Commercial.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 281, 29 June 1860, Page 2

Commercial.

To the Editor of the Colonist. Sir—Will you have the* goodness to insert the following questions regarding the Militia in your next issue, and oblige Yours, &o.f

To the Lieutenant-Colonel of the. Nelson. Militia. ' i Sib, —We, the undersigned, having been sworn members of the No. 1 company of the Nelson .Militia respectfully,submit that we consider that before we can cheerfully continue to attend to our drill we are entitled to answers to the following questions:— 1. Under what clause of the Militia Act are the few forming the present company called out for training ? 2. When are any others to be called out ? ■ 3. In our company there is a substitute;' under what clause of the Act is this authorised*? "* ~ ' \ 4. Are we< to tfe ,kept in training 168 hours before 'any other Company is called out for training ?, , . -, • • • , • s . 5. What pay are we to receive ? ' 6* What clothing are we to receive, and when? 7. What'arms are we to receive,'ana when ?"' •' 8. Several persons whose names were' called on thi ! first day of drill, have never attended': we think we are entitled to know the nature of their exemption. ' 4 Nelson, June 24. ' ' ' ■ -. ';

To the .Editor, of the Colonist, r ■' StRJ — I was not aware until I saw* "John Hume" in print that he assisted by his presence at* the fictitious " Public" Meeting on the night of the 7th April last., , : • * ' He may rest satisfied, that his version will be estimated at its fair value. , , t ~_ I shall not oblige John Hume by contradicting any of his statements, but leave your readers to' form their own conclusions. He says, "the meeting was a spontaneous congregation of a large number of respectable merchants, tradesmen, and others residing in the town;" and* sir, I ask them if it is true whether the' Court-house, if crammed to suffocation, can hold a bona'fide public meeting, one in proportion to the 1 present population ? To believe tiiat it can, would be to display an amount of wilful ignorance which I should be soi'ry to see even in John Hume. Before he, and some others who took part at the said meeting, arrived among us, hole-and-corner meetings were not uriseldom, but were discontinued by their repeated exposure by John Hume's "first man of the province" "and others; and persons now-a-days "naturally direct their steps in that direction " where the place- of meeting is advertised or otherwise publicly announced to be held.

As to the respectability of the meeting, no one doubts it, but respectable men are sometimes misled 'by interested individuals,, and which I strongly suspect was the case in thisk instance. If the Odd Fellows' Hall was " orowded with Taranaki refugees on the night in "question," why did not the "merchants, tradesmen and others" cause the meeting to be held at the Freemasons' Hall, which will hold (if I am not in error) even more than the former, and ia in the centre of the town '{ John Hume's gratuitous advice and. abuse is very gratifying; thank goodness, he reserved his praise. And if I might presume, I would"; recommend' John to keep his temper; a man who loses his temper, metaphorically speaking, yery often loses sight of his principle for the sake of his interest in the matter. ' ! I am, &c, YOUR CORRESPONDENT.

Volunteers.—How to get out of a difficulty: In one of the populous pnd thriving manufacturing' towns, near Ashton-under-Lyne, one of the volunteer rifle com panics recently had a meeting, for the purpose of choosing officers. i It was known that there were many candidates for the honor, but it was not until the time of election that the exact state of the case was understood. On that occasion a suggestion was made that all the gentlemen desirous of becoming officers should retire during the election, when, to the general astonishment, it was found that only three members of ' the company were left to proceed with ba* siness. The three gentlemen left to do the 1 work, however, did not flinch. from their duty, and those who had retired' were in due time summoned1 back to the meeting. They-were then informed that the meeting i had felt great difficulty, because the claims df all who had left the room were so conspicious, it seemed invidious to take one in preference te another. Under' these cii> cumstance's the meeting had adopted the most obvious and satisfactory way of escaping the difficulty, by electing themselves to fill the three vacant posts. Insolvent Court.—(Before Mr. Commissioner Punch.) In re Victoria -Colony : Third Meeting;' Official Assignee's Report: —In this estate the property, if duly " shepherded," and the business, if- well looked after, will realise a sum far- more than sufficient to cover all liabilities^ I therefore anticipate being able in time to pay twenty shillings' in- the pound. The insolvent it is evident has been defrauded on all sides by persons whom she } has /employed, some of'whom are still engaged in large works on account' of this estate. These it will be necessary immediately to remove. The wages paid by insolvent will have to be considerably lowered; but as there is an immense quantity of work to' be profitably accomplished when all liabilities are satisfied, I would recommend that, if possible, a fresh supply of industrious people ready to turn their hands to anything be provided. There are 52,j000,000 acres of land belonging to this estate which have not had a spade put into them, and which only need labor and cultivation to make them enormously profitable., A portion -of these might at.once.~be utilised! On the whole, spite of the- mismanagement, fraud, laziness, and discontent of some of the people in the serviceof insolvent, I am confident that a more satis- | factory estate has * never come before this i court. ' (Signed) Barker.Toby, Official Assignee. The insolvent was voted her furniture, and the meeting closed.— Melbourne Punch, ' " " . ' ■ ' "

