VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 151, 26 June 1907, Page 9

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

"■V • (BT BIFIiEMAN'.' '' nSLttifes of ail volunteer corps through--~".7*L : Auckland district are invited to - •"-.gote to this column. "Rifleman be gtoi to receive any item of spe]Pi nr e-msrai interest for publication, not „iv concerning town companies. Dut "SSL concerning the country corps, it _S«r__ in these not«s to keep volunteers 15 ° 'L™t rhe nrovince well informed in §S!"d. voiw.teei interest, and it is only m the co-operation of country corps with ' ?L Yjjtor that this can be accomplished ' intended for publica- ;. Sfin the current weeks Notes should be If-tHis office by Tuesday ar the latest. SL.rlj_.OT_i be signed by a responsible of\yii. not for publication, but only as a of good faittu

■The latest move in the improvement of i , «,(. Defence system is set forth in a Dis-1 Set Order issued to-day from the Brigade S?«. It concerns instruction in fire dis- , S. and conur.M. T__ O.C.D. (Uent.- j " TJJonel Wolfe) has drawn up a scheme - »___ the intention of securing . '--__~KT efficiency in this respect. I ' Sruhder the dir?siion of the A.A.G. and i ' ;: t_c District Staff, systematic practices will •- - '£ held. Instruction will first be given in , a.'drill sheds or halls at ordinary com-, ' --* amr parades, targets being provided for, Careful supervision .-f the: '•Yjtice will be undertaken, and instrac- ' &ias to the best forms suitable to be | 1 - aoiied will be given. Once a month the ; veSactors will attend at the rifle ranges I jJoMJiout the district—the time and places __ be notified, and unit commanders wil | j l!_mge r -_or their companies to parade— | - JalSring -exercises will be practised, < tei, with blank cartridge and then with " -sb:- Vanishing and surprise targets will j soused, fixed at unknown distances. The J ftCD hopes that as the supply of ammu- - ' isjoa'avaHable for distribution for miscel- ' £ieoa<. practices is limited, companies wil' ' cc flic privilege extended them of purchas- . I - __ extra ammunition at the much cheaper \ • ZL now ruling, to supplement the above ' '__W-nce. Ii i s evident such a system of 3 - '-tr_tai"-iS. it properly carried out. must have ■ TAr>oS' effect in increasing the efficiency rfthe most vital part of the system—the Snoimg It will" lend variety to the dull ; ~Sj"~**-of drill a= sell, for there is noth- i fcj _ie powder and shot to encourage the ■ Sajgina volunteer. -V «*» Ko 1 Ohtnemuris hoJd a church pa- [ -_de il the Paeroa Presbyterian Church ; -,t_i Ja"T I**- "* i hare to thank the No. 4 Engineers for : «_ invitation to their smoke concert on jnjsy _e_t- It is a purely company af- . bir. -- i]sf-*_io. S G.A. upheld the honour of --__B-Gsrr_son nobly on Saturday by hearts" tira Prometheus shooting team in a "BaK&'by 53 points. " '"**_*' • fiianly a question of time now when Ost .Gardner's name win appear in the , as promoted to the rank of " Xijjr, -with command of the Auckland DiviBa,o! G.A. The adjutancy is still an K52 -ia_____- ' EsreSoi entries have been received by thi: scarittee of the Garrison boxing tosssaesi, and it only remains now to ' jj&f lie date on which the tournament is .'_F_e'_*_L This is being arranged now. '__*__ men's events have been well patron- _ fe.JU"4 the tournament should prove very . isrerssting. I It occurs to mc that the order which so teqaently appears in Garrison Artillery JHEices. "Men will fall m at the ferry tee.*' .is rather unkind. Accident will happen. .Ttat I can hardly imagine that immersion 1 it the harbour forms any essential part of i-'t G.A. mall's training. The whole of the A Battery non-coms. '.had to 'face the music" last night before .Capt- Richardson. Director of Ordnance. | who pnt them al! through the new work in ,'.a very thorough, and searching manner. '_jrhgsg..w_KJ..snc_eeded, in passing. th*-ordeal J ' ..nth credit wffl receive a parchment certlh§jF e> The shooting season of the No. S G.A. : has closed, and th,e company intend throwing aU their energies into the footba'l till the summer comes round again. Their class firing is practically all done now, but in .-November there will be a little clearing - eS-stragglers' and recruits" shooting to be fias. The So. 1 Ohinemtrri have elected the 'V. following officers for the yearr—Secretary, -ferrate W. Grantr caretaker and armour er, Private Thompson r shooting commit- -. tee. Colour-Sergeant Andrews. Sergeant* \Btfobard. Corporals Booker. Forrest, Sanderson, and Moore, and Private Thompson: committee. Sergeant Stokes and -Y-GorDoral Forrest. Colonel "Wolfe returned last night by the - steamer from Whangarei, whether he "went to inspect the Marsden M.R. in their camp. This morning he was to leave for the big combined camp of the So. 2 Regiment •A-M.R. at Raglan—a large camp which -should be an eye-opener if all the - squad- I tons send in good contingents. The Colonel ~' returns here by the beginning of next week. '. Captain.Carpenter, A.A.G.. is at present in - &c Sorth Auckland District to inspect the I - Hlkarangi Rifles. He returns on Friday. -.-- 33i__e Is a project now being placed Before tie Inspector for Defence for the creation of a Naval Reserve Corps at Anck- ' • riani -composed of the yachtsmen and other .seafarers in the Auckland harbour and Hauraki Gulf. Captain Archibald Is at the _ head of the movement, which has the sup Port of tie Vice-Admiral. I believe, and _ * - expefA. to hear some public pronouncement •jijQie sabject shortly, when Sir Joseph "Ward las returned to the colony.

