NEW PLYMOUTH DEFENCE RIFLE CLUB.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1916, Page 5

NEW PLYMOUTH DEFENCE RIFLE CLUB.

- —. , ANNUAL MEETING; Tho annual meeting of the above ChiH was held in the Town Hall last evening, the President (Mr. F. J. Hill) being irt the chair,. There was a fair attend' ance of members. , The President read the annual rerjiort as follows: The year that has jnst dosed W been a disappointing one, both in the! matter of parades and in attendance at: the rifle range. The parades got bq: poor that they had to be abandoned, the reason probably is that with tha, danger of a raid fading away interest in' military training died out. The at«': . tendance at rifle practice has been poor< ! here again there may be causes, the im« i possibility of procuring rifles (and there: is very little hope of an improvement; in this respect at present), may be j another, was the distance to fhe range, j The latter is now brought within easy j reach of anybody by the inauguration oflthe tram service. The cost of carrying j s<j many members, many of whom- con- j tributed nothing to the funds of the > club, has depleted our bank balance J Still the fact that over eighty members, i indeed, all who were fit and could'get 1 , away joined the various reinforcement* j makes any expenditure worth while and j we are in the proud position of haying | more members at the front than any | other Rifle Club in New Zealand. A] further loss to the personell of thai club was caused by the absorption of j a number of our N.C.O.'a into the Territorial Force, as temporary officers,! which speaks volumes for the training given to the club's ranks. It is hoped that territorials and others may bis in- " duced to join the club, and the formed will then have a chance of really learn' ing to shoot. The present musketry] course is quite inadequate to each any- j thing of shooting, the few rounds fired . in a year are a mere bagatelle. It it to the territorials we must look for the supply of members to keep up, not only this, but every Rifle Club, or In process of time every club will, nay, must, dii> of sheer inanition. The > balance- •■ sheet shows a substantial reduction of our funds. The reason for the shrink- j age arc very obvious on perusal. The> | amount received for subscriptions was £l4 10s as against £23 last year. Sales, of ammunition £l3 18s; as against £24 9s 3d. Marking, fees collected £1 6s, as against £7 4s 3d. On the other hand our expenditure has been heavy. Prizemoney and trophies £2O 3» 6d, a» against £5 13s Od. The amount ex< pended in this direction seems very) large, but the trophy list had been al« lowed to fall into arrears and the en penditure was necessary to keep faith) with the winners. The principal items under this heading are: Prize-money £4, Thursday Cup £3 16s, two 'gold medals £4 os, prize spoons £6 13e 6dj cleaning rods and score books '£2 Bft The Match Committee reported on tha season's matches. Six were fired, twoi against Inglewood (both won), two) against Patea (oms a tie, and one lost)j out against High School Cadets (won)j and one against Wanganui (lost). Tha Champion, and Handicap Cup matches wore also fired by members, Rifleman W. Oliver, with 415 points, proving the champion, while the Saturday Oup waa won by Rifleman Q. H. Moore. Tha; dub was also represented at the Fatea* Taranaki and Christchuch Rifle AstochM tion's meetings. The statement of receipts and erpen< dittire showed the former to have been! '£97 14s 3d, including balance from lass. year of £46 17s 4d. Expenditure was I £72 5s Id, leaving a credit balance of)' £25 0s 2d. ' Assets were shown at! £O4 13s Bd, leaving a balance over lia< I bilities of £55 lis, 3d. ■: ' I On the motion of the Presidentj 1 seconded by Mr P. White, the report) and balance-sheet were adopted. Apologies were received for the ab J sence of Rifleman Davi& Samson, and Blanchard. ) . * The election of officers reustted: Pat J ron, Mr. A. McHardy; deputy-patron. Colonel Okey; honorary Capt. McDiarmid, Major Fletcher, Lieutenant Crutch, Capt. Hartnell; president, Mr. F. J. Hill (re-elected); deputypresident, Mr. P. White; secretary and treasurer, Mr. Armitage; general committee, Messrs. Lysons, Oliver, Ramson, Keating, C. Moore, Firth, and Captain Hartnell; handicapping and selection committee, Messrs. Oliver, Keating, and Captain Hartnell. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr, Firth, that it be a recommendation to the ncmi committee to arrange to hava a straight-out shoot, at three dls« tanccs for the Saturday Cup. A motion by Mr. W.E.Keating "That honorary nvmebors and members of Territorials wishing ,to join the Club he \ admitted at the same fee as active mem--1 hers: (2) that they be allowed the same privileges as active members in all prize shooting held by th; Club, was seconded by Mr. Moore, and carried. A resolution of congratulation to Captain Hartnell on his return and recovery from his wounds, also expressing the hope that he would return from hia second visit to the trenches, was carried • by acclamation. . |v * l '**| On behalf of the Wcstport Coal Company, Mr. O. N. Firth promised a gold, medal for competition, the committee to allocate tht trophy. It was decided that the opening day of tho season be the first fine Thurs- '■ day in Octobir.. ; The secretary was voted an ■ honorarium of five guineas. ' , Hearty votes of thanks were ac- ■ corded the auditor, Mr. A. L. • Humphries, tho ladies, and the press. . ■■> ——'