MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1091, 1 April 1911, Page 9

MILITARY NOTES.

[Edited Br EchelosJ BISLEY IN A BAD WAY. Colonel W. T. Bridges, Royal' Ausfiw, lian Artillery, has been granted Die rank ' of bripiirtici-.gcttor.il. Military Forces of tho Commonwealth of Australia, on appointment as Commandant, Royal Mill'-' tnry College of Australia, ire is an exoadct of the, Royal Military College of Canada, lie lias qualified at. (he School | of Gunnery, Shocburyncss, and passed the I'ircmastcrs'. Class, Ordnance College. . Ho served with distinction in tho South African War, 1599-ISOO, for which ho holds the King's medal, with three clasps. The somewhat heterogeneous contingent which is to represent (he Xew Zealand Military Forces at (ho King's Coronation, will he in distinguished company. . Among j tho Canadian regiments who have nr-j ranged, to send representative detachments to nltenll the' Coronation of King Georgol V. in Juno are 59 officers and men of! the Winnipeg -Regiment ; of Canadian.' Highlanders, the Tilth, who aro affiliated' to the Cameron Highlanders. All expenses connected with Ihe trip will be-', paid Ijy (heir commanding officer, Colonel j R. N. Thomson. Colonel -.1. 11 Forget, j commanding the famous French-Canadian j Regiment of Foot, the Kith Curnbiniors Mont Royal, will bring over a detachment' of his corps, to represent Montreal. Tho detachment will visit Franco before returning to Canada. Other detachments will include the Royal Canadian Dr.v! goons, and the 43rd Dnko of Rides, from Ottawa, of which regiment-, his Majesty is honorary colonel. A curious case occurred in England ro-j ccnlly in connection with the prosecution of a soldier in one of (ho Civil Courts. A soldier named Williams was placed-in the dock wearing a grey suit' of dollies, and the Judge said he would like to know- why the man was not in. uniform. The answer was that tho prison officials had received an order to produce military prisoners in private clothes. The Judge; Where did you get tho . order from:' The Chief Warder.: The Prison Commissioncrs, my lord. The Judge: He is entitled (o his uniform until he is convicted, What right' have you to strip his uniform oft his back? No Prison Commissioners have such right. • Ho is entitled to his uniform. It might havo sonic effect on tho jury. The King's regulations commanded (hat he should have, his uniform. ' His lordship directed the prisoner to leave the box. and the man was laken to tho cells. He afterwards appeared in' khaki, and the trial went on. Speaking at the winter general meeting of tlic National Rifle Association, held recently, Lord .Cheylesmore. (chairman of (lie X.ii.A.) said the past year had been u very bad one financially'. In 1909 their loss on the revenue account' was 4JU75, tlic net loss being J,';!6S. "Last year," ho said, "things were in a far, more .serious pasilion, and our loss on I revonno account amounts to no less than.' 42>438 Bs. Td. .This chiefly arose from! the great reduction in (ho number of enfries at tho-meeting. Last year our entries were 5),03(>, which, I am sorry to say, was 5575 fewer than those of tho previous year. That, however, was our julntco year, and (he onirics were 4000' odd more than in 190$, but SSTS less for, 1910, rsally makes us nearly 1000 worse' off than we were in 190 S. This is no doubt due io the great difficulties some Territorials have in the way of attending tho Bisley meeting, and it must be confessed that, there is a serious falling oil nmong Territorials. ■ Attending tho camp and tho expense of remaining there are undoubtedly factors to bo taken into the reckoning. The amohnt received for entrance fees, and pool and practice shots ,• .was J:U,:IS3 2s. 2d.-as'against JiIO.HTO'-lSjfc-- 1 1 • Id. in 1909. Pool, curiously enough, showed an increase—.C6s2 against ,Cs2o— but' the practice shots only brought in .£759 as compared with, ,£S32. Taking . tho figures as a whole, the profit from practice ranges, etc., ~CIIB 13s. Bd., and surplus dividends, .£ll 3s. Id., reduced the : net loss on tho year's working to 4:2008 12s. We gave in money prizes last year .413,165, as against. ,C 13,431 the year before; prizes in kind were valued at .£111)5 as against .£llß6. and medals and, badges cost JJS9G as compared invli XSS2. The total of tho prize list, including noolt payments, was .£15,529 ss. 10d., as against £18,502 12s. sd. in 1909. I think you will, agree with ine that (his is a somewhat unsatisfactory financial statement." . ' The National Rifle Association has issued full details of (he which is to take place throughout, tho, Umpire, for the Umpire Day. Challenge. Cup, value 100 guineas, with silver and! bronze medals, and .£340 in money, offered) . by Lieutenant-Colonel 11. W. Schumacher.! Tho cup will be shot for on any one day j from between May 1 and 24 next. The' competition is open Io one team of forty | from any unit of his Majesty's Service.-! Of tlic teams, not moro than two may,-, bo commissioned officers and four uiay be sergeants (lance-sergeants not included). Warrant officers and non-com-, 'missioned officers above the rank uf sergeant, or in case of naval teams, wurraut or petly officers of corresponding rank,' may not be members of any team. With regard to training establishments, theso: may not; take part in the competition proper, but may shoot for special prizes.! The competition will be fired in ' three < stages. The first will represent (n) shooting nt. short range, in long grass or similar cover, and (b) shooting behind cover. In this (a) section the standing positionis adopted on account of the fact that l on active service men have, often .to tiro in thick bush, long grass, or high crops' when no oilier position is possible. Scc-i tion (b) provides for Hie conditions of. a short range duel between individuals., 1 The second stage is intended to give effecti to the observation of fire, so important, at short ranges, and (he third stage will' represent the final repelling of an assaultwhich has been checked at close range when a steady volume of well-iiinicd. rapid tire is 'essential to complete tho., success. The prizes will be as follow:— First prize, the Empire Hay Challenge Cup, Co be held for one year by the officer commanding the winning unit, JHOO in money, 41 silver commemorative medals; second prize. .£59 in money, and 41 bronze' commemorative medals; third prize, .£25 : in money and 41 bronze commemorative medals. ' There will also l>c two prizes of .£2o—,£lo in money,' five prizes of .£ls —4:Tr> in money, and live prizes of 411(1—' 4:50 in money." Forty-one medals arc provided instead of only 4(1, as the captain of tho (earn need not necessarily bo a firing member of the team. The special prizes include one prize of 4!50 to the training establishment with the highest score, provided (heir score exceeds that of every team taking part, in the competition. Ono prize of 4125 to the mounted unit with (ho best score. One prize of 4:25 to the dismounted linit,olher than tho Regular Forces, with the best score.