The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-11 00:00:00

7110 ''.,lstrict Itlets

A .;-C it:a [1 1' r: )1.1.;

TEE ES.

The annual diener and distribution of prizes ;o
the %Owe corps, took place on Mon lay evening at
the .I:dbot Hotel. Captain Hammond presided,
an I titer wre also present, Majors Wol-ige, and
'Falb(); ; Mr. A. Freer, Ur. H aliment Smith, and
Mr. John Grazebeook.
Caphin Hamm nd first proposed the- toast of
"rho Qu-art, the Prince and tiaeitss of Wiles,
and the +est of the Royal Family which was ac-
kn ,wledged by the sieging of tte Netioual
them.
The Chairman then called upon Nlajor Taltot
to dist' ibute the pi
M der Ta:bot said it gave him great pleasure in
distributing the rieoe. They knew that tLe
P •
tes " A s edier who cannot shoot is worth
phrase •wa
very little Fir 4 they must learn to drill and then
to shoot. The first event on the list was the 200
yeids, and the prze-winners were Sergean's
Edward Cardoe, Dene, Bridgwater, Harper, 'i liar
ten, and Round, aid Corpor d Green. Cotope int)
fee .500 yatds, wineers, Sergeants Rtund, Cooke,
, Harper, Ressiter, and Bridgwater ; Corpor 'le Lees
and Eagen, and Priv tty, Wharton. Aggreeate
points at five and six-hundre 1 yard, winners :
Sergeants Round, Hareer, Bridgwater and Cooke:
Private When .n. Sergeants Cardoe and Rossiter ;
Corporal Eigan, Serg.a..t Due% Privates Detkiu
and Bache ; Corporals L !es and limey ; Private
Bowen and Sergeant Bird. The best prize of the
evening (the Beachautup Cup) w is awarded to Ser-
g. ant Harper. Cep al t Grosvenor s Cup was
awarded, to Sergeant Ressiter, and other prizes
to S,4c; ant Bird, Corperal Eagan, Sergeautflarper
and Corporal Hurley. Optn to etileieet bandsmen
at 200 yards, winners :—Privates Crane, Gower,
Bidmead, and Perry. Rec:Wts' Prizes, 200
yerds, vinners ; Privates Foxall, Lamb, Partridge,
Deakin, Chapman, Rose, Perry, Bidinead, Palmer,
Chance and Dalton. Drill Prizes were awarded
to Sergeants Round and Dunn. eriva- es Wharton,
Brtghtmore, Payton and Stinten • Sergeants Cooke
mid Ressiter; Priva es Wellings, iVarley an I Cope;
Corporal Green, priv,te Deakin, Corporals [homy
and Wallace; Privites Chance, Bowen, WA-on,
and Hill, Major Talbot remarked that when he
commanded the company, nothing pleased him so
much as to see his company sheet well. He lo .ked
upon it as one of the highest honours for a conk) tey
to have 10 men together, who could shoot b titer
than any other 10 in n. Tney were well worthy
of credit. He congratulated the company and
Captain in having eon teat hooour—hear, hear.
They were pariicularly fortunate. Thoir c .pta;e
was one of the .ten, and al-o did his duty tell fair
share of work wh,n the officer's shield was won.
Long may they get the officers shield and oftener
than the other leittelions have. The 'company
tee". e.nsistA of Csptain Hammond, Serge tuuts
Round, Harper, Cardoe, Brldgwater, Dunn, and
Cooke ; Cerporals Elgin and G -een, and -Privet -!
NVhaetou. lie hoped that next year they would
make a goo 1 stem for it at Hertlebury.
.Captein Hammond then proposed the toast of
the "Field and Staff Officers." and it was heartily
drunk.
Mejor Talbot thanked them for the way in
which they drunk the health of the fiell officers.
, It was a pleasure to set the men if teis battalien
drilling well and doing their best. He then male
some remarks as to their, conduct, and said that
when they appeared in uniform, either in going to
drill or ret ming from drile it was their duty to
behave in a proper soldier-like way. If they did
tear, the vo:unteer force would always be in the
ftrure—as it had Le,n in the past—respete..l.

