UP AGAINST IT

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 46, 27 February 1928, Page 11

UP AGAINST IT

N.R.A. MEETING SHOOTING IN THE BAIN A SOUTHERLY "BUSTER" (From Our Special Reporter.) TRENTHAM, This Day. When competitors at the annual meeting of the National Eifle Association turned out for breakfast this morning they found Trentham in one of its most unfavourable' moods. The southerly storm, presaged early last evening by a sharp change in t.e atmosphere, set in in earnest about 11 o'clock, and it continued throughout the night. Early this morning rain was still falling steadily, and the prospects for shooting appeared black.. By 9 o 'clock, however, there was a slight improvemc»t, and it was decided to mako a start. The improvement was only temporary, and marksmen had to contend with heavy showers of rain during the progress of the AVellington Match. This morning tho Wellington Match, the last of the short-range series, is being fired, and at the conclusion of the match the winner of the Trentham Aggregate will be- announced. This afternoon the first of the long-range series, the Otago Match, will be taken. Considerable interest is taken by riflemen in the progress of the Bifle Club Champion Team Match, the scores for which are made ui> from the shooting in the various Belt matches, the teams being declared prior to the commencement of tho match. With three out of the seven matches completed, .Petono No. 1 holds the advantage, thirteen points ahead of Featherston. Wanganui No. lis next on the list. The Petone team is a^ particularly strong combination, despite tho fact that it does not include A. H. O'Donnell, who at time of writing is running second' in tho fifty, and it will take a lot of catching. O'Donnell is a member of the No. 2'team, which is ninth on the list. The first ten teams are as follow:— '■ Petone No. 1 w. 1109 Featherston 1096 Wanganui No. 1 1091 Suburbs No. l' 1087 Christchurch No. 1 1085 Linton No. 1 1083 Karori No. 1 . 1079 Greytown 1079 Petone No. 2 1063 Ashburton 1061 A disappointing feature of the meeting so far has been tho comparative non-success of the Austhaliana, and in view of the high standing of members of the team in the rifle shooting world this has caused some surprise. The Australians themselves have been puzzled, and since the first day or so they have been looking for a reason. Yesterday they made a discovery which may account for their moderate performances. It was found that the barrels of their rifles were not as well^ bedded as they might have been, witlT the result that grit had worked in between the barrel and'the bed. The advice of their armourer was sought, and practically all their rifles were re-bed-ded, apparently with satisfactory results. "Beautiful!" one Australian ■was heard to remark when his rifle was handed back to him after receiving attention. "Now, wait until tomorrow." Possibly the- Australians from now on will occupy, a more prominent place in tho prize-lists. GORDON HIGHLANDERS MATCH. It was announced this morning that the following team had been selected to represent New Zealand in tho contest for the Gordon Highlanders trophy:—.. H. T. Marshall (Karori), captain. H. Simmonds (Paeroa). F. J. Soler (Wanganui). F. J. Jeuno (Gisborne). F. H. James (Napier). E. E. Hester (Suburbs). E. A. Ballinger (Petone). F. S. Hood (Featherston). H. B. Hunt (Suburbs). Emergencies: W. N. Masefield (Blenheim) and C. J. Nix (Feathorston). The Gordon Highlanders trophy is fired for between the various States of the Australian Commonwealth and New Zealand, but in this year's match only two- Australian States, Victoria and New South Wales, are represented. -/The actual match takes less than a quarter of an hour to fire, as there is only one practice—ten snap shots at 300 yards. Each team consiats of eight men, and a commander, the commander not taking part in the shcoting. A strong team has been selected to represent New Zealand. All the men chosen are experienced service shots. Simmonds has won the service championship at Trentham on two o'ecasions, and Solcr and Jeune are the winners of this year's and last year's championships respectively. The other, members of the team have also shot well in ,«ervice matches at recent meetings. It was hoped to fire the Gordon Highlandera Match at 5 o'clock this afternoon, but the change in the weather may upset these plans. The present position in the Australian Optional Aggregate, made up from the Opening Match, the Dominion Match, and Belt matches (with the exception of the King's Match) is as folH. R. Hunt (Suburbs), 434; H. W. Feast (Greytown), 432; W. H. West (Eenwick), 432; F. Ching (Karori), 431; J. Paterson (Wanganui), 431; E. S. King (Wanganui), 429; C. J. Nix (Featherston), 429; A. H. O'Donnell (Petone), 428; F. H. James (Napier), 428; L. G. Beuton (Featherston), 427; W. N. Maaefield (Blenheim), 427; N. Harris (Christchurch), 427; P. B. Goldfinch (Old Navals), 427; O. E. Boyd (New South Wales), 426; B. Holmes (Wanganui), 425; J. Brydcn (Kaiapoi), 423. As a result of this morning's shooting several changes have taken place in the position of the Fifty. W. M'lver (Petone) has lost his place as leader and has been replaced by A. H. O'Donnell (Petone) and H. W. Feast (Greytown), who each' have a total of 319. Several of the other leaders also lost points this morning "good shooting in the bain. Steady rain fell practically throughout the morning during the progress of the Wellington match, tho final of the short-range series. In spito of the conditions some good performances were registered. The match was won by D. K. Wilton (Blenheim) with riiscore of 3-1 out of a possible 100. Wilton shot well ;it both distances, scoring 47 at each range. His card was as follows :-~ 500 yards: 55545545 5 4 47 (iOO yards: 554545455 5 47 Total 94 A. D. Graham (of Dunedin) also registered a 94, but was placed second on tlie count back. He dropped only one point at 500 yards, but was five short of the possible at 600. His card was as follows:— 500 yards: 4555555555 49 600 yards: 5544454554 45 Total 94 A. V. Swanson (Karori), A. B. Barker (Linkwater), :ind E. 8. Kiiij? (Wanganui) each put on 90. Two Now

