THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

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Tlie Sargood Cup has this tame been. removed far enough fiom Dunedin, the Blenheim Rifles winning the competition with a. score o£ 290The First Railway Pione-ers are net aftev all, it seems, to be attached to No. 1 Battalion O.R.V. ArJiority has been received for the company to remain a separate unit, like the B Battery or the Dunedin Engineers. " It is probable that in future non-commis-sioned officers failing in one subject oniy will be permitted to sit again for that subject, instead of having to take the whole examination o\er again as is at present the case. The following team will represent Green rfii-nd Riflee in the Watkinson Challenge Shield competition at Christchurch en the 29th inst :— Sergeant A. C. Cramp, Serjeant W. H. Crimp, Corporal James Geddes, Private W. J. Crimp, and Private G. P. Crimp. The proposed new mounted infantry corps has now actually enrolled the minimum number required before application for acceptance could be considered by the Defence authorities. Three officers and 4 0 men have signed on, and the necessary steps towards recognition, as part of the Defence Forces of the Dominion will now be taken. A parade of No. 1 Battalion was held on Tuesdaj, the 18th. Some of the companies were rather poorly represented, and for the purposes of battalion drill on the Asylum Ground the men present were divided into five companies. The time at disposal was devoted to battalion movemeats And attack practice. The parade state was as follows: — Staff: Lieutenantcolonel Stoneham, Lieutenant-colonel Will. V.D., Major Crawford, V.D., Captain aid Adjutant Barclay, Lieutenant-quarter-master Moncrieff, Staff-^ergeant-major Bishop. Dunedin City Guards, 35: North Dunedin Rifles, 10 ; Dunedin Highland Rifles, 24; Dunedin City Rifles, 21; Dunsdin Rifles, 16; Wakari Rifles, 9; Caversham Rifles. 12: Green Island Rifles, 2tL; Cycle and Signalling Corps, 30; — total, Ifc9. After the parade the officers of the bathalion met together soeiallv to make * presentation to CaDtain Barclay, adjutant of the battalion, who leaves for SyoWv early next month. A case of Loewe pipes, a silver matchbox, an-d an amber cienrholder were presented to Captain and A<liutant Barclay. on behalf of the officers, by thf O.C. Batfilion (Lieutenant-colonel P f oncham). who said bo was surp the otl'.T nfFr-^rs regretted with him t'»e 'oss of their nd'iitant. Hp had not br»fn p orrpet tim° •m'*'i th/=rr>, but hf bad prc\pd hirr^plt 1o If otip <-><■ tho 1 . ~*- an* 1 keenest a<'iuVani«i ll'"v Y""{ hn rl T !i P' hop = d in '■ ■> n^n ;;■!,< -o If. v <>li.l )i 1 5 -\nv <'>\\l to ti l ■• up Voi inttr-iuie -\^'\ l^i- ff»!i*-iriie 1 ! " "■-od woik ho had 'fin 0 nij lipip M.il'ir Qrawiord a.nd Ca'-tjun Dempster also

