenty of practice he may be looked upon as a coming shot. He took first prize with the excellent score of 91 in the second-class Martini-Henry Club’s last firing.

It is about time the A Battery made up their minds to bring the Wairoa South Rifles down for their annual match with that corps. The New Zealand Rifle Association make a mistake in waiting for post entries for the Teams Match, as last year the strength of the various men had been carefully watched and calculated, and it was cnly by the strenuous exertions of Major Sommerville that teams were found to oppose the present champion team. If entries were made at the beginning of the meeting this would be avoided. Torpedo.

Some of our local teams should be considering the advisability of firing a match with the men-o-warsmen, who are on their way to Auckland. We notice from exchanges that they fired a match against the East Coast Hussars, ten aside, the volunteers winning by 17 points.