South Welshmen, A. K. M'Lco.l (the \ captain of the visitors) and J. 0. Armstrong, led the Australians with 92 apiece. As a result of his performance in the Wellington match, H. W. Feast (Greytown), who scored 92, won the Trcntham aggregate, mado up of scores froiu the short range matches. Heavy rain set in at lunch-time ami it was very doubtful whether it would be possible to continue shooting this afternoon, but towards 2 o'clock the weather lifted somewhat and the executive decided to carry on with the Taranaki match. RESULTS IN DETAIL. WELLINGTON MATCH. (Ten shots at each 500 and 000 yards.) A Grade. - £5—D. E. Wilton (Blenheim) 94 £4 each —A. T. Graham (Dunedin), 94; A. V. Swanson (Karori), 93. £3 each—A. K. Barker (Linkwater), 93; E. S. King (Wauganui), 93. £2'each—A. B. M'Lco.d (New South AVales), 92; S. O. Hay (Sydenham), 92; W. H. West (Benwick), 92; J. O. Armstrong (N.S.W.), 92;' 11. W. Feast (Greytown), 92. £1 each —F. H. James (Sapier), 91; W. M. Jackson (Petone), 90; H. Koppert (Oamaru), 90; B. A. Atkinson (Auckland), 90; A. H. O'Donnell (Petone), 90.; B. W. H. Bamsay (Linton), 90; C. J. Nix (Featberston), 90; A. J. Green (Westport), 90; K. M'Kenzio (Featherston), 90; A. W. Powell (Akarana), 90; E. Piper (Christchurch), 90; S. Hartnell (New Plymouth), 90; L. Kighetti (Victoria), 90; W. M'Bain (Old Navals, Wellington), 89; F. W. Cox (Linton), 89; T. Orr (Greytown), 89; A. S. T. Butler (Karori), 89; J. G. Turnbull (New Plymouth), 89; J. Hunter (Petone), 89; B. L. Freak (N.S.W.), 89; F. J. Jeune (Gisborne), 89; W. J. Green (Okawa), 89; K. Lovell (Northbank), 89; H. M'lntosh (Blenheim), B£K; P. B. Goldfinch (Old Navals, Wellington), 89; D. J. Guiney (Petone), 89; A. L. Andrews (Wanganui), 89; H. Reynolds (Christchurch), 89; H. T. Boon (Karori), 89; D. Kibblewhite (Waimate), 89; W. J. Harris (Victoria), .89; L. S. Hare (Suburbs, Wellington), 89;. J. C. Carter (Linton), 89; T. Kidd (Suburbs, Wellington), 89; J. Paterson (Wanganui), 88; N. M'Kay (Alfredton), BS. ' Counted out: W. H. Kenning, B. Dunn, T. A. Marett, A. G. Devore, V. Jones, E. J. Channon, H. Hawthornej E. W. WHesmith, F. Hood. B Grade. £3—A. F. Patrick (City and Suburbs, Auckland) 01 £2—F. C. Hodge (Christchurch) . 91 £1 each—W. Hudson (Wanganui), 88; F. Kershaw (Petone), 88; W. E. Aston (Suburbs, Wellington), 88; J. Bills (Christchurch), 87; H. C. Percy (Alfredton), 87; W. J. Johnston (Potone), 87. 10s each—G. J. Godinagh (Alfredton), 87; G. E. Pearson (New Plymouth), 87; A. Schumacher (Kaponga), 86; B. Nicholson (Napier), 86; W. Ogg (Kiwi), 86; J. N. Hansen (Kaitaroro), 86; H. Frankland (Karori), 86; A. Tombs (Blenheim), 86; G. Waddington (Ashburton), 86; P. J. Bring (Auckland), 86; W. J. H. Haase (Suburbs, Wellington), 86; A. B. Wills (Invercargill), 86; J. S. Thompson (Wanganui), 85; T. F.'Mitchell (Blenheim), 85. Counted out: J. H. Kearney, '8. Marenzi, J. H. Frazer, W. F. Facer, F. J. Chapman, J. B. Bairstow, H. King, W., Johnson, G. N. Atkins. ' TYBOS. £2—F. Grave (Dunedin) 90 £1 each—F. Porter (Ashburton), 88; E. W. Beard (Kimbolton), 87; P. Berry (Tararua), 87; T. M'Gill (Old Navals, Wellington), 87; S. /Luxford (Wanganui), 86; J. B. Eves (Kenwick), 86; R. Thompson (Takapau), 86; G. W. Gillies (Oamaru), 85; L. M. Bush (Wanganui), 84. v 10s each—J. Donald (Opaki), 84; E. lire (Invercargill), 84; E. E. Truman (Ashburton), 83; J. H. Shepperd (Old Navals, Wellington), 83; S. M. Stent (Karewarewa), 83; B. M'Pherson (Opaki), 83; H. Hodder (Feathetston), 83; J. Bowling (Wairoa), 83; J. Pearson (Benwick), 82; E. I. Wells (Pacroa), 82; A. H. Willis (Featherston), 82; D. G. Quarrie (Akarana), 82. Counted out: G. L. Cocker, J. Austin, E. Farrow, G. B. Bellamey.