VICTORIA DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 108, 25 May 1901, Page 2

VICTORIA DAY.

THE VULI'NTKER MANOEUVRES. KIRST TAIUNiKt BATTALION PARADE. Fun many ye-us past the 24th ot May has boon looked forward to with some anxiety i -i to weather conditions affciting i-por 3 ar,d mi'.-'door ga'herin&s. faf some years the elements have generally been very imp .rtinl to such gatborirgs. Y»st?rday wru no excepi n to 'lm popuhrly iecogni-ed latterd<iy rulp, and was certainly not favoured with " Queen's w*'a'bu\" F.om early morn a cold and rois'erous sou'-wester blew, accompani'd with froquen* heavy squalls of rain, though in the afternojia| the showers wf re not quite to frequent In spite of adverse wratLer con-

ditions, however, a large number >( penple turLed out for the pt incipil kc il ( attraction —the first Battalion parad. i of tha Volunteer corps include! in the t district. At 10.30 the Tara- I n-ki Kin s und Guilds fell in at the I D i'l Hired, and muched to the lltil- i way Station, where they met the mo.n- ! bers ft' t v e v'si'in? Vo'unte.u - Com- i pinii"'- By this t ; m» St, Aubyn and Ejmon 1 ; streets and the precincts hi' the s' ation w re thronged wi h titiz r.B. Some title dehy occurred, through a couple of heavy squalls comiog on and making thing'? vcij uncomfortable for tho men, but eventually the B-ttalioi, . was formed up. and headed by the City Band, under Bandmaster Huigh, marched via St. Aubyn, Queen, and Devon streets to a point nearly up to Liardet Street. The Battalion was then dismissed for luncheon. The visiting officers : were entertained at the Criterion Hotel ' by Major Ellis and the officers of the ] Taramiki Rifles and Guards, and the ■ men were billeted at the Taranaki Hotel, Imperial Hotel, Red House Hotel, Coffee Palace and the Jubilee

Dining Rooms. At a quarter to one sharp the Battalion fell into line in Egmont street, ■ and -was at once fiMirchod tot the Racecourse,: where the move serious work" of 'the afternoon took place. This work included, amoag the usual Battalion movements, forming into line from column, and vice versa ; formations in quirter-iolumn, and deployments ; companies in escheloit ;; Battalion wheeling, and marchiag pnt in column and qiiaiter-LclumD. The Battalion officers were ps fol- . lows -. Major Elli*, acting as Luutn-

ant-Colonel ; Captain Okev, as Major ; Ciptain Tnunt'iii, ;>s Adju'a»'t. Dr. WcPl'land (Surgfon-Captain),and Rev. F. G. Evat s (Chaplain) were ».Uo on par.vde. Col. Sergeant Okey 'tnd Bugle v Pridr.am (Ti?tanaki R.flks) acted as Sergeant Major and Bat'aliun Bugler resptctively. The parade strength, of the var.ous , Companies' was as follows :

No. 1 Company, Taranaki Rifles. ] Lieuterants Cook, Hooker, ami Weston (Wellington College Rifles, attached), and 53 men, No. 2 Company, Taram-ki Guards. Lieutenants Cook and Hulmes, and 54 men. No. 3 Oompasy, Inglewood Rifles. Captain Nops, Lieutenauts Leach and Patterson, and 35 men. No. 4 CnsipAKY, Eltham Rifles. Captain Boddie, and 45 men. No: 6 Company, Stratford Rifles C?ptain Maione, Lieutjnaut Kinibel, and 45 men. rid, 6 Company, Waitara Rifles, Captain Grey. Lieutenants Dansey and Stubbs, and '4O men. No. 1. Company, Hawera Rifles. Captain Major, Lieutenants Payne and Pateison, and -J5 men. Total; 31). During an inteival in tin ov<-]u'io"s Chap'ai i Evans biieily addressed th« companies, and cougratu'ated them, officers and mo-", on the sucess which attended the first p\irade of the new Taranaki Battalion. He deplored the 'miserable weather; but aftsr all. hi said, he regardi d it as a htppy augury that their first baptism, receivfd on their very first appeal ance in arms, i-hould be of Fuch a nature—a heavrnsent one. He had no doubt the m"n ■ who would cheerfully put up with tie discomforts incidental to a pirade on mch a day as that would prove fully f qual to rndurine all the hardships of a campaign if it should ever happen that they had to do so- He ended his address by giving a s v ort prayer invoking the Divine blessing on the Battalion's wo'k. When tho Battalion had concluded its field operations the men were dismissed for a few minutes, and then formed up opposite the Grandstand, where they were photographed. Major Ellis also briefly thanked the men for their attendance, and complimented them upon the success of their drill. From there the Battalion marched back to town, avid escorted the visiting men to the Railway station, where, after a hearty exchange '>f cheers and good wishes, they for their various homes.

•Speaking of tho work done yes'r> day hy the batta'ion, it may be remarked that, considering how short a time the majority of the men aavo b-en at diill, the standard re-idied was an oxurllent on l , ft must hi ramonibete] that all except tha two local corps have been in exi Ura less 'hart a year, and of those two, one ha« had little more than a yrai's work. In the woik done yfstorday, theref' re, the TaranaU RiflßS a'd Guards tcok piide of place, being much about the same in po:nt of excellence. It nay be rematkvd, in passing,, that 'he Guards presented a v ry spic andsjan appeararce, in which the 111110 fi.il-d, fiom the purely " appearance " point of view,, through S' m-> of thi ir men tui ningout without 1-ggings, which gave them b. somewhat motley h.ok,othe''wise there was nothing ti choose ho tween thrin. Turning to the othor Corps, the order of merit in efficiency and general snnrtnesa would run thus —Hawcru, Waitara, and E'.tham, wi h S'ratford ftad Inglewood ahou*; ever. A very pleasing feature was the readiness with which the men ail j seemEil to grasp what wa.a required of thettj, though in a few instances there v.-as oiDmo indeo'ision'as to how to carry one the t:-.i( vetum'suitered. \\), ho-' - over, d.'sp'ayrd grtat eagmi'Sri to d" ho work 'o <lie best cf their al.i'i'y ; ■ard n douVt not. that after a few moiitho more of d'ill, and with tho oxpeiieuce gained ypfWday, tho of *he Taranaki Volunteer Battalion will compare very favourably with any others iu the colony. The excelleace of the playing of the City Bfciid during yesterday's parade

was a favourite theme of comment on all hauls. Thair poifuormanco during le"Manh Pjst," and in the marching through tha streets, wan particularly good, find iM:>ived high encomiums from v.'sit ing Vo'.Uutoe s t nd ike public flike. ' The officers in cbarre of the Battalion fhemse'vts v«ry pleased with the nivansjenionts iiui.de by Mr. Day, s'.atlonmaster, for rle'raining and entwining the visitius; Volunteer.", every'h'ng bei'!g done *.kh p> if<:c;- smoothnets and in a manner cour'eous to all.