NOTES ON VOLUNTEERING.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2585, 20 July 1882, Page 3

NOTES ON VOLUNTEERING.

No. 2—BANDS, DRESB, DRILL, PHYSIQUE, &c. By Urban V. Bichabds, Captain N. Z. Volunteer Force, and late Lieutenant H.M. 87th, Boyal Irish Fusiliefra. BANDS In my first paper, wbioh appeared In yonr Issue of 20th June last I had occasion to allude to the extraordinary get up of some of the company bands In the Volunteer force, and the great puzzle it must be to a non-commissioned! officer or a private to make out who are officers and who are bandsmen, and, I should have added, bandmasters. In any battalion of the regular, army civilian bandmasters never appear on parade, much less attempt to wear a uniform. - -Those bandmasters who have passed through Kaeller Hall, and.still belong to the army, i.e., who had been originally enlisted or re-engaged, have a distinctive uniform. Bandmasters have never ranked as commissioned offi-ers, and have no more right to wear an officer's dress than a dru umer has. In the army the bandsergeant is responsible for tho discipline of the band ; the bindmaßter for their proper instruction in music. The former is answerable to the adjutant for their general regu larity, &c , unless the president of the band committee takes the whole superintendence ; the latter (bandmaster) takes his orders direct from the commanding officer and the baad president. By the Voluatear regulations the maximum number of a company band is fifteen ; and ail present in uniform on parade are supposed to be enrolled Volunteers. The relative nnmb ji s of the band and rank and file attending some company parades, remind one somewhat of the " Phairaon's " following of—

" Four and twenty men, And five and thirty pip-srs."

It is very dcrirable to have good bands, but, to return to the subject of their dress, it Is soarcely becoming that those belonging to the Volunteer service should set an example of eccentrioity. It is bad enough that civilian bands should think it necessary to ape the military In their dress; but, in their case, there is no law to prevent them dressing as modern major generals or other officers. The fitness of things never seems to occur to them but it ought to be otherwise with Volunteers. D BSS. CARRIAGE, KTC. I will merely say that the Volunteer dress regulations at present supposed to be in force, are practically a dead letter, the distinctive oollar marks of rank when in full dio=s being alone, as far as I am aware of, obseivad. It the-efore doubly behoves officers holding commissions in the foroe to set a good example in oonforming as much as possible to the regulations of the regular service, a 3 far as they ought to apply to Voluntee-s. It is to be hoped that, when new regulations are Issued, they will be cf a stringent character, and that indulging in a taste for bnrlesqne costumes, will be discountenanced, as it always should have been. I will, however, mention a few matters ia connection with the manner certain portions of Vcluntesr uniform .should be worn if the custom of the regular servloe is to be observed as a guide. Busbies or helmets should be worn perfectly straight on the head. The forage oap to be worn lightly en the right side of the head. Non-commiesioned officers and privates sh.uld be careful not to fill the pockets of their tunics, &c, with anything bulky—a pocket handkerchief can easily be carried in the brcaat of tunic.

Apropos of the almost uniform bid carriage of the colonial youth I would strongly recommend tho cirrjiog cf a cape or stick in the right hand. It would at least prevent one hand from being crammed into a trouaer pocket and otherwise help to improve the bearing. It is a pity that a course tf setting up drill ia the exception, not the rale, in the Volunteer service. What is known as swagger or side, but whioh in a trained soldier or drilled man is merely the result of dri U, is infinitely preferable to movlngithrough the world with the head bent, shoulders stooped, and eyes oast on the ground, as one often sees in this city. Men who have not been drilled in their youth frequently appear as if endeavoring to apologise to the publlo generally for being alive at all. Sir Garnet Wb'ssly in his Soldiers Pocket Book on the of smart bearing says:—"No msn oan have that smart bearing, which is the outward mark of a soldier, who allows his hafr to grow eo long that he c»n part it-" "Hair is the glory of a woman but the shame of a man." Ido not go quite as far a* tho distinguished author of the " Pooket Book," but I must say that to the true military eye the meat offensive object that can bb preseuted to it is a man in uniform with lr>.ng h»ir. I have, lam happy to say, obeo.-ved a marked change in the majority of men out here of late ya;.-« in the right direction, ie., keeping their halt cloß'eij cut. iJKILr,. Volunteer recrnits are pushel through their drill much too quickly; they are literally taught to ran or double before they osn walk, Even amongst our Volunteers at Home the recruit is only made to go through thirty drills in the year, or sixty ia his first t w o years, and a comparatively smaller number afterwards. If we compare this with what the recruit in the regular service has got to do, it is wonderfully little. lhe newly enlisted soldier has to attend drills of one , hour's duration each four times a day for three to four months after joining, doing a greater numb or of drills in a fortnight than the Volunteer in a year. But the great majority of Volunteers at Home try to emulate the regulars, and devote a great portion of their spare time to drill. 'lhey do not confine themselves to the drills they arfl bound to attend so as to be returned efficient, but practice on every opportunity. To my mind too much attention ia given to learning a multiplicity of parade movements, which will, in this country at least, be of little or no use. Rifle Instruotion ia practically neglected. In North Canterbury wo are without even a proper rifle range ; certainly without one withia easy distanco of Christchurch, and no facilities are given by the Government in tho shape of free passes on ra'lways to the nearest range for the purpose of practice. I propose Bho'tly writing a paper on musketry instruction and practice alone, so I will not in this make further allusion to this all important subject. EHSSIQUE, BTC. It has been remarked that, as a body, the Volunteers are a fine lot of men, Undoub'.edly they arc, but I am not aware of any regulation existing precluding tho admission ot weakly or undersizsd men into our ranks. By undersized, I mean men whose chest measurement is below the avorsge, rather than those wanting in height. I have done many long marches in my time with troops, and, as a rule, have found that the short: or middle-sized man, with good chest me&Buremont, endured fatigue even hotter than tall and fine-looking men. In the old country the standard is not under sft. 3in. in height, and 32in. chest measurement, for tho Volunteers. I oaunot admit that a man fulfilling these oonditions oaly is fit for service in the field. For the defenoe of a fixed post dou'btless suoh man would ba found useful, but should long and heavy marches be the rule, not the exoeption, lhe number of ambulance waggons, or othor conveyances for the siok, would have to bo inoreased. Even with the army standard, whioh is greater, oarriage for fire per cent, siok has to be generally allowed.

With regard to improving the physique of young mon or boys, no better universal system oan bo adopted than the ordinary setting-up drill. The instructions oan be found in the " Field Exercise Book," page 11 and following. The three practices, if persisted in, will undoubtedly, as it says, " open theoheetand give freedom to the muscles." The balanoo step, if properly taught, in combination with the extension irotions, will go a long way in the direction of making a youth develop into a fine looking man, provided he is any way near the average as regards the height and chest measurement usual for his bge. Tho change that one year's service in the army, with constant drill, makes in a man, must be seen to be believed. I, and many others of greater experience and length of service, have always regretted the doing away with the old march past in slow time on parades. Nothing, to my mind, steadied men better and taught ;theaa to hold themselves uprightly. I am, of course, aware that slow time is taught still, but it W only practised in squad drill, i am old-fashioned enough to i think that steadiness is its much required as oelerity.