fc. t^Est " K " <2la r d s o '_> Director of Ordnance, "Hs been spending a busy time among the ■jig gnns and the men who work them in He reru___s to "Wellington on & . Kis visit has had good effects already, and the effects will be lasting. He visiting the different ArHTlerv com .Papies dnring the week, and putting them

through their work. The Artillery officers have had a special class also, at which, they have been given valuable instruction

The Garrison Football Union seems iikely to have a good season. The entries close on Monday next at the Drill, Hall, and it is expected that about seven or ei-ht teams will be entered. The Union will be afflhated to the Auckland R.F. Cnion. and ihe members play under the jurisdiction will hi . wOl ecsnr '" that th.ere will be full order and "discipline" at all ™..™*iY? cs * It is probable that a good Sfdra Park 6 matche£ wlu be at Alex-

Rumour is busy framing speculations as A,,mf pi : o . abilit >" of a No. 10 Garrison Artillery being created out of an existing infantry company, which is fretting for a change. Something seems likely to happen, but I imagine that the artillery idea, -*_i.. e:UStS _ at all - ls nni y a remote possiDiuty, to be contemplated if other plans and desire fail, still, stranger things have happened and there cenainlv is room for another G.A. company to run the odd fort. £_£_ Garrison is waiting and watching for developments with interest

Pi?h»._l result of Tisi t of Captain IO A <"<*ku"- is that the Garrison Artillery are to have additional facilities provided for them at the forts. ***'p"e«o they have been badly handicapped, because they have not been able to get full benefit from the fori practice because it takes place mostly at night. Now apparatus is to be installed whereby it will be possible to secure the same practice as would be obtained in daylight. Thi.. it is anticipated, will do much to increase the efficiency of the companies in the working of the guns.

The Franklin M.R. are arranging for a rifle meeting at Clevedon on September -S- A nnmber of trophies and £4 10/ in cash are offered as prizes. There are four matches r—(1) The Clevedon match, seven shots at 20Oyds. 500 yds, and 600 yds; (2) the Whitford match, ten shots at 200 yds and 500 yds; (3) aggregate match, five shots at 500 yds. and the scores made in the two previous matches addedr and (4) Veterans' match, seven shots at 200 yds and 500 yds. The first three are open only to squadron members, and the fourth to honorary members and veterans of the Wairoa Rifle Rangers.

The Transvaal possesses some marksmen who are a credit to the Empire. At the annual meeting of the Transvaal Association performances were put no which would be difficult to beat In the Governor's Cup—shot under similar conditions to the Victorian Bang's—Captain J. Dickson, the winner, scored 46 points each in 10 6hots at 800. 900, and 1000 yards. His aggregate was 325 points, which is the same as the record put up by Arthur Cutler of Bathurst. at Williamstown in 190.. In the Transvaal Cup. seven shots each at 200. 500. and 600 yards, no fewer than 11 men got 100 points or over, the top score beine 103. made by Captain Davey, of the Wit Rifles.