I 1 .'•i-ofiv voiced the general sentiment c I rc?iet. In acknowledging the gifts a' j the expressions of good-fellowship, Oaptai I Barclay said that as he smoked the piix*" 1 I in his new home he would rcmoniber the battalion, and if anyone should happen to send him a copy of the Friday is«ue of the ( 1 imas he would eagerly follow the doings of thosp am-Ollg^fc whom h-c ha-d worlcej. j ' Amongst the various toasts honoured dnr i ing the e\ening wore: — "The Battalion," j • proposed by Captain and Adjutant Bar- j 'clay; "The Wakari Rifles " (dinners of the Battalion Shield competition), pro- j posed by Captain Dempster ; a-nd " The i Dunedin City Guards " (whose representati\es tied with the Kaitangata team in the | Ladies' Shield competition, but lest on i the tie), proposed by Captain Bremn-cr. I The annual competition for the Ladies' , Challenge Shield took place at. Pelicnet Bay • range on the 15th, and after a very kesn contest Kaitangata Rifles and Dun- ! edin City Guards finished equal ; Vut as the former team put on the best score at the longest range it Ayill hold ihe shield until the next competition. The < 7 ay was a very bad one for shooting, the heaw N ; E. i gale spoiling many good scores, bhooring j commenced at 200 yds. and of the lirst eight teams down Kaitangata and Nort'i , Dunedin Rifles finished with 154 points oach. When the remaining four toains lay . down the wind had moderated a little, and the City Guards scored 160, giving thpm a lead of 6 points for the ranaf-c. At ' 500\ds conditions were still v*ry tryina;, but nevertheless KaitangCita Rifles r&gistered tlie fine soore of 163, making their total for two ranges 317. City Guards, who had again drawn the bye, resnsTPred 158, making their total 318 : Port Chalmers ■ Nav&ls. with a total of 308. l}in<» thud. JAr 600 yds t'le conditions were ver\ bad again Chief interest rentiod round t^c two leadin;; teams, and Iho (!o=o filiish antjoiratod was realised Tliß toums were on adjoining targets, and the local team finisheel first with a ran fro total of 129. making their grand total 447 Kaitangita at thie staire reciuired 32 points to tic and win with eiffht shots to so. Tl-e first four shots were bull's-oves. The pvcitempnt was , now intense, but Seravant Sniaill an'l I Corporrl Smith were equal to thc> tas'c. and reB r i«t°red two "magpies" each, thus winning til 0 shield. j The hiffbost spore si 200-ids wa« 3^, 1 made by Sapi-pr A. Parker Engi- . nrprs). At 500 v^s C'arporal Str^w (Bru^p ! Rifles) tp tn'sttTcd the only ro^i'Me of t'ne 1 rlav. and the K°st <=core at eOCvr's was 53 by Ser<reant-maior Afickie (D""'" 1 i X^va' ) P'nr th>-pp raner= f he -sc^ro <^f 93. n" \p by Colour sprannt Brvrp fTvaiton£^?^^ T?iflp-). was a fine n"r f o r m-in' > p Lip"tpnj">t fno-v Cort'in) and Cornonl (r>w ««,. »^i\ «lr!,aill Vo'h murlo sro-^i of W in tIT» IQC^ i ,-NT>-n«*--t : on but n~ 'hit of"<- - ->ii iVip i"'" 't "j'ntAci t'"--t "■ho ' "ntli< i , "'i f^ct I— i- <-Viootiria "' vi ! ,'» m c U +m,l v , f vi o, . =- ,),., riM "- == . Ti-p n«>^t 1-irst - „ - -„ c - , , ,' - „ r '< m» I. by <.-2- r I A Piikey O-in.^m Ensitiecrs). Cbal-

enges were fairly frequent during the after.oon, and the funds of the committee will •cneiit to the extent of 15s under that heading.

The Dunedin City Rifles are to be disbanded. Owing- to the difficulty of obtaining recruits the numbers have for some time been decreasing until, at a meotinor iiew laat week, the decision to disband was reached This consummation is to bo regretted, remembering the fact that the City Rifles was for some Years one of the leading infantiy companies" of the battalion, running neck and neck with the Dunedin Highland Rifles in the race towards the proal of efficiency. In 1898 the defence authorides desired to form two additional Volunteer infantry companies and a, cycle company, and as the upshot of a meeting held in the Garrison Hall on Apiil 29. 1898, the Dunedin Ctiy Rifle Volunteers sprang into existence. The list of officers who have been connected with the company is as follows : —

