London at the End of the Century:A Book of Gossip
a Beckett, Arthur William
1900
A RECOLLECTION OF SHOEBURYNESS.
To return to Shoeburyness. There is no doubt that the discipline and work at the meeting are both admirable. In the days of Wimbledon, when the Volunteers certainly took matters calmly, the contrast between Surrey and Essex was most remarkable. But even now, when the National Rifle Association has changed its quarters, there is no comparison between the gunners and the sharpshooters. At Shoeburyness there is a discipline in the air. There is not much to choose between the silver lace and the gold, the white and the yellow. Years ago I took part in a meeting of the N.A.A., and was delighted with the outing. As I was not entered for any competition I was used merely as a regimental officer, and invited to make myself generally useful. On one occasion I was in command of a range party, whose duty it was to ascertain and signal the various shots as they hit or missed the target. We were put on our stage (in mid ocean) at seven in the morning and kept there | |
197 | until late at night. It was delightfully fresh and appetite-increasing. At mid-day the guns at the batteries ceased firing, and everyone went to lunch. When I write I mean all those on shore. We poor people at the ranges were entirely forgotten. However, when the batteries after the interval desired a record of their firing, I refused to gratify their wishes until our creature comforts had received adequate attention. I accordingly signalled to all applications to know until the necessary meal had been supplied. Subsequently, being required to give my for my conduct, I wrote a sort of a report, in which I set forth that as I had not been supplied with food, the men under my command, exposed to the exhausting rays of the sun, would have probably become victims to and possibly to -hence my demand for lunch. I was subsequently officially informed that my explanation was |
