RICOCHETS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 450, 8 March 1909, Page 6

RICOCHETS.

Stripped to the buff, tn short knickers, and with skins browaed and tanned by the sun, the markers toil in the trenches, the hardest worked men physically of any at the meeting. The heat in the pits, during the past • few days, has beea as much as 90 in the shade, but notwithstanding this the Work so far has been carried out to the general satisfaction of all. The snap-shooting, rapid-firing, and attack, and also the cover matches, all of which count for the service-match aggregate, have now been completed, with the result that Private A. Eden, of the .AVaimea Rifles, is leading with a score o£ 151 points. There remain, however, the aggregates for' the loophole, cover, and running-man matches to be added, and as tho latter of these will not be completed till the end of the meeting the present particulars, which are liable to great alteration, are not of any great interest. The completion of the Nelson Match, and one. stage of tho "Auckland" turns the attention to the "King's Fifty" list, into which every would-be champion must fire before competing in the King's Prize Match, which decides the great contest. . So far, Milroy, of

Nelson (an ex-champion, 1905), and Higgins, of limaru (who is stated to be worth watching), are bracketed in the lead with aggregate scores of 145 each, while Duley, of fiannevirke, is close behind with 144. The tide of events, as the remaining three matches and the final stage of the "Auckland" still remain to be way leave, these three right out of the t i ecc ? n ti'icities of Trentham have to lie reckoned with; Shooting has been exceptionally good all round, but the start which, has been made by Rifleman Milroy, of Nelson, is worthy of especial notice. The ex-champion so far hfis fired thirty shots in the Champion-, ship series,- and • has-• registered twenty-five bull s ; eyes and five inners, his total, 115, giving him the present lead in.the aggregate. A noticeable family, in point of numbers at the meeting, are the Prestons, of the Victoria lvifles, Aucklaud. There arc five of them, privates, "P./' "J.," and "W."—brothers and cousins, regarded, in their own district, as very good shots. A fair number of spectators were present on the range during the firing of the service matches on Saturday. Among the visitors were Colonel A. W. liobin, C.8., Chief of the General Staff, Colonel R. 11, Davies, C.8., InspectorGeneral of the Forces, Licut.-Colonel A. Bauchop, C.M.G., Ofiicer Commanding tlio "Wellington district, and Capt. Browne, Staff Instructor. To the surprise and disappointment of the many of the residents of "Canvastown" (a flourishing, but merely temporary community at Trentham), no hairdresser has considered it worth his while' to set up in l business in the town. Those who were fortunate enough to come supplied with razors, do not miss him, but there are others—bristly gentlemen, whoso chins and jaws aro fast disappearing from view under a stubbly growth. Will some knight of the razor rise to the occasion? On Saturday morning, before firing for the service matches commenced, Colonel Collins (Camp Commandant), announced that an additional sum of i£loo would be available for prize-money. Of this amount, he had decided to apportion *£50 for competition in a consolation -match—"The Last Try"—open to competitors who had not succeeded in winning .£1 or over during the meeting. Conditions—seven shots at' 500 and GOOyds. (Applause.) The remaining ,£SO would bo' apportioned in ifil prizes to the second 50 competitors in tlio Championship aggregates—numbers 51 to 100 inclusive— as .was done at Bisley. (Great applause.) Of course, continued the speaker, the additional prizes -at Bisley were greater, but they must remember that when, in New Zealand, they had over 500 competitors, at Bisley, they had something like 3000. For the remainder of the rifle meeting, riflomen are enjoined to procure their ammunition on tho evening previous to the day it is required, in order to obviate the delay which has sometimes arisen.in tho commencement of firing in the morning. A large number of volunteers and riflemen paid a llying visit to Wellington on Saturday evening. Sunday was a very quiet day on the ranges. The day was beautifully fine,-and a fair number of visitors were present in the afternoon: The marksmen in camp spent the day talking over previous fights, and inspecting the ranges, where, .during tho past fewyears,- so. many tous of lead have bcea spilt. MacKenzie, the Premantle, W.A., marksman, who was shooting here at* the commencement of tho meeting, but had to leave owing to illness, has returned to the range, and intends to complete the meeting. ' ' He is the only Commonwealth competitor taking part.

No fewer than 125 "possibles" were made in tho Snap-shooting Service Match, 201) yards, on Saturday out of fi3G entries.' This performance, hitting a head-and-shoulders target seven times in succession by one hundred' and twenty-five men, is regarded by the Defence Council with much satisfaction. ; However much some marksmen may grumble over the service matches, they generally agree in congratulating the liifle Association on its financial ability regarding the undertakings. Entrance is compulsory at 4s. per man, which (from 53G competitors) runs in to .ClO7 4s. for one match, _ or ,£42S IGs. for the four matches. Tho prize money aggregates .£220, so that the association makes a gross profit of -£203 over the business. A curious instance of "wrong-target" shooting occurred on Saturday in ono of the servico shooting matches, when a marksman, who had left tho range and was at that time half way to Auckland, on the Main Trunk lino express* was credited with six hits. His position was not. filled at the range, and both men, who would liavo been placed on his (lank, had ho been there, recorded hits on their own targets Possibly his target was bitten with lead through a mistako on the part of some enthusiastic shot, but marksmen look upon tho affair as a deen mystery. * Regarding tho Wellington Match (500 and 600 yards) and Otago Match (SOO and 300 yards) which commence this morning, it is interesting to note that last year's Wellington Match was won by Lieut. Bolton, of Pahiatua, with a score of !>4, while the Otago Match at. the same meeting was . won by Rifleman L. Kitchen, of tho Upper Hutt Kifio Club, with a score of SO. Records will bo hit hard this year if the good weather lasts. Tho Nelson Match (to take an instance) was won with a. score of OS out. of a possible 105; 87's won only 10s prizes, while last year the first_ prizo was won with a score of 87 points. It. is also statetf that with fine weather and good light there is a greater chance