From July 1 the Xew South Wales metropolitan clubs will adopt the new Bisley

"bull" at 200 and 300 yards, the same having met with the approval of the _T.R. A. The dimensions of the third-class target wil] thus be:—Bull's-eye, 6in; inner, loin; magpie. 2-iinr and outfr. remainder of the 4ft square. The "inner" of this tareet is up to 12in in diameter black, and beyond that white. The "inner" will be divided from the bull's-eye by a faint white line not visible to the fi-rer. The target at present in use has a 12in bull'seye" five inches of which only count, however, as a "bull," the remainder an inner.

Writing in the May issue of the "United j Service Magazine," Captain H. P. De la i Bere. Royal Scots Fusiliers (a musketry expert), states that the tendency of all Powers is to reduce the rifle in lenath and weight, the bayonet being now comparatively unimportant. The increased power of explosives has also made less length of barrel possible. He thinks that the modern rifle should weigh between ! eight and ten pounds (the new rifle is I Sib __ozl. and should be able to fire 20 to 30 aimed shots per minute. The recoil energy should be under 151b, and the calibre .256 in to 315 in. The sighrs on ! most of the modern rifles. Great Brita'a and the United States excepted, do not •admit of Very _De • adjustments, .ioc clo_'e shooting. * "****' ' One of the grimmest jokes I have heard for some time is told of an old army veteran. He was very old, and one day he fel sick unto death, it seemed: and his friends proceeded to arrange for the last melancholy honours. They went to the authorities and fixed up the firing party, the gun carriage, and the other details! "When shall we send them along*.?*' asked the ofiicial. who nearly fainted when they said.

"Oh, we'll telephone you in an hour. We don't know if he's dead yet. He ought to be by now—the doctor said he couldn't last out the day." That cancelled all the arrangements, and, do you know, that old warrior didn't get his funeral at all: nasn"t got it yet even! The friends had another funeral to arrange later on. and it appeared that the old warrior had nursed the deceased. Some months later the matter cropped up again, and it transpired tbat the old and decrepit warrior aforesaid had just got into trouble for blacking the eye of another son of Mars some years younger than himself:

The Swiss are very proud of their army. This is an extract from an article. "Swiss Army Manoeuvres. 1906," by Colonel A. Keene, D.5.0., which.- appears in the "Journal of the Royal Artilierv" of January lastr The most marked impression left on the mind of the British observer of these manoeuvres must, I think, be one of surprise and delight at the interest and enthusiasm felt by all classes of the Swiss for their national army, their pride in its high state of training, their keen insight into the manoeuvres, and their kindly care for the individual soldiers. Every newspaper published a copy of the manoeuvre map and of tbe "Order de bataille," which showed all tbe ■___._. ta___xg part ia tbe manoeuvres, the names of the commandants, and of all the staff concerned. The banks in Znricb ami the factories near were closed, in order to give the employees an opportunity of seeing the manoeuvres, and special trains conveyed the spectators to the ground in their thousands. Every booking clerk could tell yon what station to bock for to see the -wort of the day, and eacb train carried sightseers who, furnished with

maps and coloured pencils, could. tell you where Red had spent the night, and how Blue should act. Kind villagers watered the roads in front of their houses to keep the dust down, and brought out water in tubs and buckets for the refreshment of the parched and -wearied soldiers—in short, it was the realisation of Kipling's "Army ot a Dream."

The volunteer camp at Eaglan was pitched on Friday last. The number In camp on Monday was about 150. and others were arriving daily. The following is a list of the commanding officers and of'the companies present r —Major Clifford in command: drill instructors, Captaiu Brown, Sergeant-Major Walker: quartermaster. Lieutenant Salman r quartermas-ter-sergeant. C. Cowley: adjutant. Captain Berry: "A" Squadron (Hamiltonl. Captain A. Bell. 0.C., Lieutenants Raynes and Barton: "B" Squadron" 'Piako*. Captain Allen. 0.C.. "Lieutenant Moore, and Act-ing-Lieutenant Rowe: "C" Squadron (Cambridge). Captain Walker." 0.C.; "D" Squadron (Te Awamutul. -Captain Berry, 0.C.. Lieutenants Henderson and Brack; "E" Squadron (Raglan), Captain A. Norton, 0.C., lieutenant W. McCracken.