British Volunteer Returns.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3162, 7 April 1879, Page 4

British Volunteer Returns.

The folio win j? remarks upon the above subject by the English Volunteer Service Gazette will interest our Volunteer readers :—

"Taking, first, the sparse Mounted Corps, vre find that the Duke of Manchester's rrgiment stands at the head of the Lij;ht Horse, of which there are five corps here in England and two in Scotland. But even the Huntingdonshire regiment has only 205 enrolled, of whom 146 are efficients. Hertfordshire has 109 enrolled, all efficient; Fife has 158 enrolled, but only 97 of these are efficients ; For! ar has 89 enrolled, 87 being efficient; and Lincolnshire shows 61 efficients among 64 enrolled.

" The Mounted Rifles, that roost valuable arm, whose creation among the Volunteers has, we do not hesitate to say, changed the whole of the drill of our Regular Cavalry, now, unfortunately, only shows two corps, both of them in Scotland. One, that of Roxburgh, has 58 efficient out of G3 enrolled, and the other, in Dumfries, 39 efficients out of 48 enrolled.

" The Artillery arm, as we all know, is flourishing. It numbers in all 37,740 enrolled, of whom 35,785 are efficients, and of whom 37,158 were present at the official inspections of last year; 1074 officers and 2258 non-commissioned officers of this arm hold certificates of proficiency. As usual the strongest county in Artillery is Lancashire, which has 6228 artillerymen, of whom 6070 are efficient. Kent was next with 1611 enrolled and 1509 efficients. Rather to our surprise, Middlesex follows, haying 1586 enrolled and 1517 (eight more than Sent) efficients. West York lias 1542 enrolled and 1436 efficients. Durham shows 1453 efficients, out of 1523 enrolled.

" The Engineers are 8592 enrolled and 8153 efficients, and 8351 of these were present at the annual inspection. The strongest county in this arm is West York, which has 1365 efficient Engineers in an enrolled strength of 1501. Next comes Lancashire, with 1167, enrolled, of whom 1151 are efficients, followed by Gloucestshire, which shows 1021 enrolled and 987 efficients. Sixteen counties, two of which are Scotch and one Welsh, number corps of this valuable arm. "When we come to the Infantry, or Rifles as they are called, we find a total of 149,656 efficients and 156,145 enrolled, 154,784 having been present at inspection, and 4262 officers and 8749 sergeants having obtained certificates of proficiency. Lancashire has, of course, the greatest number, 18,379 enrolled and 17,894 efficients. Middlesex is next with 16 582 enrolled and 15,588 efficients. Nothing else approaches these two great counties, though it does not at all follow that the merit of many smaller counties is not as groat as that of Lancashire and Middlesex, if not greater."