THE BISLEY TOURNAMENT.

Hastings Standard, Issue 376, 19 July 1897, Page 3

THE BISLEY TOURNAMENT.

GREAT EXCITEMENT OVER THE CONTEST. (Pfi Pie#? Ass,"! aI i» it. —C' 7'<, ri'jh t.) London, July 17. The contest proved an exciting straggle between the winning teams. At the close of the shooting at the 500 yards range each had scored 512 points. Webster (New Zealand) made the possible at 500 yards. Besides the cup the wiuners of the Kclapore match receive a stake of £"HO in cash and a silver bugle presented by the Earl de la Warr. Kelly, who was in charge of the Victorian team, predicted on Wednesday that whoever won the Kolapore Cup would put up a record score. Colonel Templeton was uneasy after Wednesday's shooting, when the Victorian team fired under great disadvantages. The previous Kolapore Cup record was 741 points. The other scores in the Kolapore contest were :—England 732, Canada and Cape Colony 730 each, Guernsey 727, Natal 725. Jersey 720, Queensland 688, India 670. The following were the individual New Zealand scores :—Hawthorn, 97 ; Williams, 96 ; Banks, 95 : Howe, 95 ; Simpson, 94; Ballinger, 93; Webster, 93; King, 85. Range totals : 200 yards—Victoria 258, New Zealand 247. 500 yards—New Zealand 265, Victoria 259. 600 yards—Victoria 239, New Zealand 236. The New Zealanders did the finest work of the day at the 600 yards. Howe, Hawthorne, Banks, Grummitt, and Walker each scored 34 out of a possible 35. This was a neck to neck contest ; with but two shots to fire New Zealand required nine points to win. Immense excitement prevailed. King was the ritieman engaged at the firing point. In his final shots he made a magpie and an outer, the elevation in each case being excellent, but the windage was badly judged. The Victorians exhibited better judgment in dealing the tricky wind. Their victory was hailed with the greatest enthusiasm. Major Somerville admitted that the New Zealanders were defeated by fair play.