HLI Chronicle 1910 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

,90 HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONIGLE.
1st Battalion News.
THE official recorder and station representative
of the General Press Agency having started
· for home on eight months' leave, these notes
are this quarter transcribed by hiB amanuensis
(male). The books of the various Orders of
which he is Grand-Master having been sent to
the bank for safe keeping, I regret that I am
unable to announcea~y~promotions or appointments
in this directi6i.
On the 20th of March we closed our crosscountry
season with the race fOt General Bell's
RI;izes. Pte. Gallacher won in good time, but
the most remarkable point about the race was
·that the whole of the ninety men finished.
Although since that time we have not taken
'our exercise quite so far afield, it must not be
supposed that we spend the time sCIatching
and eating. By the aid of the gymnasium,
tlJ.e~ baths, physical drill, and musketry, we
· get rid of all superfluous beer with great
· regularity. The beer question out here is
a:much more burning one than the" Veto."
The new musketry course having been
•. started, the" tank" is full to overflowing, and
but few retain their service pay. On the top of
· such an immense saving to Government as this
· must mean, what does the local Lloyd George
do but raise the tax on beer! It is also sus­
· pected that some of the recent thunder rain
has got into the barrels; but then, of course,
the seams would naturally open this weather.
Anyhow, the upshot is that with the rise in
prioe seven pints is about the maximum for
pay-day, so you can all see for yourselves that
sol4iering in India is not the game it used to be.
We have had three gymkhanas in April and
May, but we did not manage to produce a
winner, even though one officer's reins broke.
Mitchell rode his tl'ick horse in several
events, but it insisted on lying down. There
is little doubt that if it could reproduce its
Nazratgunj form nothing would stand near it.
The Regimen.tal boxing tournament was It
great success, and produced an:, unexpected
amount of talent. At the 8th Hussar tournament
we carried off all the open events, and we
are now hoping to do well at the King's Own
tournament this month.
At a water gymkhana at the Chutta,
Lilburn won a first and a second, and our
water polo tMm reached the semi-final. Our
victors were, however, too" done" to carry on
again, so the semi-final was the only round that
took place.
In the racquet tournament Ldw' won the
single handicaps from minus five, but wds just
beaten in the scratch singles. ';:
The Sergeants gave a very enjoyable danM,
and had sent out the invitations fo:r':an()th~t,
but owing to the death of the· King it was
cancelled. .
Few of us knew that the King was ill till
we heard of his death. It waS,a great shock, as
a fairly large number of men knew him owing
to the Regiment ha,ing formed the Ballater
Guard. We had a memorial service, which
every man attended, and did our best to
show our respect for him and the special
gratitude we owed him on ll:ccount of his
well-known interest in the Regiment. :
Pte. Garner, " F " Company, transferred to
the 20th Battery, R.F.A., met with an accident
on his first parade, and subsequently died
from the lesults. He had only been away frqm
the Regiment for three days, so his career :in
the Gunners was short. He was a very smart
soldier, and was employed for some time ~t
the Station Staff Office at Dinapore. We
still keep very fit, and the anti-inoculatio:p.
party is reduced to one. The doctors are,
however, very nervoris about losing this form
of dodo, and send for him daily to ensure that
he is not fading away. . .
We send a sketch from our special .artist
of how we brought home' the Murray Cup,
which we won after a very tight fight with
. the Black Watch.
The Hockey Lelj.gue finished without any
deaths., though most of the officers, and not a
few of the other ranks, have honoura1::le scars
as mementoes. We are now in the middle of
the Inter-Company Football Cup. Om tout
tells us that the Bound tip is to back" F " and
save on " D."
The monthly sports are going very strong.
On the 28th Corpl. Shaw won a mile (open to
the station) in 4-58i, with the 8th Hussar
representative 2nd, and the King's Own man
Srd. For some days before the event the