LEGION OF FRONTIERSMEN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1416, 17 April 1912, Page 4

LEGION OF FRONTIERSMEN.

A COMMAND TO HE POItMED IN NEW ZEALAND. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) Auckland, April 10. A conimniid of (lit Legion of , j?rontier«meii is to b« formed in Now Zealand, anil Captiiiii Mahoney is at present in Auckland to that end. 4 meeting' over v.hieh tlie Mayor will preside, will be held in the Town Hall in a few daws, with a view to setting m> a provisional committee to establish a force in this district. Those who followed closely recent nffnirs in China will remember tho thrilling story of how a little band of members ofth'o Legion, led by a young man named £1 werly, a former Canadian trapper ond explorer, entered a city full of i'hinvMi who were mud with blood lust, and how this littlo Kind, eight all told, rescued European, women mul children, gathcrrd up others from other parts of the disturbed district, and k<l thorn to safety. The Legion enlists men who have seen frontier service ii\ the M>nse that the gold-seeker, the rancher, tho lumberman, the .explorer, the guide, the trapper, the boundary rider, tho timber ratter, etc.. has seen it—pioneers, the men who "do" things, men whose habits of observation have beeii quickened, and whoso work and life inententes ready resource. These men are to bo an adjunct to the regular force, pl.u-iiii! themselves at the disposal of the military authorities in time of war, for .such services as guides, scouts, transport workers, telegraphists, bridge-makers, etc., can render. Tho lesson, of (ho necessity for such a force was'brought'home by the Uocr War, when, says Captaiii -Mahoney, many lives might have Leen saved 'hid the Jlritish forces included a band of men who could have flayed the lioers at their own game, i'hc Boors wc-ro pioneers; they appeared and disappeared aiid seemed to possess charm-id ilivcs; but with a force of such men as uro joining the ranks of the Legion in all countries where Britishers gather together—whether British .soil or not—the lioers would have found their plans often set at nought by men who "knew the gome.." Time-expired soldiers or sailors are' welcomed to the rank?. Each man's .' qunliliraiims arc known, so that whatever service'is required, in emergency the Legion will l:e. able to supply it.-. J ll countries like New Zealand, Australia, and .Canada (hero, is. avast amount of such material,-mid the Legion hopes to form 11 command in New Zealand. That, in conjunction with the Territorial forces, will render these islands impossible of invasion by armed forces. Tim idea is already being taken up jvitii enthusiasm in .Auckland, and .support is being promised injiiany quarters. .