THE HARROGATE RIFLE CLUB AND TOWN GUARD. [To THE EDITOR
OP THE "SPECTATOR.”)
SIR,—It may interest you to know that the Harrogate Rifle Club, as soon as war was declared, requested the Mayor to call a town's meeting with the object of formulating a scheme for obtaining recruits for the Army ; formed a town's guard, and generally made itself into an efficient organization for doing anything which might be required of the Association. The town's meeting met with a magnificent response (there was one subscription of £500 clear and another of £100), and we immediately enlisted a very large number of men, which eventually came to thirteen hundred and fifty out of a population of thirty-five thousand. From this number about four hundred and eighty have joined the Regular Army. There are still a number of men who will ultimately be induced to offer their services.
Most of the men left are either under nineteen or over thirty-five years of age, and these men are split into com- panies under efficient officers, and are drilling at the various Board-schools in the town. These drills take place four nights a week, and, in addition, there are route marches and Swedish drill, and occasionally open-air work on Saturday afternoons. The Club already had a full range up to six hundred yards, and at once commenced the formation of a miniature range; this range is twenty-five and fifty yards. On the miniature range three hundred and fifty men have passed the Terri- torial qualifications, and, going from there to the full range, ninety have passed the Territorial qualifications for five hundred yards, and one hundred and fifty men have passed the two hundred yards Territorial qualifications. Practice is now being discontinued at the range, owing to the exten- sive alterations to make it suitable for the Regulars, who are sending troops here for musketry practice. The Club has also placed its miniature range at the disposal of the War Office authorities. Our next step would have been to have endeavoured to obtain official recognition in accord- ance with the enclosed conditions, and if you can suggest any manner by which this can be accomplished we shall esteem it a favour. I may say that we have approached you because of the interest which you have taken on behalf of the Spectator Experimental Company, which proved such a great success. The organization has been placed under the command of Mr. Fred Kelly, a Territorial officer of experience and standing, whose energy has largely contributed to its success.—We are, Sir, SLC.,
GEORGE GOODRICK, Hon. Sec. (Almsford Bank, Harrogate).
J. LOMAS-WALKER, Hon. Sec. (Westminster Chambers, Harrogate). [We congratulate the Harrogate Rifle Club upon what they have accomplished. The rules seem excellent. The great, the essential, thing in any movement of this kind is to be sure that it does not interfere with the obtaining of recruits by the military authorities. The first consideration is to admit no one over nineteen or under thirty-eight—except in cases where men have tried to join the colours but have failed. The next is to act as a recruiting agency for the new Army and the Territorials. The last is to teach drill and rifle-shooting to the men who on account of age or health cannot enter the Army. Men who have learnt to move in unison, and also how to shoot, may be very useful in a Town Guard. Such a Guard will be able to act as second-line special constables.—En. Spectator.]
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