Captaan H. D. Jackson (Queen's medal with six clasps). South Africa, March, 1900 (Fifth Cor.-hi %&ni) , Lieutenant .1. S. Hi«lop, appointed adjutant, June. 1898; L eutenant J E Moultray, resigned March 1. 1P99, Lieutenant M Coughlan (June. 1593). resigned Nov 1, 1899, L eutenant J. M'Ara (April 31. 1899), appointed actmg-cap-aui Hay 6, 1902, and captain September 3. IPO2 , Lieuten ant R Kirkham (November 16, ]?99i died December 14 1S02; Lieutenant S B Ussher (May 8, 1902), resigned October 30. 1906, Lieutenant D. B M'Kenzie (May 7, 1903), resigned April 12, 1904; Lieutenant F. B. Hutton (June 16 1904), resigned March 1, 1905; Lieutenant C G White (May i. 1905). Up to within 18 months ago tho company had an excellent reputation for musters. The officers ha\e benn li\e men. and the non-coins, have caujrht the spmt of enthu^ia^m and ha\e endeavoured with a considerable amount of success, to attain that pfficicncv v. Inch has been the watchword of the officers Captain M'Ar.v had nlwav uppermost in his methods th° ttaiiiinp; of a compani of soldiers for practical use in tne field Colour-*erjjpant K'-iKham ha= been with the compiny foi ->o\en \cai=. a-nd declined piomotion to the iio^it'.on of battalion sei ffeant-major rather than lea\o his compam. The two remaining: serpeants ha\e both had their ->tripe~> about fi\e vpaifi. and S°r<reant Cook, who left the di&ruct «omo time aa;o. has rccentK been anuointed lieutenant of tho Aw.irua Riflo=. The company was one of the fivfct of the battalion companies to spcuio (he khnla unifoim. and, later, the full tlrrs* Thp rompanv has the distinction of being ihr> fir«t winner of the battalion ■shiold. and l^ a^ r>s behind it a ffond record Th° disiTPmhermont of the Dunedin City Rifle= should mppn (ho accession of a few good men to oth°r companies.

In eonnpftmn with rhe Otaifo Hii s<l ars it is pror-o^ed to hold the annual t:ainin«r ft-oin April 10 to 16 and finish up wii'i Ka->irr liuncpinie' The site fcr the camp v ill mohnblv be 'W.iikouaiti or IlampJeii. hlicio sqiiadions of the legimcut will be camjjed-

It is undcrelood that Rifleman D. I\l'Calle\. winner of tho AYesl Australia championship, will bo a competitor at the South Island RiSc A-~ociat ion's meeting at Redchft's, Chn^tchurch. on Februaiv 28, 29. and March 2. Mr Arthur Ballinger, who last year won out)i<r))fc the C'llaai.>.onsl..n R.IU Beit, 'has written to the Now Zealand Rifle Association stating the conditions on winch he will return the boX to tho as=ociation for future competition. The chief conditions are that tho belt shall be known as the Ballinger Belt, that it shall be competed for annually, and shall be hold by the winner for one year only. There is under consideration at the prosent time a. pioposition that the whole of the administration of >»o. 1 Battalian shall be undertaken by the staff instead of each company partially administering its own funds. Officers will meet this week (o discus 3 the matter, and it is ffndeistood that a majority of tho officeis i 6at the present time in favour of the idea. If carried, this will mean that the battalion staff, instead of dealing only with that part of (ho funde set apart for uniforms, would handle Ihe whole of the funds, allotting a proportion to each corps according to legitimate needs and special circumstances. This method obtains generally in battalions elsewhere than New Zealand, and would be found to work out more cheiplj, and certainly more efficienlh. than -the present methed. The change would not bo accomplished without j surmounting difficulties, but there is no reason why. after a workable scheme has been cot fairly into opciation, the new method should not be altogether succsaa-ful. Captain end Adjutant Barclay will evamine recruits for No. 1 Battalion on Friday evening, 28th inst., in tho Garrison Hall. On Monday. March 2. at 8 p.m., Staff Soigeant-major Bunros will examine the battalion signaHor.s at the ?amo place.

It has boon suggested to tho Minister of War. Mr Haldane, that in subsequent issues of the Army List, published monthly, the whole of the colonial forces be included.

