BAD NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1378, 2 March 1912, Page 7

BAD NEWS.

COLONEL'S ADDRESS TO THE MEN. During tho course of his remarks to the men before firing commenced, Colonel Collins reniarked that there seemed to be a feeling of uneasiness on tho range. Ho had noticed references to it in tho newspapers, and recognised himself that this leeling existed. Tho reason for this he assumed to bo. tho small number of entries —that, at all events, was the outward indication.

Cause of the Slump. For himself, he thought that 325 entries was not so bad after all. They had to consider tho disadvantages they had had to contend with. The Territorial forco was in a statu of transition, thero had been no rifles available, and in consequence there had been'a lack of interest in shooting in Wellington and elsewhere. It was.quite natural, therefore, to expect fewer entries this year. In the old days tho volunteer force was always represented by a certaiiriuimber;.of..competitors, but when things were ia,a slate.of transition it was inevitable that there would be a. decrease in the number of entries. Another factor at work against a largo field of competitors.this year was the lateness of tho harvesting season—many who would otherwise have been on the rango that day were kept at homo. .

A Programme of Compromise. Coming now to the question of the programme itself, concerning which some | criticism had been heard, they had to remember the fact, said Colonel Collins, that n crisis had arrived in the history of bull's-eye shooting, at tho meeting last year, and although General Godley was not an estrouiist as regards shooting, it had to be recognised that with a. system of universal military training in force sport with the rifle would have to conform, to some extent at all events, to military conditions. The programme for this year's meeting was a compromise between two extremes, providing a good many matches to bo fired under service ■ conditions, and also a series of matches under bull's-eye conditions. If there was blitsne to be cast on that account, ho was prepared to take his share.

Teams Matches. With regard to the teams matches, for which there had been so'few entries, it had'to be remembered that these competitions were originally intended for representative teams of twelve men from Territorial regiments only, and not for riflo clubs. Representations .had since then been made on behalf of the rifle club men with respect to these tennis matches. It was pointed out. that the rifle clubs were now n part of the general defence scheme, and should bo allowed to compete. He had said "By all means;" and these events were accordingly thrown open to the rillo chib men. For reasons which he had already detailed, it was impossible for- the Territorial regiments to send representatives this year. Next year, however, he hoped to see every regiment in JSew Zealand represented in the teams matches, and a great revival of interest generally in the Trcnthain meeting. In connection with the individual service events, ho desired to say that the conditions for theso would bo found to bo a great improvement upon those of the previous year. All shots, would be "disced." (Hear, hear.) He had now icviowcd the position, and thought that nil would recognise. that there were reasons for tho small entry list. The meeting really commenced that morning. They bad had abundant opportunity for preliminary practice during the previous two days—there had been 700 entries' for tho extra matches he had provided, and he felt sure that tho opportunity had beca appreciated. (Hear, hear.)

Growlers in the Press. "Now," proceeded the speaker, "I've been reading the papers. I would like men to coino to mo if thero is anything wrong." Ho had been a shooting man himself in tho old days, and a growler like other shooting men. It was tho way of shooting men. There had been soiiie talk of agitating for an alteration in the constitution of the association in tho direction of tho systems in voguo in Now Soutli Wales and Melbourne, and elsewhere. There would bo no trouble in getting that. As a matter of fact, General Godley had been' surprised to find that the association was under, the control of the Government. He (the speaker) anticipated no difficulty in having the bull's-eye meeting controlled by a council elected by tho competitors. (Hear, hear.) Meeting With General' Godley. Referring to the reorganisation of tho riflo clubs under the new defence s-chome, and the proposal to enrol in these clubs all youths between 18 and 21 who could not be enrolled in the Territorial Force. Colonel Collins .indicated that General Godley would be pleased to confer with representatives of tho clubs on matters torching this new proposa , probably the day after the meeting at Irentham. lhe constitution of the a^socia,loll would also be brought up then. The Territorial himself was not a shooting man, broadly speaking, Ml o% ; l> some of them were very ffin men on the range, but nf er all the Association had to look to the rifle club men for the largest nuola of competitors. The rifle clubs of New /enmmf were the future, force ot the conntry? so far as shooting was concerned. (Hear, hear.)

