THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

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Ckptain Hickey, A.A.G., will inspect th« fcHowing corps as under: — H* Company, 3r<3 ■Baifedion 0.8.V., August 51, at Dtmtroon, at, ' 8 p.m. ; D Company, 3rd Batialiok 0.». V., September 8, Palmerston SouJ;h . 2.30 p.m.; C Company, 3rd Battalion 0.8.V., September 8. Hampden, at 8 p.m. The passing of a Vorunteer company thai has in th> past known prosperous days will necessarily be viewed with regret. Tb€ North Dunedin Rifles have- proved consis' tent in that they have adhered to then determination to stand or fell by the acceptance or rejection of Mir Begg as their captain. While, however, it is regrettable that there is to be no more, in the meantime, a North Dunedin Rifles Company, it as better that iit should be so. than that the North Dunedin Rifles should have continued to exist as a body of passive registers. That a oompany could' remain in existence doing praotdcally no training for an indefinite period, whilst a committee of citizens strove to secure for it that which the Defence Council was unwilling io concede, was impossible. - The ultimatum by the Citizens' Committee produced what might have been expected— a stiffened back on the part of the Defence Council. There i 6 every reason to suppose that the public will be enlightened ob to the reasons which have encouraged *lhe North Dunedin Rifles to expect the appointment of Mr Begg. The history of the North Dunedin Rifles carries iw back nearly to the beginning of things military in this district. On April 3, 1862. Mr Wiiljam Fox, then Oolondal , Secretary, intimated that the services of two companies of O*ago residents would be acceptea, and that 100 rifles were being for.--.■raa>rded. These two companies were known as the Dunedin Rifle Volunteers No. 1 and 2 Companies, and out of them sprang the Dnneddn City Guards. The .North Dunedin Rifles were formed i* 18ot. At that time Mr A. J. Burns was elected honorary captain, and it was not till 1865 that Mr Vincent Pyke was elected captain, thus being the first officer in the company with a commission. Two yearß later Mr Japes Copland took command, later captains being Mr C. S. Reeves (1876), Mr Andrew Burns (late secretary of the Dunedin Hospital), Mr R. M*Nab (now Defence Minister), Mr S. Si Myers, and lastly Mr R. A. Johnston, wfoo took command in 1902. On Captain Johnston's retirement Lieutenant Begg took confcroj, and- his position has been a»vifching but comfortable. . The North Dunedin Rifles have always been noted for good shooting. f They have, had the distinction of winning the Teams' Championship af New Zealand, and Corporal T. HutchrinsoOT brought to the company the New Zealand Championship Belt; whilst on several occasions a representative of tho company, notably Lieutenant Richardson, has been runner-ur for the Belt. ('The Indies' Challenge Sbiedd and the Bugle have been won on numerous occasions. The last-naaned trophy has been held for the past two yoars, on the last occasion being won with a record score. ' The number on the roll has never been less than 60, and it bas been as high as 80. IK; is intersting to note jKhat a* the time of the M?x>ri war' troubles in the North Island the, whole company volunteered for servioa, 'but were not required. At one tima the company ran its own brass band, and later on a bugle band of 10 buglers and two side-drums. About 10 members of the company volunteered for active service in South Africa when contingents were being sent from New Zealand. The oruellest of weather attended the annual presentation of prizes and display pt •work in conmsction with Ifhe »Dunedin Engineers and Cadets. In the circumstances the corps may congratulate itself upon the amount of interest taken in ite work as displayed by the fairly large attendance. The work was most interesting, the Cadets in particular earning praise. The generous services of the Garrison Band, as usual, brightened the gathering. In presenting the Challenge Cup to the Dunedir Engineer Cadets on Wednesday, the 18th, Lieutenant-colonsl ■Stoneham said that he would rather have had to present it to one of the Cadet companies attached to his own battalion, but he had high hopes of doing so nexf year. The only way to win bh© trophy, however, was to go* down on the range and shoot for it: During the five years of its existence the competition for ithe cup has simply been a duel between the Engineer Cadets who have held it three times, and the High School Cadets, who •have held it twice. These companies, no doubt, will again compete in the next match, and teams from other Cadet corps will be warmly welcomed. Cadet M'Dougall, of the Otago Boys' High (School Defence Cadets, has been selected as one of the New Zealand team to compete for Lord Roberto's Imperial trophy.' The oondrfcioue state thmt the trophy shall be fired for by representative British school bo v teams ox eight boys, not over {the age of 16, on July 1 of the year of the comipetttion, from England, Scotland, Ireland, 'Wales, and British Dominions end States, the shooting to be over 200 and 500 yards ranges, and to be done in each country, the scores to be forwarded to headquarters, Engiand. A bronze medal will be presented to each member of the winning team, and a silver medal (C. B. Fry's) to the captain. The New Zealand team will fire at Polhiil GuUy Range Wellington, on August 27. The names of four of tho local High School Cadets were submitted, the selectors of the team choosing Cadet M'Dougall.

