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35. Lieutenant BENTON, R.E. carried out an examination of the members of the Engineer Company and the O.C.S.M.. R.E., has reported that the result was very satisfactory.

36. The health of the men in Camp was good. Surgeon-Lieutenant LAING was present every night in Camp, this is the first year that arrangements have been able to be made for a Medical Officer throughout the whole perio1,

37. Camp Inspections. His Excellency the Governor inspected the Camp on October 26th, saw the Corps on parale, and inspected the Guard of Honour; he expressed himself pleased with the Camp and the steadiness of the men on parade.

38. His Excellency the General Officer Commanding inspected the Camp and the Corps on October 30th, and stated that the Camp was clean and soldierly.

39. In my special report on the Annual Camp I strongly recommended that the period should be extended to 15 days in future, and His Excellency the Governor has approved of this. This should increase the efficiency of the Corps.

INSPECTIONS.

40. Major-General F. G. SLADE, C.B., R.A., inspected the Artillery Units at Gun Practice on February 4th, 1905.

41. The practice took place at Sywan. targets for 15-Pr. practice being placed on the slopes of Mt. Collinson and for Maxim Practice on Mt. Parker. Unfortunately a dense fog came up before practice commenced, so that the greater part of the practice had to be carried out at a very short range.

42. A copy of Genera! SLADE's Report is attached (Enclosure No. 7.)

43. The Annual Inspection by His Excellency the General Officer Command- ing was ordered for Saturday, March 25th, but owing to the unfavourable weather and the bad state of the ground, it was postponed to Saturday, April 15th, 1905.

MISCELLANEOUS.

44. His Excellency the Governor has been good enough to present a Cup for Annual Competition between Units for Efficiency; marks are allotted to each Unit for every efficient member, also for musketry and to the Officers and Sergeants for Proficiency at the Annual Examination. In order to encourage each Unit to recruit up to full strength 1 mark is added to the total for each member.

The marks are given proportionately to the total strength.

The order of Efficiency for this Cup for this Season is as follows:-

(Winners.) Marks.

(1.) Right Half No. 2 Company H.K.V.A., O.C. Capt. ARMSTRONG, 2,908 (2.) Left Half No. 2

O.C. Capt. SKINNER, 2,835 O.C. Lieut. CRAKE,...... 2,633

10.,

...

(3.) H.K.V. Engineer Company (4.) Left Half No. 1 Company H.K.V.A., O.C. Lieut. OLIVER,...... 2,573 (5.) Right Half No. 1

O.C. Capt. MACDONALD, 2,419

Do..

I would add that in future I think it might be fair to add more marks for the number of efficients in a Unit to encourage recruiting.

45. The Competition for the Musketry Shield presented by Sir H. A. Blake, G.C.M.G., for teams of 8 from each Unit took place on April 30th, 1904, at the Volunteer Rifle Range, and was again won by the Left Half No. 1 Company,

H. K. V. A.

46. Two members of this Unit, Gunner F. W. PENNING and Gunner J. T. HAYTON, tied for the Corps Rifle Championship at the Volunteer Rifle Meeting held on Saturday, March 4th and 11th, and Gunner F. W. PENNING won on the shoot off by 1 point.