A Painful Duty. The speaker then referred to the revision of tho prize-list rendered "eccssao l,v the fall in the number of mines. T'hev would all ■.e.uembcr that m the past, wlie'rovjr there had been an opportunity Co increase the prize-list, he had been the

man to do it. (Hear, hear.) He was now in the position of having to reduce the prize-list, but in such a way that with only 320 odd competitors present, they 'would really have n. better chance of winning a prize than if COO men had been competing for the original prize-money. Tho Executivo Committee had discussed this question the previous evening, and decided to reduce tho amount available— i!lG18-to .£1375. There were 325 competitors on the ground, and'the total entry money for the remainder of tho matches, for which they had entered, was £3 each, or .£975 in tho aggregate. Tho association had decided to add to this .£IOO. No man could say that ho was shooting for his own monev. . The difference in the prize monoy amounted to .£243. In each of tho B Series (individual service matches), o9 prizes, equal in value to .£SO, took the place of 60 prizes at .£OO. In each of. the C Scries (championship events), 80 prizes, aggregating in value .£9O, were substituted for 100 prizes worth .£llO. The first prize in tho King's match would be reduced from .£SO to JC3S; the second from £2o to and the third from JC2O to .£ls. The remainder would stand as at present. No alteration would be made in the Trentham and Bisley aggregate competitions.

Are We Downhearted? Since the circulation of the official programme two mistakes had been discovered. These had been attended to. The time allowed in tho Rapid Firing Match would be 60 seconds, instead of 30 seconds, and in the Running Man Competition, points would be awarded for each hit. Through some mistake, these points have not been awarded at last year's meeting. Now, concluded the Colonel, "if any shooting man has a grievance, let him come to me. I'll fix it up—if I have the power. .This meeting will bo tho forerunner of great meetings in the future. Am I downhearted? ("No!") Circumstances are against us at present, but next year, it tho mooting is properly worked up, there should bo 1000 entries. (Applause.)

The Day's Shooting. The whole day was devoted to individual matches fired under service conditions. The rifleman of the old school calls them "silly" matches, or "jumping Jinnies, but ho generally does pretty well at them all the siime, mid does not object to holding out his hand for his prize-money when tho results go up. for all he may say, in disparagement of these military matches, tho conditions imposed upon him exact those qualities which none but a first-class bull's-eye marksman could hope to possess. It is the last and conclusive test of his efficiency as a dead shot. Jn the snap-shooting event he is required to fire shots at 300 vards at targets which are only exposed for 4sec. at each shot, and tha"t at irregular intervals. In other words, he does not know the exact moment when tho target will appear, and, when it does pop up, ho has only seconds wherein to aim and fire. The target is a "head and shoulders" affair, with a bull seyo which ho cannot see. Ihe bull measures 8 inches, and is located in the centre. Tho point about its invisibility is that the firer has no fixed disc wherein to "draw his bead." Quickness of aim and steadiness of fire-all in 4sec.-are the qualities tested in this match. Tho loophole cover match-as its name implies-is fired from behind' loophole covers—temporary wooden structures, llio firer lies down behind his loophole with his rifle down but loaded, and with sights adiusted-tho range is 500 yards; ten shots, one shot at each exposure of the target, which appears at intervals of from i to lOsec. This match exacts from tho rifleman tho same qualities as in the snapI shooting matches. In the rapid-shooting match-a tenshot contest at 500 yards, figure the competitor is given GOsee. to get Ins ten shots away, but he may not have more than five rounds in the magazine of his rifle when ho chnrges it, and, until he hears the command, "Fire, he must havo his rifle empty, both chamber ant) magazine. ' ~ , ... „ Then there was the slow practice match-seven shots at GOO yards, figure target. Here the target is exposed tor 20sec, during which the marksman fires a singlo shot. Each hit is signalled.

The Running Man This Year.Tho running --man.this year is a silhouette figure,' coloured khaki. In previous years tho figure was the centre of a small ""paddock" of white canvas, with the result that "Running Eube," as he is called, showed up clear and distinct against the white background, and oftered an admirable target even although he was kept moving across the field at 000 yards range. This year the competitor is required to get his seven shots away in the space of COsec, the while "Rube" travels 50 yards across and 50 yards back again. This is a good match, and very popular with the men—a kind of open-air shootinggallery with the advantage of changing lights mid variations in tho wind, but it gets the best out of a good shot. The ' running man competition will be continued till next Wednesday.

To-day's Programme, Snap-shooting at 300 yards; .moving target match at 300 yds.; "attack' match. On Wednesday evening next, when tho "running man" competition is closed down, the list of the fifty competitors for the service championship will be known, and tho shoot-off will take- place on tho following morning. The King s Match will be fired in the afternoon of the same day. Tho champion teams match is set down for Wednesday.