TE AWAMUTU CAVALRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2236, 6 November 1886, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU CAVALRY.

Our own c writes :— At the the iii'-peccion parade of the cuuihy on Thur-day fifty five of ,\ll ranks paiadeJ, Colorel Shepherd bnng the inspecting nific"i. lie complimented tin 1 men on thi'ir appe.irance and tin, cl.i- — ■ ;nd conditi >ii ot then hoi.-c» which were g< (;d, with fhe exception of a feiv which Le -. id were not quite up # to the standard. He found fault with a few of the men for the condition of their carbines, pointing out that a iiltle more attention to them would be better. It is only fair to qiy, however, that the c irbines interred 'o bafonged to lecruita uho have not been accustomed to tl c care of arms A little drill w ill Minn remedy these defects. Tiie iolonel\ remarks mii-t have a good effect fur the men wWI avoid giving anyciu*-ef, r fault-finding in future. Hj ere it^'l a faumiabie impression, . s he leadiiy p\i\e praise when it was due and pointed mil any defect I*.1 *. In presenting the tioop Ivlt and prizes he made a few c< mp'.iuietit.'iy lemaiks to the recipient*-. Captain iiuthtifotd said that uitii only three day-s tr lining h.«l t-\ rally the mt n could not be e\p' cted to know thou dull well, and cnat -uch an airangemcnt wah disciui. gin}? t-> both officein and men. He conti i<*ted the vie-rnt with the former peiiods of drill which si<c day-, at a time instead of three. Under the pie-ont system, just as the men weie getting int.) then drill they were dismissed, and by the time the next drill, came round they had foi gotten what they had learned. It could not be expected that the men could display any degiee of efficiency under the piesent regulations. Colonel Shepherd said he was uwaip of the truth of Captain Ruthei foul's remaik-,. He quite agreed with him that a six days' training at a time was much better than thiee, but that it lay with the men to ha\e the alteration made. After the in-pection, Captain Ruthei ford reminded the men that at the previous diill he told them of his intention to lesion at the end of the v ear. When he made that announcement he was not aware that Major Jackson would have resigned hi« command by tL's time ; indeed, he thought the Major would still command. Such being the ca.se, the tioop could ei-iiv t-paie in-, .service?!. He legiuttud exceedingly the Majoi's lesignation; but he (Captain Iluthei ford) could not gi>e as much time as the duties i>f the position it quued. There v\eie, he felt sure, in my otheis to be found who could carry out thf duties quite as efficiently as he, and w ho could give the necessity tune to attend 10 them. The men could not blame him t>r the step he intended to take, as he had been in the troop for many year--, and for seven had held the rank of ciptain. Ah he had alieady said lie could ii' >t aftoid the time necessary to pioperly fidhl the duties of the position, bat if tluy would allow him he would become an honoiviiy member, and give the use of his piddook for Jrill, and give, as in the past, the amount accruing for the use of the paddock for troop pn/es. Sergeant (iiesham, on behalf of the troop, asked Captain Rutherford to reconsider his decision, as it was the unanimous wish of the men that he should still be their captain. Captain Rutherfoid agreed to keep the command until after the next half-yearly drill. With regard tv the short period of drill allowed, there can be no doubt that the men cm never be expected to become piofieient under the ciicunistances. It is simply a f.nce, getting men out for thieo doAsuta tune. If the (iovernment want to keep the \olunteei movement alive, they must be pioparel to offer better teims to the men ; thjy .should get twelve do-ys a year, and be paid foi it. The present capitition is i.i; let that amount be doubled, and the men would turn out for six days at a tune. If called upon to meet an emergency they would ba very little better than so many undiilled men. They ha\e plenty of pluck, but if required to put it into practice it could not be expected to be exeicised in a right direction with only six days' drill a year.

We bejar to draw the attention of our reader* to Messrs ChampUloup and Cooper's advertisement in another column. They offor t» the public a leally firat-clasa lot of books relating to the bleeding, treatnient, training, &c, of horse* by wellknown author^ who have made the study of the hoisea sptcialitv. The juice-, are evcoedingly eh>ip, .md the books, cm be had direct f i urn fioir waiehouse, 70, Quoeustreet, Auckland.