MT. VICTORIA'S GUN.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1725, 16 April 1913, Page 7

MT. VICTORIA'S GUN.

AND HOW. IT GOT THERE. Mr. W. R. Bock, of Lambton Quay, then Sergeant-Major of the D. Battery .'[at.that, time commanded by liieutenantUolonel . l f ox), in a statement to a Dominion reporter, regarding ~ "Mere . .. . Mere's*' .reference to' the gun on Mount Victoria, .said that" tho' 241b. ship : carronade (the typa that; Nelson fought , with),'. now . on Mount Victoria, was hauled up the mountain-side by tho members of the D Battery about, the year 1878—certainly not later.:. The old - car- ■ Tonada had wen' presented to tho City Council, which body had decided to use jfc as a time-gun, a thing rather more •necessary then. than now, as in those days clocks and watches were not so numerous and cheap as they are at pre- , sent. To show. their practical .knowledge of,how to handle a gun, the battery offered to get the piece to the top, and did so after a, week's Struggle, working about an hour and a half in th<s mornings (before ,business, hours), and two hours of an evening. .• The caiinon was "par- , buckled" up tho hill, straight up Majoribanks Street, and almost in a straight line up the hill-sido in a line with that street. That is to say, an "anchor" was sunk in the .ground about fifty yards ahead, and between it and the cannon was a double block and tackle, which the lull strength of the battery tailed on to. Mr. Bock; states that the job was managed solely by the members of tho bat- ' tery. He remembers that-it was finished on a Saturday, and to celebrate the feat, the old carronade was given , a big blank charge, and fired. The council had the gun fired daily at noon for a time, tho , signal to fire it being the dropping of the / ' time-ball, then, rigged on the top of , the bid post office; at the foot of the Queen's AYharf. The ,daily, bang did Inot last ■ long, but it was fired at noon on Saturdays for some \ months. Finally it was discontinued altogether, .on the score of expense it was understood.. ■" . •

The' Scottish Society, 'a new society' formed to cultivate' Scottish national fentiment, preserve Scottish traditions, and encourage tho wearing of the national dress,: was constituted in Edinburgh recently with a largo membership. The first object the society lias in view is the wearing of the kilt, which will be Compulsory on all members at their respective functions. , 1 ' '