THE COLONIAL PRIZE FIRING.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1155, 11 April 1872, Page 2

THE COLONIAL PRIZE FIRING.

The following description of the range at which the firing for the Colonial prizes tookplace, and of the preparations made for the meeting, is given by thei Lyttelton Times:-- : . ; !--j'..'\:^-- : '•'''■'■ The range is in one of the numerous bays formed by the^low, spurs from the Peninsula hills, and, w, more, open with a much larger area .of flat land than is gene.rally met with amongst these hills. The result of its; open character is that there is not much danger of eddies M the wind, and the flatness of the land 'provides a very extensive range as level I* could be desired. The targets are placed on the level ground where the bay begins to narrow in quickly,' and W very fair back-. ground' is afforded for the targets, though it would' no doubt have been bfetter if the targets could have been placed nearer the hill. Besides this objection, the paddock in which the firing points were located had evidentlys produced a very luxuriant crop of .docks of late, which, having ripened and become as hard as wood, were any-

thing but pleasant to walk about amongst, or for the competitors to lie down on. Every effort had been made to get docks out, but although out 'down to within six inches of the ground they could not be removed altogether, unless ploughing was resorted to, a matter not to be thought of when there was such a probability of wet weather. As a whole, however, the range was very generally approved of, and is certainly far superior to the one used in Otago two yean ago, though inferior to that which the authorities in Auckland provided last season. In all there were four targets, with a correrponding number of markers' butts, which were erected of timber covered with sods of earth, and in Btich dose contiguity to the targets as to enable, the marking to be expeditiously done without danger to the men. The markers in each butt were completely dressed in scarlet, which made them very conspicuous when out, and were in charge of commissioned officers. The marking was done by discs colored in the same manner as the flags formerly used— white for outer, blue for centre, red-and-white for bull's eye. It answered very well, though time and labor might be saved by having brushes fixed behind the discs so as to wipe out at the same time as the shots were shown. Eveiy hit was wiped out before another shot was fired ; the markers —who kept a record by numbers, not names-- and scorers' cards were checked after each round, and the positions of the men in each squad were changed after each round, thus every precaution was taken to secure correctness and fair dealing to all alike. At the far end of the range from the targets a number of marquees and tents were erected for staff, refreshment, magazine, and other pufci pose*. • ; ■ . . r ".-;..