'-~ CLIMATE OF CAKADdC *%i Within a short period of time, not less than three sudden deaths have happened to gentlemen who had reached say "three score years of age; and who, up to thejime of their being attacked, were in apparently good health.

Sir James B. Macauley was summoned to his long home at an hour or two's warning. Colonel Forlong breathed his last after a brief illness; and still more suddenly, and, with less warning, Judge Campbell of Niagara was called away from this world. It cannot be said that either of these three respected members of society, was oppressed by worldly difficulties or the pressure of over-work. ..All were in comfortable circumstances. Sir James Macauiey employed his active and industrious mind only for employment's sake. Colonel Forlong Jived a life^of. complete leisure. And Judge Campbell went,through his official duties in a manner so pleasantly and easily, as, not to allow the idea that theoverwrought mind overtasked the .body— while in his particular case, the cheerfql , and healthy pursuits of the garden^ to which he devoted much time, were especially favorable to sound health.. " - To what cause, then, are we to attribute the striking instances of the,; uncertainty of 'hiiman Jile? The explanation-must,-we - think, be looke c d .for jn Jbe 'extremely variable temperature wsich. of late,years, has marked our Canadian climate. The human , 'system can easily adapt itself to either extreme cold or' great heat; but if these.,extremes are liable to sudden change, we <have no doubt the physical system^will suffer! The iron frame .which- haa ensured the terrible colds of a polar winter; op has borne the almost equally terrible lieat of a tropical summer, feels more the sudden transition from heat to cold or coid to heat than either extreme, so long as it ipe continuous, If there he some latent weakness in the human system, if any one of the Vital organizations should be< more delicaio than others, then most assuredly .the sad&n vicissitudes of weafcher^jo which \?e refer, will find out the' Weak place End work an injurious influence on life. We need go no farther back than ,the last summer and the present winter to illustrate thw point. Everybody v^ill recollect the cruel frosts weiitfd on jbe 4th, and 11th June, * 1859 ; on, .which occasion nbi -only our gardens were laid desoiate, but ice was abundantly found in the water puncheons. -And in the following September, so early as the 15th, a severe 'frost, whitened;the whole of the country/. October usually a most charming fall month in Canada, was in 1859, unusually cold and inclement,-in fact more so than many of, our Becemibers. November was variable throughout; r.nd on the 30th of that month Tne wea'cher was as genial and as fine as it «3ualJy is in August He would have- been thought crazy who had predicted rain ; r but fain it did, and heavily too, ctufing the night 1 Thursday was a close warm day, what in England is ' termed J* muggy;" and ihe thermometer indicated a temperature of 56 degrees. Friday was somewhat colder, but in "the course of the night the mercury fell j below zero! thus indicating & sudden and extreme change, equally to not less than 55 to 60 degrees, within a comparatively" few hours! Saturday and Sunday wefe dry and cold; but on Monday it tnawed rapidly, and on Monday mottling the mn fell in torrents ? Bepember was extremely cold, the thermometer having,' we believe, been as low as 10 or 12 degrees below aero! and' though not so variable as the former months, still there were many suddenvicissitudes. The first week or ten dajys. of January weie marked by many , and sudden changes, and for the past ten days or a fortnight we have had such very fine weather that it is to be feared we shall pay dearly for it by-and-by. Now it seems to us that the human system cannot possibly adapt itself to these rapid arid violent changes... The fecury by I its nature rises-and falls; but the human heart, the lungs, arid the brain of man, can hardly, contract and expand; in the same mariner,-without a shock, if not injury,* to the' vital powers; and that we should hear ; of sickness and even death undpr, such circumstances- is not much to be wbri^ered,

