TRENTHAM-1912.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1381, 6 March 1912, Page 6

TRENTHAM-1912.

6IXTH DAY, FINE WEATHER & HIGH SCORES- : ' NEARINQ THE END, : LOYEBAY IN THE LEAD, THE CARBINE CUP, :Auckland Match—Rifleman Elliott, AkaVfana Rifle Club, 98 points. '* Wellington Match—Rifleman Taylor, 'Blenheim Rifle Club, 94 points. ■• Canterbury Match—Rifleman Henderson .'(Sounds Rifle Club) and Sergeant Ryder, ;9th Regiment, tied with 50 points each, score, one range match. ;, Otago Match—Seven men tied for first 'place'with SO points each, possible score, 'one range match. I Nelson Match-W. Cox, City R.C., Auckland. ~ Carbine Cup and Trentham Aggregate— 'Rifleman S. Elliott, Akarana Rifle Club, ■03 points. . Leading for the Belt— L, Loveday, .Woodville.

'; The grey dawn yesterday struggled ■through a blanket of aist, which hung -low over the Trentham Riflo Range, obisouring tho summit line of the low hills. ..'But as the sun got higher up in tho sky, '■'the mist grow thinner, and at last drifted .'over the hilltops and disappeared. Tho [full morning gave promise of a beautiful [tlay. It was a regular "broiler," with •sizzling periods of almost absolute calm. iKow and then a vagrant fish-tail drifted languidly across the range, lifting tho range-flags this way and that..

A Disastrous Mirage. In the afternoon a breeze came up from fho north-west, and blew with irregular force, giving the men on the- mounds plenty to speculate upon. It wns fairly ■steady during the hours of tho afternoon, but later on, as'the sun dropped towards the western hills, the wind dropped, and blew, this way and that. Thoso who were lucky enough to go down in the first'sqiiads did tery. well, but there Hvero several disasters in. tho. late afternoon:. ■■ ■• . • In the early morning, the first equads to go down encountered ono of the most puzzling , mirages in the experience of veteran miirkanen at Trenthaiu. So treacherous was the light' at this stage that many of the, men could do no better than point their rifles at the wavering target, pull the trigger, and trust to luck. Drawing a bead on the centre of tho figure targot was out of tho question. There were many long faces when-the early squads retired from tho mounds, and several reputations were left behind, interred at the firing point.

iThe Canterbury Match. Firing commenced at COO yard?, in the teA-shot Canterbury match. This was the "mirage" match, and tho scoring here was inferior to that Tecorded in tho Otago match, fired during the best part of the day. Two tropies (50 points), were scored—by Henderson, of the Sounds Eifle Club, and Sergeant'Ryder, of the 9th Regiment— the lucky marksmen thus winning an extra £1 each for the feat. There wero only two 49*0—by Smart, of the Wellington Suburbs Club, and Sergeant Brinsley, of iAVanganui Rifles. > Henderson and Ryder tied on points, and also on the count back, so the first and second prizes -jiE'i anil £i— wero lumped together, and evenly divided.

Things Improve,

; .There was a distinct improvement shown in- the scoring, when the Otago Match —ten shots at 800 yards—was commenced. As will be 6eon from the prize list, no fewer than seven men reached tho possible mark of 50 points, and wero awarded "possible" prizes of 10s. each, while seven others reached 49. Fourteen marksmen scored 48, and thero was a long string of iTs.

'In the afternoon, the Nelson Match, a two-range-contest at 800 and 900 yardswas disposed of. Here, the shooting was of a high order dn the early stages, but several good marksmen "cracked up" in tho fickle breeze of the lato afternoon. In the first range, 800 yards, four possibles ■H-ere registered, Neville' Willoughby and 11. Marshall, of the Karori Club, Sergeant ■Faulkner, of tho Garrison Artillery, and l'te. Loveday, of Woodville, securing "possible" prizes of ]os. each, in addition to their match prizes. At the same Tange, Caldwell and Bulford, of Karori, Thomas, of Petone, Sergt. Carey, of Patea, Guiney, of Christchurch, Lip'piatt, Nelson, Lieut. Atkinson, Auckland, and Sandford, of Christchurch, reached 49. Coming back to 900 yards, conditions wera more difficult, and nobody got into the . .possible list. Sergt. Munro, of Murihiku, 'Soppr, of Tuamarina, and Cox, of Auckland, were lucky enough' to score 49, nvhile a handful of others got into the r*B list.

TThe Carbine Cup. > The finish of tlie Otago Match was of 'special interest, as disclosing the winner of tho Trentham aggregate competition— ■results computed from tlio scores made in mil matches at 300, 500, and 600 yards, in the championship series—and also the ■1912 owner of the Carbine Cup, awarded to the winner of the Trentham Aggragate. Elliott, of Akavana, was declared tho [winner, with 229 points all told. Lieut. 'Atkinson, of Auckland, was one point better, but most unfortunately had neRlected to enter his nanio as a competitor in tho aggregate competition, a piece of forgetfulness which cost him the C'ar.bine Cup and .65 in prize money. Milroy, •of Nelson, was runner-up, with 226. •

United Service Match. . Tho following will represent the respective branches in the United Service inatch—Territorials v. Eifle Clubs—which is to be fired to-day :— Territorials—Captain Barltrop (Manchester Eil!e=>), Captain King (Christchurch), Captain Pottor (Auckland), Lieut. Atkinson (Auckland), Lieut. Neilson (Diin-liov-irke), Liout. Evans (Christchurch), Lieut. Duncnn (Millerton), Lieut: IJrumindiid (VVestport), Lieut. Hollard (Hutt), Sergt.-Major Maingay (Piako), Sergt. Sharland (Stoke), Sergt. Munro (Muriliiku), Sergt. Eyles (Banuevirke), Sergt. Patrick (Auckland), Corp. Arnold (Tamnnki). Pie. I/)vedny (Woodville), Pte. Mayhcw (Feilding), Pte. J. Hunt (Brigade Signal Corps), Trooper Marenzi (Eketahuna), Gynner E. !Ballin*er (Garrison Artillery). Emergencies—Captain Mirrielees. Sorgt. Simmonds, i>lo. K. S. King, and Pte. H. E. King. Eifle Clnbs-S. Elliott, J. AV. Milrov, W Banks, W. K. Williams, N. Wood, D Boot?, W. N. Masefiold, A. Henderson, E. F. Sandford, G. Hyde, E, Duthie, G. Clarke, F. James, J. Anderson, 11. Hunt, H. IT. Mawley, E, ,T. Kin?. F. Necdham, N. Willoughby, ■ and A. Brown. Emereencies—D. and F. G. Hogg,

Matches for To-day, The Hawke's Bay match (900 yards, ten allots. Kisley ■• targets), and Tnranaki Match (1000 yards, ten shots, Bislcy tnrEohs), will bo fired; also tho Champion Teams Match, and the United Service Match. UTie Champion Teams Match in open to teams of fivo men from any Territorial or Cadet company, and from any dofenco force- rifle club in New Zealand, or the Australian States, and is fired over COO, 500, and 600 yards; seven shots at eaoh distance. Entries for the Champion Tflftms Match close at 10 a.m. to-day.