EASTER VOLUNTEER REVIEW.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1197, 28 February 1880, Page 2

EASTER VOLUNTEER REVIEW.

Tick Volunteers at the Thames, and for | the matter of that the residents of the ! Thames also, are extremely anxious that ! this coming Kahter week should not pass over without a joint review of the Thames , and Waikato Volunteer forces being held either at one place or the other. Last year it was held in Waikato, and a most successful affair it was, and our Thames friends very naturally say that it is their turn now to offer a welcome to Waikato, and propose that the review shall be held at Tararu. There is a very great interest taken in the matter at Grahamstown, we are informed by a gentleman (an officer of one of our local Volunteer corps), who has just returned from there, and an invitation to the Volunteers of this district to take part in a review at the Thames on Easter Monday is, we believe, now on its way to the proper quarter in Waikato. It had been proposed at one time to hold a review half-way between here and Grahamstown; but the proposal finds little support in either district. It is said, ancf very truly, that a review without some public, display, would be a very tame ana spiritless sort of affair, and such must necessarily be the case unless it be held at either Thames or Waikato. The Thames people propose Tararu as the most suitable place, and for many reasons. There is a first-class review ground, and should the Government not provide camp equipage there is plenty of good barrack accommodation thei'e for oth men and horses. This too would be advantageous in other respects, as by keeping the men together discipline could be easier preserved, which is a difficult matter where Volunteers are billeted on hotels, and hospitality and good companionship are the order of the day. Our Thames friends say that in the event of the Cambridge and le Awamutu troops being unable to come, they trust at any rate to bee their old friends of the Hamilton Contingent, and if the uniform of the Hamilton Light Infantry should airive in time, that corps would, doubtless, take part in the review. We do not suppose, however, that any tiling would occur which would render it impossible for the tAvo up-country cavalry troops to attend. Last year, when it was proposed to take the cavalry out of the district for a similar purpose, the Government objected owing to the threatening attitude of natives affairs upon our borders, but no such objections exists at the present time, and as a paragraph in our last issue shows Grahamstown itself is not more than a day's ride from the centre of Waikato, while both districts are connected by the wire. It is exceedingly desirable to encourage fraternisation of our Volunteer Companies, and to accustom thorn to manoeuvre and work together efficiently and harmoniously, and this is just the state of things which a review, such as that now proposed by our Thames neighbours, is calculated to bring about. It indures a healthy spirit of emulation, and develops good comradship, which, if ever the services of the corps of the two districts were actually required in the field, would give them confidence in each other, and contribute largely their general efficiency. The Thames Volunteers have a lively recollection of the kindly feeling ami hospitality shown to them by the people of Waikato during their last April visit and are very anxious to return the compliment, while it is said that if the review is held at Tararu, Grahamstown will turn out to a man.