at.' '■■'-'■■' ; '-'.■- . V.V'V ■■',/■■■■- ! t :/" . •• /' We leave to the savans tB exjilain Howit is that the climate of Canada, once so steady and reliable, has become liable to so many, alia! such sudden, vicissitudes of late; years. It i!sl enough for : us :to put the public 6n~ their, guard against the probable influences,: of thesg meteorological changes, the ten-1 daricjr of- which would seem to sapthd Vital element iri almost any ra<3e. ;or :of t any ; person; 4mt it is (especiaily^ihg fo;tKotfe Who have reached:--a-;,certain mitanty of j.ea|rs t; ,or. l wji^:.|nay / v. perhaps, without inowingiit, labor under some organic;w€»ljness : In th^; wli^r; history of this ; Colony, per-," sons of advanced age were frequently met with ;::Mt we r incline to the bpihiori that ' longevity wilt not be likely "to prevail in Canada, except in occasional instancesvi\ih- fe less Ovii" blirnate \msQyf&.~Toroo:2Qffi^ '

* i?BA~CTic:rwiiti P&& enfield hifle, A few remarks, showing the means by which the British'soldier is trained to use his rifle with efficiency, may at present, prove interesting, the more especially a 8 a volunteer force is being raised. In every regiment there is an Officer Instructor of Musketry, whose duty it* is to put every soldier of his own corps through a course of instruction annually. This course is divided into two distinct paits, «drill' and•• practice.' ' Under the. head: of drill are comprised— Lectures.on 'cleaning and dismounting* the rifle and; lock;' also on the «laws influencing the course of the bulleti the arrangement of the sights, &c.;' 'aiming drill,' ' position drill,' * snapping caps, 1 ' blank firmg '*judging distance drill,' -and * manufacture of cartridges.' ' "After each man has been carefullyex- :- erciied through the foregoing drills fo* four days, and found .not only: to be steady' ■under arms, but also capable of answering any question as to the resistance of the air, 'force of gravity, &c; he is pot through a course of pfaetiee^ both • target -■ and 'judging distance.' "■ --- : The general opinion' about target practice is incorrect, namely*.that the iriore ammunition a $an e^pendsf*'ihe better sho|>he will become,r-whereaW £target. practice io merely a proof of the attention bestowed oh the prslimincry drills; the more:carefully thei&tter have been porformed, the'better will bo the result of the, ball: firing. Each soldier,is allowed annually j)0 rounds, to be expended in the following manner :^2O f ouiids to befired standing at diafsacelr from 150 to 300 yards (5 at each ; 50)—bull's eyes. being" valued as 3/ centres a§ 2, outers as 1., - . All men who make 15 points and up- :• .wards pass into, the second class, arid fire twenty rounds up to 600 yards, kneeling— fMi46O; 5; af 500; 5 at;ssO, 5 at 600.; Ih'tms practice the bulFs eye founts only' as 2, s '. ;.. '■■ -■'•■■■■■ "''";i '^y^''--..: . V I'nQse liieri who make 12 jtoiiits and. up^ wards pass into the first class; and'fire 20 rounds up to 900 yards; namely, 5 at pSO, .5 at YOO, f> at 800, and; 5 at 900, • -^; Those m^n who succeed In- obtaining V points and^pwards are denominated marksmen, and ere permitted to wear on their left arm a badge of "cross rifles and crown, worked in gold ;V they ajsp receive extra pay.-.- •■■;— ;. '-;'" ■■' '■■[} ■■-"■;■." . " ' • When the men ha^e; :Beetr put throagh •individual firing' ugi to ]900 yards, tfiey, are esercised at 'file firing-' l?or this; practice 8 targets at©(erected at:'3'o.Q yards, and 10 rounds eipsnded; aft^r which the men drawn 5 up at a distarico of 400 yards;^ from the targets, and fire the same number of rounds, in 'vollies, kneeling. --\ ■ ■■■";'•.■• '■, • v ' "'■■'. '"',; .'