HLI Chronicle 1909 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

124 HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.has not done anything great, although a few of theminor prize~ have come our way. Looking ballk,and recaP'ng how sports night uRed to be ~ajJed" I" Company's pay night, we look to the youngermembers to mak" hist(;ry repeat itself.The wet weILther iR with 08. therefore we are gettingplenty of the" muscle factory" and the usual Companyparades. Before our Colonel went on leave he inspectedeach and all Companies in Company drill,physical drill, and gymnastics, ftnd it is very satisfactoryto know that we still retain our proud positionas the be~t Company in the Battalion.8hort route marches on Wednesday mornings havebeen started to ph1Ces of historic interest, which,thanks to our Adjutant, who gives ns a ~hort accountof what happened at the different places during thestirring times of the Mutiny, are greatly enjoyed byall.'We have iust been struck off for our annual courseof musketr~;. and we am going through the usualpreliminaries. In next issue J hope to record an improvementon last course. Word has reached US ofthe "new eour-e" which comes into operatiun nextyear, and, if all stories are true, we will have to makea bold bid for the gun~ thil> year if \\' e 91'e ever to wearthem.On "poking drill" the other day the Colour-Sergeantwas questioning some of the last draft on the partsof thf' rifle, Alter having explained everything, he~aid to PI'ivate' 8ma!"t." "Where is JOUl' ba(:blght" ?Private" Smal't,"after tnrning his rifle over severaltime~, replied. "I must have left it upstalrs,"Colour­Sergeant. "Well. go and get it." Aftet· an ab~ence ofabout ten minutes Privat" "Smart" returned, and,with a smile all over his face. exclaimed" Man! it's onmy rifle all the time '~ !In a previolls Chronicle thcre appE'ared a pi~tureof the medn'! presented to the Sergeants' Mess byColour-Sergeant l'nderwood for the best shot in theMesR. Thi~ is the first time it has been shot for, andit has been won by our Co\ollT-Sergeant, AO that thefirst bar bears the name of Colour-Sergeant Brisbane.As yf'ars roll on we hope to see bars bearing the namesof our Company added.Captain H. T. C. Singleton, D.S.O., has taken over,comma.nd of our Compa,ny. To him we extend ourhearty welcome, with the hope th'l.t he may be longspared in health as om leader.This trooping sen,80n a goodly few leave us for the" H onte Esto,blishment." amongst them SergeantsNeil and Maxwell. Now, as forewarned lA fore.armed,I would recommend all " duty men" at home to makea note of these names. and would advise them stronglyalways to be " there" before the word" Fix."To all old comrades we send good wishe8. and wehope to see some familiar faces back in the Companyere the trooping season is over.As thil> is my first attempt fiB Company scribe, I hopeeITors a.nd omiqsions will be excused." BAll.T.1E.""K" rOMPANV.WE have hltd to relinquish the Minerva Cup, whichwe won after such It hRI'd fight laAt year, I1E it is too farto take a te!'.Ifl to Cal('utta to defend our title to it thisyeltrIn football thi~ yenI', though not dipglaced, we havenot, eovercd ourselves with glory, only gctting half.wayup the Company League, and being knocked out in thefirst round of the Quorter-Master's Ctlp. This isla,rgely due to so many good players being away:"a~~~~ vLhThe Regimental tea,m gfles to Simll\ for the DuTltndCnp, I>nd the Company is representffi by L.·Corpl.MI1T~hall. Corpl. Duncan, who was promotE'd int!>," Go" is IlLso one of the team. ~The Rugby FoothPell League has now ptarte~, andwe C'l,n cong"atulate ourselvE's so fnr on makmg anBxcellent ~how. Ont of three mntch(>s wc have wontwo and lost one, thf'RC being against ., I," " D," and" H," who flTe p!'etty generftlly 110nr,idercd j,he strongest,tean,~ in the LeaglIe.We are rathe; hanrlieapped by ignorance of thegame, hut the players '\re k('ul. IInd improve With e,ery!p,me. vVe al~o have gond S0rum leaders in Lieut.Lean and Pte. ~l'Glone, whi]~t Tait 'l,nd Rain, 01 " F"Company, are very u~eful in the bft(lk division: Wehave a heavy powerful pack who ha.ve held theIr o\\'nso fv.r ngainst all comers, and we don't antioipate,being very fa,r from the top uf the I.eagul>.A few cri,)ket t?nthusi:.sts may now and then be seenind111l1illll' in prpliminary pl'acti~e, but it is not yet thesea~o:ii for the game, being too hot when there is no·ra,in. and being too wet when there is no heatOn promotion we gain Sel'gt. Jacksol1, and lose Sergt.vVftrner, who goes to detention barracks on duty.A nllll!ber of N.C.O.'s ",re undergoing It course ofju-jitsu undtr It real live ,Japanefle instructor. "0 thatsh(,rtly we eo