RIFLE SHOOTING AND OUR SAFETY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 85, 4 January 1919, Page 6

RIFLE SHOOTING AND OUR SAFETY

ADVICE FROM MAJOR WALLING- , •'• .-FORD. • ...:.. ' ■■:■;

;. By.H Telejrraph—Press -Association. :•-.■'■ ''■ '■'-' Auckland,;January <3. • The astonishing "information that of 80,000 cadets always in training in New Zealand , 10,000 never, do any shooting and 10,000 only fire-a few shots was given out by Major Wallingford at a presentation of prizes at the concluding days shootin" of the Auckland Rifle Association's meeting at Penrose yesterday. The remaining 10,000. he said, badUearned to shoot very well. , . , . ■ . He was emphasising the necessity of inducing young men of the Dominion to take up rifle shooting, and he suggested that some incentive in the way'of tro : piiies should be offered. "The 'Old Contemptibles/'"" he continued, "were trained to shoot at the rate oMS shots por minute', and they always claimed that they;were capable of accounting for five Germans at any. time or place. Hβ urged-rifle clubs w persevere with the instruction of the youth of the country in rifle shooting as the only way of ensuring our safety. Rifle shooting. was, in his opinion, one of the greatest assets a country could possess.