PALMERSTON NORTH RIFLES.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 25, 5 February 1879, Page 2

PALMERSTON NORTH RIFLES.

A meeting convened by advertisement was held m the Royal Hotel, Palmerston, on Monday evening, for the purpose of swearing m, members and electing the officers for fcho corps,. H.ia Worship the Mayor occupied the Chair, and. after adverting to the necessity of. observing punctuality, said he would call upon SergeantMajor Bezar to. enter- the names of the condidates, whil& he proceeded to administer the oath. Before, however, that ceremony was proceeded with,. Sergeant-Major Bezab- said he wished to apologise for trie absence of theMajor Commanding the district,; w.hich h e felt sure sure was caused either througo ill* ness or some other equally valid reason.--He knew tli&fc Major Noake was most; anxious to be present, but hs w,a3 also awarethat that gentleman had been confined to his house for- the past week through ill.neas. Then, again, he (the Sergeant-major) had giien a letter to the railway station master, Matarawa for MajorNoake*. and he had discovered' that it had not been de-. livered to him until Monday morning; bo so it might bfi- that wa9 the- cause of hi 3 absence. It had been usually the rule for the officer commanding the corps to apply for the arms, but as Ma jor- Koake- had been desirous that the Palmer3ton men should have their shooting irons without delay, he had undertaken that duty, but unfortunately they had not been forwarded. The first part of the proceedings would be. the swear-*, ing m of members, as until that process w,as complied with, they were not Volunteers and could undertake- none' of the- duties. He might, however, point out that it was by no means necessary that the full number of the company, fifty — the minimum allowed to any one corps — should bo all sworn m that night,, as a Justice of the Peace could swear them at any time between that and next parade. ■ Mr. Shelson, J.P., then administered the oath to four members at a time } fortyseven candidates coming forward to do so, and subscribe their names. The Chairman nest intimated that it would be competent for the corp3 to elect it 3 officers at that meetieg, or- hold over such action until the first parade. For his own part, he thought the latter proceeding the more wise, as it would give members a better opportunity of thinking the matter- over, and making the be3t selection. Besides the rules would have to be passed before- the- meeting separated, and a9 they were somewhat bulky that alone would occupy considerable time.. However, the maiter was entirely m the hands of the corps to decids. A show of hands was then taken, when it was carried by a large majority to. proceed with the election of officers. Mr Hampson proposed, ■snd Mr M'offatt seconded— " That Mr Snelson be elected Captain." There being no other nomination, Mr Snelson said that when he went to the meeting, he had no intention whatever of putting up for office, but he certainly felt tfio honor v which had been spontaneously offerei to him. and he would accept it. He had been an old Volunteer, and had considered he had done his share of 'that kind of work, but ho could not see his way to ref U3e a position of honor which was conferred upon him m such a generous manner. He had not been a candidate, and had no intention of taking a leading part, being quite satisfied with being an honorary member, but as the corps had unanimously chosen him, he would give his be3t efforts to it 3 advancement." He was then declared duly elected amidst loud acclamation. ! For the office, of Lieutenant, Messrs. Pirani, Coleman, E. Marsh, T. King, and G-. Marsh were proposed, but Messrs. Coleman, King, and E. Marsh declined the honor. In doing so, Mr Coloman stated that he felt duly sensible of the honor sought to be placei upon him, but as it was his intention to organise a Cadet Corps of which he would have the chai'gc, he never intended to assume any other t^ati an honorary position. Ho had worked hard to organise the corps, and would give it all the assistance m his power ; but for the reason above stated he should decline allowing himself to be nominated for office. Mr. Kino said he could not spare sufficient timo to attend proporly to t^o duties, an.-l he did not believe m undertaking an office the labors of which he was not prcp.iro'l to efficiently carry out. Mix E. M.vksh'b reasons for declining were that lie had neither fcho time nor the compsfconcy frw the position ; nevertheless Jie was thankful for the- courtesy, which had been paid him. Mr. Haju'son had been anold Volunteer, ami he inu't confess lie had nuver seen such diffl iiilty m procuring candidates for the position of officers. The Citathjian wisho'l tlie meeting to express an opinion aa to whether $10 three

gentlemen who had been proposed an seconded, but; declined to stand, should be \ allowed to "withdraw. A show of hands having been taken, this result was m the- affirmative-, and -. ■ -'The Chairman then intimated that the; contest w,os cammed down to -one between Messrs. 'G-eorge- Marsh and Pirani. \ On a poll being taken by/ a' show of hands, Mr. Marsh vras declared elected 1 by a large inajbrty. " ' v - '■-■•- Mr. Marah m returning thanks said the result bad-taken him completely bysuyprise, inasmuch as ho was almost an entire- stranger m the district. Howe-yer, tnat was a failing which could be- easily remedied, a»d he hoped to not only become better known,, but prove- to those who had elested him that he was worthy of their confidence. Th,e next office to be filled was that of sub-lieutenant, for which Mr. Pirani was proposed and unanimously elected, returning thanks m a facetious speech m which he promised to be- all there m active service. The appointment of non-commiaioned officers was left until the next meeting, but the following Committee of Management was elected : — Messrs. Rimond Hayns. E. Marsh, Maclachlan, and MofEatt; Secretary, GK S. Lockie ; Treasurer, J. O. Batchelan After the rules had been approved of they were- adopted, and the- meeting ad jour* ned.