Of Interest to Trentbam Competitors — The ranq»s ,->t Trenrham will be open for pi act ire by oorrpptitors from Saturday, Fobriuny 29. Every opportunity will thus be given for plenty of practice at the long ran<re^ before the meeting opens. There will 1-e no alteration in the targets. The circular outer is to be used at Bi3ley in July next, but the Trentham targets will for thu year, at all events, bo squares as usual The exneriment will be tried this year of " ein?le-ma« targets." This has boon su^ao^ted previousK as a remedy for the inconvenience caused by a slow rifleman disorganising his fellow shots. Tie raner> office; = nil afco be enabled to keep a tine fa Wo. Ho\ve\er, it mu-t be re-ni^mb'-ipd that the id'?a is only to be exppriTiipnlt'd with, a.nd the executive does not b'nd it-olf to continue the system should 1 it provo unworkable.

Compci itors .ire specially warned not to tamper v^th the sights iq *ny way. The

lat k M-jht must not be supported by any me in? extraneous to the rifle. The sliding b*x< may bo reversed and may be used on either; 6ulo of the uprights. The "small slide" autho. i«ed by section 169 of the Musketry Regulations, 1898, or the " wind-guage> •slido " ns provided by the Army Ordnance* Depaitmont for match -shooting may be used as ,m alternative to the slide as issued*. No additions of "permanent" lines to the t'mee lines on the bar will be allowed. Tempoiary lines of any colour, or marks of an\ kind, removable at pleasure, but not consisting of slips of paper or othe-r substances capablo of being shifted, may be used, eviept where otheiwise stated. In the ta=o of lines fitted with a safety catch, the thumb piece of tho safety catch mu-t bo quite down, and tho catch must not bo user! in any way as a means of discharging the rifle.

The subjoined notes wore unfortunately; seiuied too lato for publication in this column last week?: —

The KeUo Mounted Rifles went imder cam as at Brooksdale for their annual training ; 55 strong under Captain Stewart There were also three members of the regimental staff, and one of the Tuapeka Mounted Rifles. The instruction was carried on by Captain Nelson and Sexgt.major Grant of the Defence Staff. The weather was good all through, and every variety of work was done. Lieut. -colonel Smyxh inspected the squadron on the Saturday, and put them through a close examination in all ranlcs. at the finish expressing himself well pleased with the result. Church parade was held on Sunday, and there was a large attendance of volunteers and public. The Rev. Mr Jupp preached a stirring sermon. The large number of ladies present made the musical part of the eefvioe a special feature. Field firing was conducted under Captain Nelson on Tuesday. The sports held on Wedinesday, 12th inst., puit the finishing touches to an enjoyable andi instructive camp.

It is gratifying to note that I Company, King's Rifles, Oamaru, is not playing "Rip Van Winkle." A daylight parade was held on Thursday afternoon, 13th. The order of march from the Drill Shed was advance guard, this formation being kept to within a quarter of a mile of SandTi Beach (about two miles distant), South Oamaru. A tactical scheme was formulated by the O.C. Kings Rifles, Captain Morris, and the results were judged by S. S. M. Kibblewhite. Major Mahan, 0.0. Battalion, was present. Boats were supposed to be landing an enemy; the enemybeing represented by head and shoulder targets of wire frames with envelopes of brown paper, which were placed on the beach near the sea &t three distances unknown to those taking part. The hits were fairly good. The attack was made by three sections, under the command of a N.O. officer, each taking part separately as for competition, and moving to the attack; according to individual judgment. The practice was a creditable attempt, highly instructive, and interesting to N.O. officer*, and men. The«e practical lessons in attack or defence in open and clo*") country are of great value in the training of a company. Apart from the profitable experience gained by the N.C officers in handling their men advantageously in tho field, it is healthful sport. It is to be regretted that more of our young men do not stir up to the responsibility of defence; the opportunity is theirs to lcam the use of a rifle. Liberal encouragement is needed' from the Government to revive a keener inteicst in volunteering. — I am, etc., Advance.