Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

Volunteer Intelligence. 2ND GLAMORGAN VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY ANNUAL ENCAMPMENT. THEIR DOINGS IN CAMP. The annual seven days under canvas of the 2nd Glamorgan Volunteer Artillery, Western Division, R.A., commenced on Saturday afternoon at Laver- Jlock, near Penarth. The corps, to the number of 200. with great coats rolled and full equipments, were paraded at the Drill Hall) Cardiff, by Col- H. 0. Fisher, and headed by their band, under the conductorship of Mr Paul Draper, they marched to the Taff Vale Rail- way Station, where they entrained for their destina- tion. Colonel Fisher was in command, and the other officers present were Major Rigg, Captain and Adju- tant Dent, Captain Brain, Lieutenants Vmier, Tweeny, Bradley, and Hoyle. Arriving at Penarth the corps were reinforced by Nos 9 and 10 batteries, number- ing- over 100, witb|Capt. Handcocb In the evening in "the officers' mess-room (the presiding genius of which is Captain Taylor), Colonel Fisher, in honour of his initial camp commandancy, gave a banquet to the officers. The tent, which is excellently appointed, presented a very pleasing appearance, and on the tables were judiciously distributed between the floral decorations the various pieces of silver which have been won by the corps. These comprised the Queen's Prize, Sir Edward Reed's two challenge caps, chal- lenge bowl won at Shoeburyness, 1890 bowl by Col. SirV S- Hill, K.C.B bowl by Colonel Page on his retirement as commander of the corps and a unique and ciriously wrought piece of workmanship repre- senting a field manoeuvre, presented by the Hon. Col., Lord Windsor. On Sunday morning the usual church parade took place. The officers present were: —Colonel Fisher, Colonel Fry, Major Rigg, Major Thomas, Captain and Adjutant Dent, Captains W. Gascoyne Dalziel, Handcock, Taylor, S. A. Brain, Cook," and Stallybrass, Lieutenants Price, Lewis, Vyvym, Tweedy, Tanner, Bradley, Pyman, Morel, and Hoyle, Captain-Surgeon Rees, Lieutenant and Quarter-Master Sheppard, Quarter-Master-Sergeant Wilkins, pnd Sergeant-Majors Atwell, Atkins, Hill, Daly, and Hyde. Divine service was conducted al fresco by the Acting Chaplain, the Rev W. Sweet- Escoit, B.A., who delivered an impressive and elo- quent homily on Joshua xxiv., 5, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The lessons were read by Colonel Fisher, and the vocal portion of the service was accompanied by the headquarters band, under Bandmaster Mr Paul Draper. The opening and concluding voluntary, Mascagni's -1 Intermezzo" and Handel's" March from' Scipio, were exceedingly well rendered. In the afternoon the camp was visited by a large number of people, who had the pleasure of listening to a selection of music by the regimental band. The camp was prepared by a party of the corps, under the instruction of Quartermaster Sheppard. Since their encampment at Lavernock, on Saturday last, the 2nd G.V.A. have experienced exceedingly fine weather, and the annual event this year promises to eclipse all of its predecessors. Wednesday was a great day in camp, for besides a luncheon given by Colonel Fisher and the officers to their friends, the regimental sports were held. Mrs George, of Cardiff, was responsible for the catering at the luncheon, and suffice it to say the good things provided gave every satisfaction. Colonel Fisher presided, and amongst those present were Colonel E. S. Hill, K.C.B., M.P., Cololonel Fry, Majors Rigg and Thomas, Captains Dalziel, Hancock, Taylor, Brain, Cook, and Stally- brass, Lieutenants price, Lewis, Tanner, Vivian, Tweedy, Bradley, Morel, Pyman, Howell, and Grover, Quartermaster Shepherd, Captain and Adju- tant Dent, R.A., Sergeants Rees and Thomas, and the following Jarl-ies Fisher, Mrs Ingledew, Misses Ino-ledew, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Sweet-Escott, Miss Sweet- Escott, Mibs Daisy Sweet-Escott, Mrs Rigg, Miss Taylor. Mrs Heard, Mrs Thomas, Mrs Downing, Mrs Beasley, Mrs Waldron, Mrs Pyman. Miss Stranaghan, Mrs Fry, Miss Young, Mrs Dalziel, Mrs Morel, Mrs Alexander Ware, Miss Hey wood, Miss N. Thomas, Mrs and Miss Brain, Miss Beasley, Misa Gaskell, Miss Traves, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Thomas, Mrs Churchill, Mrs W. N. Lewis, Mrs H. J. Simpson, &c. After luncheon, which proved to be of a most enjoyable character, the regimental sports were held. The Sports Committee consisted of Capt. and Hon. Major F. S. Thomas (president), Captain Dalziel (referee), £ <;euts. A. C. Tweedy and W. Pyman, and the excel- lent arrangements reflected the greatest credit upon them. There were 10 events down on the pro- gramme, but owing to the competition for the group- firing from the 64-pounder guns having lasted a longer time than was anticipated, the sports cculd not be completed, some of the events being postponed until Thursday. The half-mile race, open to members of the corjs, was won by Gunner Atwill, Gunner Davies coming in second, and Sergt. O'Brien third. Tent pitching was the next item, and proved extremely interesting. There were two separate competitions, the one open to Quartermaster Shep- herd's fatigue party being won by a detachment under Quartermaster-Sergeant Wilkins, while the «-§ her competition, open to all members of the corps, was won by Sergeant-Major Crawley s detachment, the detaebment under Corporal Barnett being a good second. Major Rigg was the umpire in the tent pitching. The Havannah boys' race resulted in Manley being first, Kelly second, and Bartlett third. The hop, skip, and jump race culminated in a tie between Sergeant O'Brien and Gunner Winter, who divided the first and second prizes. The cyclists' 50 yards alow race, which was divided into three heats, was won by Gunner Winks, Bombardier Griffiths being second. Cyclist Sergeant Reed conducted the race. The ofhcers' egg and spoon race, which was cf a most amusing description, was won by Lieut. Hayle, Colonel lisher taking second place. During the afternoon the band of the regiment, under the leader- ship of Mr Paul Draper, gave excellent selections of music. Beautifully fine weather again prevailed on Thurs- day and the camp at Lavernock presented a bright and'picturesque appearance The drills which the men were put through were executed in a very smart manner, while the gun firing was also of an excel- lent character. The 7-inch R.M.L. guns on Mon- crieff carriages were used for the practice, the de- tachments forming up in two corps on the four guns. Liet.-Col. Fisher acted as firing commander, the corps being commanded respectively by Captain and Hon. Major F. S. Thomas and Captain Dalziel, and were under the instruction of Captain and Adjutant Dent. The men having completed their duties, the sports postponed on the previous day, were brought off. Very few of the gensral public were present, but in the camp itself intense interest was manifested in the remaining events on the programme. The bands- men's race was won by Draper, Sanders being second and Botter third. Ford took off the trumpter's race, Thomas and Blake filling second and third places re- spectively. The veterans' race, which was open to non-commissioned officers having 20 years and up- wards of service, was an exceedingly good one, Sims, Br nson, and Goodliffe finishing up close in the order mentioned. The event of the evening was, however, the tug-of-war for detachments of 12 selected from provisional companies. By an unfortunate mistake tvvo of the Cardiff detachments did not compete, and the tussel lay between Bridgend and the Cardiff bandsmen, who had been included, although not under the definition. It was a very exciting and stubbornly-fought contest. Bridgend came off best in the first pull, but the bandsmen carried off honours in the second. The final, however, terminated in the Bridgend detachment winning. This concluded an enjoyable alternoon's sports.