(Hear, hear).
Major Wulrige said he should endorse all that
Major Talbot had said in reference to their b
havionr while in uniform. It was very true that
en the inspection day they had to steed some
treee-ndous water instead of fir'. He said that
when hardship was greatest diwipline ought to be
the best. One of the men, in consequence of the
heavy rain on the day of inspec.ion, ran out of his
rank, and had since been discharged. The man
afterwards went to his house and asked t be
taken laaa, but his reply to h;rn wai. that if he
could not stand water he coot]. not s:a. d lire.
Last year, he mentioned, having observed tee
state of the range, that he th ugilt s mie improve-
ment might be made. The n w range could not b 3
obtained and Captain Hammon I found the money
and ha (Major Wolrige) found the means of im-
proving it. Since then there had la,en a marked
itrprovement in their shooting, which had been
noted by the winning of the bronze medal. Tee
regiment never was BO strong al it wAs the
present moment. They began at 80 and had
never been below 700; but ths return of efficient
men was now 974. Turning from local topes
he made a few remarks as to t .e gallant 63th and
how they died in Afghanistan He said it was a
fine example to all Wit() carded arms.
Mr. Grazebrook then proposed the health if the
Captain, Lieutenant, and n in-commissioned officers
He was very glad to sea that they were so a'ily
backed up in their shooting by their Captain. He
led the team himself and had also taken prizes.
The non-commissioned officers had taken a gre tt
number of prizes and also the "company ten"
was made up of non-commissioned officers and
they should be congratulated upon their success.
In future time he should like to see more of the
corps acting upon the same pls.i as the non-com-
missioned officers and gaining prizes. (Hear, hear).
He had great pleasure in prope,ing the health of
Captain Hammond, Lieuten tnt Williams and non-
commissioned officers of the company.
The toast was well received.
Captain Hammond said he had done what he
could to produce the efficiency of this battalion ;
but he was afraid he had not done so much as he
ought to have done. With regard to the shooting
he was very pleased, indeed, for their "company
ten" to pull off the prize at Hartlebnry. He was
not satisfied with the shooting of the company, as
thrtre were only about ten or fifteen men that took
intertst in it. There should be more in such a
company as that. He had suggested that there
should be a eh- oting club started in the company
(hear, hear), and that any subscriptions that might
be paid into it shbull be shot for by way of a
handicap. Those men who were at present good
rho s, should, of course, give the other men a go id
!natty points—(hear, hear). He hoped it would
induce a many more men to take an interest in the
shooting. He concluded by thanking the non-
commissioned officers and the men for the assist-
any:- they had given him in the management of
the c )inpany. If it had not been for their assist
atm it would have been worse than it had been.
He thanked tlem very much for drinking their
health.
Dr. H. Smith proposed " The Donors of Prizes
and the subscribers to the Stourbridge Volunteers
and their visitors, Dr. Freer and Mr. Grazebrook."
Mr. A. Freer in replying to the toast, thanked
them for having metvioned his name. He could
assure them the humble part he had taken in for-
warding the interests of this corps, was by sub-
scriting. His interest in the company remained
unabated as it di I years ago. He admired the
patriotism in which they came forward as volun-
teers; also the discipline in which they place
themselves under, to make themselves worthy mem-
bers of the company. He hoped they woul I become
more efficient every year. (Hear, hear),
Mr. Grazebrook also acknowledged the toast.
The rest f the evening was spent in singing by
members of the corps anl the proceedings ter-
minated.

Si'. JOHN'S BAZA.AR.—Lady Lyttelton on Monday
afternoon, opened a two days' bazaar at the Corn
Exchange, for the purpose of discharging sundry
liabilties connected with St. John's Church and
Schools, including the day and Sunday pchools,
curate's fund, Scripture reader's fund, and other
matters. The sum which the promoters det•ire to
raise is from .6200 to £260, which, if obtained, will
not only defray the debts referred to, but carry for-
ward a sum for further parochial purp )- es. Al-
though it was only two months ago that the bazaar
was resolved on, the intermediate time had evidently
been briskly employed, and the ladies of the con.tre-
gation and their friends hai an aggregate of "stock"
upon their stalls which fully representld the sum
above named, if cuAtomers were only found for the
whole of it. The Corn Exchange had been
brightened by the p.cturesque arrangement of the
stalls and the evergreen wreaths and other acces-
sories of a decorative kind, and the staff who had
been at work in the room had well acquitted them-
selves. Thestalls were in charge of the following
ladies :—No, 1. Mrs Penley and Mrs. Thomas; No.
2, Mrs I. Freer and the Misses Aston: No. 3, Mrs,
Hairs, Miss Cover, and the Mis-es Perry; No. 4,
Mrs. White, Ms Heck'ord, and Mrs. Lian..itt ;
No, 5, Mrs. Klozz and Mrs. (J.ething ; refreshment
stalls, Mrs. Yardley, Mrs. Moors, and Mrs, Turton
Green, The Earl of Dudley sent. a donation of
£2O. The Rev. L. B Panley sad that they must
all thank Lady Lytteltou for coming• there,
with some trouble to herself, to open the bazaar,
and also Lord Lyttelton for coming with her. They
nad proved themselves that they were not
showey neighbours. and were always ready to do
most neighbourly acts to that town and Kiddermin.
ster, especially on the present occasion when her
ladyship had so kindly promised to open this bazaar
for tnem. He then prcreeded to explain the reason
why the bazaar was held. The late vicar (Mr.
Williams), did a deal of work in Stourbridge,
(Hear). He caused the district to be separated, a
new church to be built,
.he obtained also a large
fund for schools to be built and enlarged, and also
raised fuuds fois vicarage to be built. Ile. (14