than otherwise of young shots coining to the front. Their keen eyes stand to them, whereas shifting winds and bad light allow tho veteran marksmen an opportunity of putiing (heir, store of knowledge, gained in many a windswept contest, against more eyesight and steady hands. , Tlicro aro perhaps not moro lliau twenty"men at the meeting who saw service in South' Africa, but their stories incidental to that struggle servo to remind ono of tho possible grim and also humorous realities which inay follow tho association of cartridge-shoot'ilig. The "form" of the First New Zealand Contingent and tho Now South Wales Lancers, which first gavo the Imperial authorities an idea of colonial resourcefulness, tho doings of the Seventh, when they were thanked by Lord Kitchener after the Bolbasberg affair, midnight treks with never a canopy but tho blue sky for two months, how died "Tom" Hempton, tho Tnranaki footballer, how Hardham won the Victoria Cross, humorous episodes connected with tho lifo of tho late Mr. Scddon, as Defence Minister—these, and innumerable other incidents, fall from tho raconteurs in the easy way, which denotes a tale that has been often told. Some of these stories dcscrvo to bo in overy school book in tho Dominion. Judged from ■ tho remarks of thoso who aro supposed to Iciiow, tho animal gathering of New Zealand shooting men still exercises a certain fascination on many who commenced tho game a quarter of a century ago. Age lias not impaired tho enthusiasm, but only the vision of these old timers" who attend -year after year, because they, like to bo in the business, and also to renew the acquaintanceships which nave extended for so many seasons. Now and again,, although they are not. expecting prize money, their old-time skill shows itself, and they will top a list in workmanlike stylo. An instance of this occurred the other day, when J rivato Sountag, of Dunedin, who attended his W eetln S in 1878 > won an "Extra" Match with the very fine score or 34 out of a possiblo 3a at 600 yards. Several marksmen express the opinion that if fewer targets were used in the service matches (such as were provided being used in sections, numbered odd and even) there would not be much 'wrong-target" shooting.- It is contended by some that when they, havo performed, hard running over uneven ground, and then sunk into long grass, it is very easy indeed in the excitement of the moment to fire at the wrong target. And when a man once commences on tho wrong tack ho keeps on to the end. Against the contention of shooting men for au easier system to aid the powers of observation there are the English rules on visual training, which state that observation must be cultivated. The British authorities declare that visual training is not, as a rule, cultivated 11 J Cl 7i' ''^ e > therefore few of the men who shoot' at riflo possess it. Many of them come from the cities 'and have never had occasion to use their eyes in the manner necessary for military purposes. They have never had occasion to. recognise objects at more than a few yards' distance, and it has been found that such men, at recruit training, cannot even seen a man lying in the open at 500 yards without very careful directions as' to his exact position. It may be agreed that the colonial eyo is much more observant than that of the English city man. Still there is a great deal to be said in favour of the present service regulations as an educational aid to observation, skill, and endurance.

It will bo noted that all these matches were at fixed ranges. There are only two "un-known-range" matches on the association's programme—the "Surprise Service Target" Match, and the "C.A.C." field firing event, both team matches. These will be iired later. In placing these matches on the programme, the Executive Committee has manifested a progressive spirit, and given competitors an opportunity of discovering, l'or themselves, the fact that bull's-eye shooting, excellent preliminary training as it' admittedly is has its limitations, and does not produce the marksman par excellence. How do the men regard these innovations? This question was put to several volunteers and. rillc-club men on the'range, on Saturday. The consensus appears to be that service matches aro "good fun"; that they arc ridiculed bj' the rillc-club men, who are stated to have conservative ideas on the subject, and that the invitations extended to them by the Council of Defence to participate in fieldfiring manoeuvres at Easter, is likely to meet with a poor response. Very few, apparently, havo troubled to look beneath tlio surface of the idea, and bestow some thought upon the principle which underlies sorvice marksmanship. This is rather a' p'ity, for it should be the double aim of every man who carries a rifle to become, first, a good marksman at the : bull'seye target, and second, to climb, to the higher distinction of establishing a reputation as a first-class shot at surprise targets over . unknown distances. All this has been written in no disparaging spirit. Bull's-eye shooting is ono of the finest, if not the finest, sports of the nation, and produces a splendid type of man. but it has its limitations; it docs not produce, in the absolute sense of the term, the "dead shot," and this fact should be remembered by all shooting men.