The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-17 00:00:00

The Volunteers.

On Thursday evening the prize distribution of the West
(9th) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Only; took place at the
Eyre Arms Assembly-rooms, St. John':-.;-wood, b efore ala rg3
and fashionable company. Col. M'Murdo, the Inzpentor-
General of tho Volunteer force, presided, and with himwere
Lieut.-Col. Lord Radstock, the commandant of the regi-
ment, Sir J. Hamilton, and others interested in the move-
ment. There was a handsome display of prizes, the chief
of which had been presented by firms and gentlemen' con-
nected with the regiment and neighbourhood, as Measr.l.
Marshall and Snellgrove, Messrs. Silver, Lcrd Radsto ek,
Mr. Thomas Hughes, Mr. E, Armitage, Mr. Bass, 31r.
Davies, and Mr. 11. Bridgman. Prominent among the eis-
play of silver was the Fitzwilliam Cup, presented by Ff:rl
Fitzwilliam, which has been competed for at the long raa,ges
among seven metropolitan reg3ments, and. has lx3en won
m t
twice by Lieut. Marriner. Another pr3neat prize iv,,s
the Borough Members' Challenge Cup, given by Lord E'er-
Gewalisn,elr,l.Pan.
aLEienusti.gM.narnairrtieL,
mPrTalate.AP.:-nalintadgMe,r.Slieragrve:nytL
were the chief prize winners. After the diArlbution,,

Colonel 31.31rituo rose to address the meeting, and was
received with loud applause. He congratulated the r,..-
ment and its friends upon the recurrence of the annual fee-
tive meeting, which was held, he said, not only for the pur-
pose of giving prizes, and as a reunion of the Volunteers
and their friends, but that they might have a kind of stock-
taking of the regiment and. the force, and so ascertain if
there had been any falling off in the great usefulness of the
movement. From the returns of the 9th Middlesex he fou-ed
the strength of the regiment to be 412 ; of there, 276 com-
menced class-firing, 248 completed the corms; of which
number the final classification showed that there were in
the first classl36 (64 of whom are marksmen), in the secon 1
class 90, and in the third 22. This was a most satisfactory
statement, and he could say that as one who had seen a great
deal of this sort of thing. (Cheers.) Upon a hint from the
noble commander of the regiment he had male a compa-zi-
son of the shooting of the 9th with the shooting of the other
regiments of the metropolis, and this comparison showed
some facts interesting to Volunteers and their friends.
There were 20,000 Volunteers in the metropolis, and the
average of the corps was 59
par cent. efficient—that was to
say, of every 100 men 59 were certificated as efficient and
good soldiers, and.the average of men who had earned the
extra 10s. as good shots was 22 per cent. of the enrolled men
of theca regiments. Now, the West Middlesex had attained
an average of 66 per cent, of efficients, or 7 par cant above
the average, and a percentage of 49 shooting men, or 27
above the average. (Cheers). The regiments which stood
highest in these average,-...—and it was just to s.ly that the
smallest corps were more likely to have a higher average
than the larger ones—he could show from the data in the
archives of the War-office. The corps which stood highest
in the metropolis was the 7th Surrey, which showed an
average of 90 per cent. of efficients, and 59 per cent. of
shooting men. The second was the 26th Middlesex
Custom House Volunteers), who showed an averagi of
efficients of 69 per cent., and 60 per cent. of men who had
earned the extra 10e., and the third best was the
West Middlesex, with the figures he had given.
(Cheers.) This must be extremely satisfactory .to
the members of the 9th, and the per tentage showed that
they had attained excellence in shooting. Excellence in
shooting was an important thing for Volunteers, but
he was not one of there who rsid that shooting was to be
preferred before &111. He held that good shooting, ec-
companied by good drill, made a regiment almost invin-
cible. He then went on to remark upon the eccasions
when he had seen the 9th under arms, and prai;ed the
readiness which the ,noble lord commanding them hal
shown under difficulties in the field, end the smart m,nner
in which the corps hal moved. He showed the advantage 3
which would result from en organLation of the rElway
power, and congratulated the Voluntary that this organi-
sation had been accomplished. He alluded to his retirement
from the Inspector-Genera'sh:p of the Force, and concluded
amid loud cheers by expressing Ifs best wishes for their
progress. _ _ _

Sir JAMES HAMILTON moved a vote of thanks to the
prize donors, and, after commenting upon the deep debt
which the country owed to the Volunteers, announced his
intention to hand a check to Lord Rldstack for 20/. to L 3
given in prizes. (Cheer:.)
_ _

Lord RADsTocK,who wao warmly received, acknowledgei
the kindness of the last speaker, and in noticing what the
chairman had been pleased to say as to the efficiency of
the regiment, said that it had ever been his pide to have, p,
regiment out of which some work could be got if a day of
danger should come to England ; and though he knew no
Volunteer force could compete with a Line reg:-nent is
finish, he did trust that the 9th wouldprovidernateriel V2ich
in the hour of danger would provide substantial aid to the
country. (Cheers.) He was glad to ray that t'iere had been
a steady increa.7e in the number of men of the regiment
who had gone to the targets, and he stated that every man
in the regiment could fire 1/11 cartl:dge. He thought it ouht
to be exacted from every Volunteer that he L:lould Icaow
how to fire off his rlfle, so that if a man could not make

good practice in picking off individuals, he would be able,
when they were not far off a column, to do some execution.
(A laugh.) He (the noble lord) thought that, in however
satisfactory a state the Volunteer force was at the present
time, at leas:: 100,000 mor3 men should be added to its num-
bers, and he urged upon young men that they should UM-
sider the position which this country would be placed in If
30,000 out of the 40,000 soldiers in this country had to be
sent in haste to protect the Canadas in case of any quan-el
arising between England and America. He showed the
low cost of joining a corps and the advantsgc3 immedi-
ately resulting to young men from the healthful exorcize,
and concluded by calling for cheers for Col. 319gurdo.

