THE RIFLES' JUBILEE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 332, 26 January 1909, Page 4

THE RIFLES' JUBILEE.

SOME iiANCjLET STORIES. ; As must have been expected, the Tarauaiu itilles' juuuco uunijim was uulauio lor Hie wealtn oliarauaki lore, 'ilie old solders present win,, oicr men .tallica again, uue or two ol tue stories 'told were well worth repeating, uie '■list toncinieii a well-known soldier tumeu, and a was tolil oy Liipium vtes■lou, Adjutant to uie laianuiii liat'tanou. 1 On Utii .March, 18/4, t |, c . narrator '.oiu uie touip.im, oergtvuit llicharu ioiind uiitocn nan a iiauuim oi men, '.it uie eim ol an aii.iiious .inu trjmg aay, about iiail-u-imie iroin tue old u L .,, ioiocK inn. it was not m warumc, biu Mie lace iliai peace reigned over tne 'land did not detract Hum uie "allani Mincer, woi-k on thai occasion. °iii-cn-vug was close aL hand, uie lorce Had ■uiue to eai, ana nothing to urink. Tne leigcani laid ins plans uc.l, and, wiiu '.no assistance ol a oonlcdi'liilc (one ol uie houseiiianis) in tne uumiiiig, lie rushed Uie house—and me har was Ins. mo .lounger ineinljers ol the i-oiiipnnv were placid in cnarge ol the avenues o'i escape, whilst the sergeant look me i-'osi ol clanger— the bar. mis position lie held until it became too hot io Hum nun. men, recalling Ins picKcts, uc ucvainped wnu iiirec oarrcls ol oeer, c.\c tilting a masterly retreat. In tne iniusi yl loud laughter Cup Lam Wislou an.luuuced his regret Unit this liiciilent i-.iad never been recorded in tne various worts ou xarauakis early hisioij. ne ..an been given to understand lii.u tne •lanure to mention tile incident in ues'paiehes was due to the sergeants l'elUsal to deliver up the beer to the cap'Ullll.

i Colonel Messenger, in tracing the his'tory of the organisation of the settlers 'to protect their homes against mi 'Maoris, remarked that the Taranaki Rilles corps was formed in 1858, and lie ■well remembered drilling in that vcar. whereas Uie actual gazetting ol' the ■company took puice iu 1850. Captain Isaac JJayly bore out this tcsunioiiy, staling that he joilud the coni- ■ lany in September, Is.js, and lie knew it had been in existence for some lime ynor to that. Ho retold the oft-told utory of the skirmish ill W'aircka, ana ■iiiid that it would have tared ill witu ■the volunteers but for the fact Hint tue '.UeKellars / rode through with ammunition. The volunteers Had only eighteen •rounds iper man. "People have often .iskcd me," he said, "why we didn't run away. To tell you the truth, we !couldn't, even if we had wanted to." It Was as well that they did not turn tail, Jie said, for the repulse at Waireka upset the plans of the Maoris for a vigorous attack by 'fifteen hundred natives l-upuu New Plymouth. So that the Taranaki Kille Volunteers did at least one glorious thing for Taranaki and the colony.

Itetcrring to the -New Zealand contingents who fought in South Africa, Captuin Bayly said that one day lie was coming througw Stratford, and noticed tlits Hugs at half-mast, iiinmiriiig the reason, he. was told of the engagement at Bothasberg, and that it was reported that the colonial forces hail buffered very heavily. "1 couldn't stand that,"' he said. "Tin ashamed of you,' 1 told them. I'd put the Hag on the niimiituiucop." Captain Mace, X.Z.C.. told an amusing 'story of how he became mixed up ill the sailors' march ou Waircka. The Rev. Brown had reported a murder by the .Maoris at Omnia, and young Mace was taken by the police as a witness in the miuicst. It was in vain that he pronestid his anxiety to gel luck tu Waircka. The police took hint in charge. iH'ptniu t'rai-roit. ui t.iie. Niger, came ashore with his men. and wanted a guide tu Omata. Mace -aid he knew ihc place, and knew every inch of the ivay. Captain Craoroft said, "You're llie .cry man," and wa- about to take him oil','when the policeman stepped in and -aid v "lie can't go, sir; lies my prisoner." The niaii-o'-war skipper tinned on the lad and said, "Win-, what have you doner" When he learned ihat lie was detained merely as a witness, lie Mioir brushed aside that little dillicully, and -Mace soon set oil' at the head of the little force of navals, who covered the ground "at the trot" all the way. N caring Waircka, an orderly came up willi orders to retire'. The ollicer said "All right." but pressed on. Two rockets ivere tired into the pah. when up came another orderly to say that Major .Murray was retiring, and the navals were to" follow suit.' "I'll see him d d lirsl," said the naval ollicer. Then, turning tu his men, he pointed to the Hag living oyer tile pall, and said, "You -see that, Hag, boys:' I'll give .UK) to the man who gets it." The tars rushed the pah, and Seaman Odgers hauled down the Hag, n Maori slashing his foot as he climbed after it. Meanwhile Major Murray had left, thereby earning Captain Cracroft's contempt as a " coward" for leaving the volunteers surrounded bv Maoris and practically without ammunition. Concluding, Captain Mace .said that he had never known the volunteers or the militiamen to turn iheir backs on a comrade. Captain Bayly emphasised this point, stating that during the whole war on this side, of the mountain not one man killed or wounded, or one rille belonging to the local forces, had been allowed to fall into the hands of the natives. The lion. T. Kelly, M.L.C., took pride ill the fact that although they were not nearly so well armed or trained as the Maoris, tile settlers—descendants of the Devoitshireiuen and Manxmen who swept the Spanish Armada out of the English Channel—had fought gallantly to victory.

Mr. X. Hooker contrasled Die ollicers of the enrlv days with those of to-day, and was not particularly complimentary to those of the present. "The ollicers then used to say, fome on, come <>n.' and lead their men into battle. Now thev say, 'Go on, go on,' and watch the light." He told the story of the march of the Niger's men, dragging a cannon on a carriage. A loud smile went the rounds when Captain Mace informed the company that the cannon was merely a rocket-tube.

Start-Chaplain Kvans paid a tribute to the usefulness of the Tai'anaki veterans as citizens and their superiority in various forms of sport. He instanced their success on the golf links and the bowling-green, their regular attendance at the baths for the early morning dip, and the .presence of one of then) as a valued member of the choir of Ins church.

Mr. 1!. Cock, in replying to the toast of the visitors, said that for his services he received a grant of SM awes of bush land. His comrade Mr. Newton King got a similar grant. A game of euchre was played, with Mr. John Ellis as referee, to 'decide who should hold the two, and the narrator won. Hut eventually, in another game, Mr. King got it back. The story was received amidst great laughter, nut only because of tlii; approach of midnight, but as descriptive of the sporting spirit which pervaded Taranaki's pioneers.