■'■" -^ last practice consists of.skirmishing. For this purpose the targets are placed 6 paces apart, and 2 men .placed opposite each target at a distance of 40Q yards; they expend 10 rounds, advanpin^-to within 20.0 yar^s. of tne. targets, and,then retiring, judging their ov?n'di3tanee and setting their eights accordingly.' The judging distance practice is divided into three classes. Each,man at first is traineii Mjudge up tp; 3QQ yards. Shoulcia man gues^ the corifect'distance, or witHin 5 yards, he pbtains 3 points; within 10 yards^ 2 points, 1S y attfs,_i" point; .. Those men who' out of 12 answers obtain 14 points and upwards -pass inW> the second classy and judge up to~ 6>oo yards. The points allowed in the second class are, within 20 yards,; 2—-SO—I. Those who. out of 12 answers obtain' 14 points pass into the first ckss and are exercised up to l 900 yards. ,\; ; The judging distance and target practice of No. -2 Company 12th regimeni stationed here ha,ve been excellent. - They obtained the following averages' in shoot-ing:-r ist' 20 rounds -fired standing, up to. 300 yards . ' 1i.30; /'-'' - il- "■ •;■ ■■■.■■•'■--■■'•; -■ 2nd ditto, lip to 600 yards, 9.04. 3rd'ditto, upto 900 yards, 8.00 ,■• . 10 rounds file firing, at 300 yards, 11.02.. .10 dittovoUay firing, at 400 yards, 8.42. 10 ditto "skirmishing, from 400 to' 200 yards, ■ 4.26.:._ ; ;; ■■_.. .: v. _■;,■■ .. ■/■.-.. '■ .j The judging distance practice was . equally ■ good, The following were the averages:— : • Ist 12 answers, up to 300 yardg, 14.88. 2nd >, „ 600 „■ 11,50. 3rd • „ ; _\ „ 900 „ 17.00. . In order to secure a safe place for practice a spot was selected' lying at the back of Pitcher's Inn, between the Westbury Koad and 'the South. Esk. Along si low and rather uneven ridge, a spaceimore than 900 yards in length,, and about 50; in j breadth has,; been cleared, of trees, and at intervals of fifty yards; !rprn,lso up to 900 . yards,.platforms constructed of logs.and earth are erected of sufficient, height to afford a view of the base of the target, which otherwise-would be intercepted by the undulation of the ground. The-target is made of iron divided into squares and circles. It is whitewashed, but it will readily <be conceived that at the distance of 900 yards—> that is, _ half a mile—it is indistinctly seen. As we have'said aboVe^he practice of the company of the I2th, even at ranges tp hit which which the uniniated would fancy was beyond the power of iany marksmen, has been extremely gbodl |The practice is a pretty sight, and the rapidity with which the men load perfectly astonishing.' The; practice shows what an admirable weapon the Enfield rifle is and to what perfection r egimental training is novv carried. There is evidently a great change in the management ,of military affair^ at' head quarters, and the pains taken to ; drill" the men injhe.use of the terrible weapon vyith which.the regiments are now .armed shews that the War Office is up to its duties. The state of things is now very different to whait it was when the British army ; was supplied' with the gun knp.wn as. " Brown Bes» i" a far more deadly iDsUument has

replaced it; and " under the rsystem-.'flo'W1 pursued almost every man must become-a dead shot. ' '

Those who have been used to .see the old practice of musketry would hardly be prepared to witness the style in which the new practice is taught. In the hands of the trained and intelligent Officer Instructor the task of initiating, the men into the use of the rifle becomes an interesting and pleasant exercise; and if Lieutenant Gibson is a fair specimen of the class of officers who are commissioned to instruct thevarious regiments in-the Queen's. Army the service is fortunate indeed. The qualities he appears to bring to his task are patience,an extremely quiet demeanor towards the men (a very useful thing where good shooting depends so much on steadiness of tem r per), and a method of conveying instruction in a familiar1 manner; and thus he manages to make the men feel that they are as much interested as he is in their own proficiency ; that they are not mere machines, but at full liberty to bring to the practice alt the intelligence and judgment they are master oi.-—?Launceston Exandner. r