Three cheers were moat heartily given, a 3 were others
'or the Queen, and the prceeedings terminated..

A meeting of the officers commanding metropolitan Vo-
lunteer Corps was held-a few days since, at the offices of
the,Nationalßifle Assotiation, to consider the unsatisfactory
condition of, the law relating to rifle ranges-. It was re-
solved that Lieut.-Col. Lord Elcho, Lieut.-Col. Hughes,
and Lieut.-Col. Wilkinson should form a committee, and
the following motion was agreed to :—" That each com-
manding officer who is cognizant of legal proceedings taken
or to be taken with a view to close his range be requested
to put his case in weiting and submit it to the committee:'
The following resolutions were carried unanimously
That in the opinion of the meeting ample facilities are
absolutely essential to the continued existence of the Vo-
lunteer force ; that it appears from the evidence btu before
this meeting that come corps have already had their ranges
closed by injunction, and that °there are threatened; that
under the present state of the law no range is safe from in-
terference ; and that it is the deliberate opinion of the com-
manding officers present that corps deprived of their ranges
will, if the prohibition be permanent, cease to exist." The
committee abovenamed were requested to prepare a state-
ment of the evidence sent in to them, and to submit it, with
the resolutions, to the Secretary of State for War.
On Saturday evening there was a specie parade of the 3d
City of London Rifle Volunteer Corp.; in the Guildhall for
the purpose of distributing the prizes won at the butts.
The regiment, of much there was a very good muster, was
drilled for a considerable time, and then, being formed into
three sides of a square, was aldreesed bythe commandant,
Lieut.-Col. Richards. He said he was very sorry that the
prizes to be distributed were of little value, considering the
large regiment they were given to, but this, he added, was
no fault of the officers, who had done that could be ex-
pected of them, and was to be attributed partly to the little
interest taken in the corps by those outside, end partly to
the peculiar circumstances of the regiment, the worLing
men of whom it was composed having little time to g 6 oat
practising. In addition to other drawbacks the range taken
by the corps at the beginning of the last reason was early
closed against them, and they had to fall back upon the
Government range at Plumstead, with all the vexations,
delays, and disappointments so well known to all Volun-
teers. He was in hopes that other range convenience would
be found, and he then went on to remark that the ceps
had not had the same compliment paid to it in the way of
prizes other corps received, and steps, he saki, had be en taken
to get an adequate shooting fend for next year. He 1117;9d.
the members of the 3d City to make themselves worthY oal
these prospective prizes, and he was sure the workinags natney
of London would prove they
class of men in the world. He then distributed
Major Laurie,
the chief of which, a silver cup, given .
by
ys
were taken by
was taken by Capt. Clark. The other prizes
Colour-zergeant
Corporal Gardener, Sergeant
forT h
et h e o fficer s,
had
as
steadl4nedfvthese prizes,
irapenn (the Hythe
White, Private Royston, Sedrugcr
the
and Sergeant Clifford..
In-
structor), Sergeant Cradnd
after one or two cornplimen-
Other prizes were
for non-attendance, 1,450 ; effi-
corps marched to the e following
was
f the regiment :—On the rolls, after
given as the
state o rs
striking off 300
members
tary speeches, andg;tvheia'riaglu9ertresrs.
ciente by last return, 789. The amount of the Government
grant exceeds 8001.
The Ist City of London Artillery Volunteers were in-
spected by Lieut.-Col. Rotten, R.A., under orders fro-.-- the
War-office, on Saturday, in gun drill at Wellington Bar-
racks, and in battalion &IA at Westminster-hall. After the
brigade had meeched rest at the slow, quick, and double,
inspection of arms, manual, and platoon exercises, and se-
veral column formations and deployments, terminating by
an advance in review order and general salute, the inspect-
ing officer expressed himself in very favourable terms of
the gun drill, the marching, the general soldiereilee appear-
ance of the men, the great efficiency of the non-commis
sioned officers, and the serviceable state of the arms. He,
however, suggested that the drill generally was susceptible
of improvement, and urged upon the members attention to
drill and discipline. Much was expected from artillerymen,
and particularly from metropolitan corps. He knew the
corps had experienced great difficulties, but they had been
overcome, and there was nothing to prevent this corps, re-
presenting the artillery service of London, from attaining
approximately perfection both in drill, discipline, and
strength, and from being worthy that city and the efforts of
their lieutenant-colonel and the officers and adjutant of the
brigade. The commanding officer then expressed the
thanks of the brigade to Col. Batton for his suggestions,
and assured him they would receive the especial attention
of the members. The corps afterwards proceeded to the
Orderly-room, where a supper had been provided for them
by the lieutenant-colonel and the officers.