I whose averag-e. of 59 for three tests over the two ranges was the best of the four. I Last year the Otago Boys' High Sdhcol had < two representatives in the team, one of -them tying witn a Ramgiora Cadet for first place, and the other faking third place. | The colours ordered in December last for * the Otago Boys' High School Defence ■> Cadets ar © «t last on the way. They are Q expected by the Paparoa. '• In reference to the recent emergency 1 mobilisation tests, the following appears in district orders: — "Referring to the recent V eoM^gency mobilisation at Dun«din, Inver1 caa - gill, and Oamaru, the Officer Ooinmand9 ing the District considers the results on the ' whole very satisfactory. At Dunedin he r observed with pleasure the steadiness of the " men and the absence of any noise ox conf fusion. At Inyercargill the muster and time * taken were highly satisfactory. He trusts " lhat the poor muster of infantry at Dunedin k and Oamaru was accounted for by the fact i that the alarm signal did not reach those J absent He would specially mention for " approbation the following corps : — B Battery ' ii.'A. Field Artillery Volunteers; Otago 3 Division, N.Z. Garrison Artillery Volun- ! teers;- No 2 Company, N.Z. Engineer J -Volunteer**; Dunedin Garrison Band ; Band, ; 3rd Battalion Ot&go Rifle Volunteers; all corps at Invercargill." ' £c. must be getting onj:or a year since the ' propesal was made to erect at the rear of the [ mobilisatinn stores a hall for the use of the local Field Artillery It is quite a considerable time sinoe a grant for the work was approved and the plans prepared, but v so far there are no signs of the building V being started. ' There has been a marked improvement of lato in (he strength of the First Eeffimsnt O.M".R. With one exception the ' squadrons are over 70 strong. The decision of the National Rifle Assooiation to permit the, use of aperture sights | has jjroved the signal for various inventors to exercise their talents along that line. 1 The advantages of the ajperture sight are thus stated: The aperture is merely looked through, and does not entail the strain 1 of focussing an extra object as the V notch of an open sighj; does. The aperture is brought near to the eye, the r> stance between the sights increased, and the result of error in holdiftij ec.nepquenrly decreased. . The aperture allows of a larger field of ] vision and greater rapidity of aim. The j B S.A , the Westipy-Richards, and tha \ Fraser are already being well spoken of. Under the title of "Rifle Sights Under Bisley Rule 3, 1909," the Birmingham Small Arms Company has issued a neat informative booklet, of which portion is devoted to the exphination of "angle" in its relation to the graduation of rifle sights, and portion to the various s : ghts the company lias recently introduced, special reference Being made to the No. 9 aperture sight, which has been approved by the N.R.A. for use on the service pattern rifle. Copies of the booklet may be obtained on application to Mr D. Y. Rennie, 4 Stock Exchange Buildings, Melbourne The District Armourer will carry out his annual inspection at. Dunedin during the month of September. - | Classes of instruction similar to those held : leeently in Dunedin for officers and non-f-omp-uasioned offcars vere inauerura'cd at Balelutha on Monday. 16th inst., by Captain Hiekev; A.A.G. Ten Volunteer officers or.il 20 nw corn, officers attended the clabscs on tha cpsnintj evening, the attendances on the second evening being eight Volunteer officers ond two Cadet officers .and 18 non-com, officers. Captain Hickey directed* the instruction for tho two openme nights, arranorein^nrs being made for the remainder of the work to be carried out by the battalion staff. On Friday, 13th inst., at the Non-commis-sioned Officers' Club Room, Sergeant Smith, R.N.Z.-dT., gave a most interesting lecture on "The Telephone in Active Service." Dismounting a service telephone, he explained and illustrated by way of introduction how the action of the intri- ' oate mechanism enables the voice to be reproduced at great distances. The speaker, who certainly had bis subject at his fingers' ends, has also th-e knack — not the gift of all instructors--of imparting information in a way that is interesting and readily understood. The important part played by the telephone in active service was "made clear to the audience. The following camp dates are anproved : E Squadron (Tuapeka Mounted Rifles). Ist Regiment Otago Mounted Rifles Volunteers from November 2 to 9, 1909; A Squadion (Otago Hussars). l*t Regiment Otago Mounted Rifles Voiunteerc, from No\ ember 6 to 13, 1909. _ The following officer? will sit for examination at the various centres on September I:— At Dunedin— Captain G. R. RitchiV B Battery, F.A.V. ; Lieutenant A F Roberts, B Battery, F.A.V. ; Lieutenant W M'G. Turnbull, Ist Regiment O.M R V Captain J. B. M'Kindey, E Squadron, Ist Regiment M.R. ; Lieutenant A. J. Haetie, A Squadron, Ist Regiment M.R. ; Lieutenant J. Black, A Squadron, Ist Regiment , M.R. ; Lieutenant D> B. Sha-nd, A Squadron, Ist Regiment M.8. ; Captain J. M*Ara Ist Battalion Otago Rifle Volunteers; Lieutenant A. J. C&rystaU, U Company , Ist Battalion OJEt.V. At Oamairu— Major , J. - M-. ForMeter;#3rd Battalion 0.R.V. ; Captain J. S. Jeasep, B Company, 3rd Battalion 0.R.V.; Lieutenant J. C. Maaley, B Company, 3rd Battalion 0.R.V.; Lieutenant F. W. Ongley B Company, 3rd Bat- , tahon O.R.V At In vereargill— Captain J. A. Mackenzie, A Company, 2nd Battalion < 0.R.V. ; Lieutenant G. Kelly, A Company, ', 2nd Battalion O.R.V At Milton— Captain !

J. H. Inglis, D Company, 4-th Battalion 0.R.V.; Captain J. R. Garden. E Com- ' pahy, 4th Battalion 0.H.V. ; Lieutenant IJ. Steven, E Company, 4th Battalion 0.R.V. ; Lieutenant A. H. OhaxLton, E Company, 4th Battalion 0.R.V. ; Lieutenant R. W. Capstick, B Company, 4th Battalion O.R.V.