DUNEDIN.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1188, 4 December 1871, Page 2

DUNEDIN.

CHALLENGE RIFLE MATCH FOR £ls 0 A-SIDE. [EROM THE DUNEDIN “EVENING STAR.”] November, 20. This long-looked for event, which, as our readers are aware, arose out of a ehallenge by Mr. J. W. Walker of the Thames volunteers, to shoot with any man in the Colony at specified ranges, for £l5O aside, with small bore rifles—the said challenge, which was addressed in the first instance to Capt. Wales, of No. 1 Company, as champion of the Colony, being spiritedly taken up by Mr Kennedy, of this City—was commenced at Forbury Park to-day. The competitors are Mr Walker and Ensign Christie, of the East. Taieri volunteers, whose prowess as marksman is so well known that it does not need recapitulation. The conditions of the contest were ; Ranges, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 yards, ten shots at each range ; any rifle, and any position ; targets at 200 and 300 \ ards to have a bull’s eye square of eight inches, at 400, 500, and 600 yards, a bull’s eye square of 24 inches ; and at the remaining ranges, a bull’s eye square of 36 inches. The shooting was to have begun at noon, bat owing to a dispute which was brought about, if not increased unnecessarily by the want of arrangements, it was just on the stroke of two when the first shot was fired. This dispute had reference to the manner in which the men were to fire. Mounds had been erected at all the ranges except the first; and Walker insisted that he and his opponent should fire from thence, while the latter declined, on the score that their use was not compulsory, and that he had not been in the habit of using them. Articles of agreement, conditions of International and Intercolonial small bore Association meetings were referred to in vain, and, one time there appeared a probability of the match not going off. Walker pointed triumphantly to a clause in the Intercolonial Associations mles (by which, according to his challenge, the competitors were to be guided), which reads thus ;—“ The marksmen to be allowed the assistance of two men to shelter him on the mound ; no other person to be admitted on the mound,” and contended that if his opponent were light in his view, that the use of the mound was only optional, theie would have been no necessity to mention mounds at all. Too add to the situation, the two umpires disagreed, and there was no referee to appeal to. An unseemly contest began —the competitors, instead of being kept out of the strife and being cool, were as passionate in their arguments as any of the crowd, who indulged very freely their views on the point in dispute. Captain McFarland, who is umpire for Christie, took his man’s view of the matter, and supported him strongly; and Capt. Paterson for Walkei, was equally strong on the other side. Thus time went on, matters only getting worse; finally Walker declared he would shoot with the sight he was then using, which in the meantime had been objected to as being contrary to regulation, and that the man who fired with him would have to shoot from the mounds. Better counsels however prevailed, and belter arrangements and a better understanding having been come to, preparations were made for commencing the shooting. Capt. Tronton, of Sydney, was appointed referee, and Walker altered his sight to what is known as a number 14; Christie thereupon consented to fire from the mounds. Sighting shots were allowed at each range, and that at the first having been shot by each, Christie at 2 o’clock having won the toss fired the opening shot of the match. The delay, bower, was not altogether unattended with good results—for by the time the shooting began, the wind, which in the early part of the day had been blowing a regular gale from the S.W , had moderated somewhat. Still it remained pretty high during the greater part of the afternoon. We append the scores : 200 Yards. n] n .i s ti e 433433131-3—3 t ’Walker 443M43M-3—37 300 Yards. Christie 345434*3333 —33 Walker ~, ... ... ~. . i. 'Lt33334333--r3^

400 Yarda. Christie 8443443344—36 Walker ... ... ... .... ... 4444444444—40 500 Yards. Christie 4333444444—37 Walker ... ... 4434344444—38 600 Yards. Christie ... 3344433233—32 Walker „, ... 4443413343—36 G litis tie's eighth shot was only a centre, —in fact was just within the centre ridge, the bad shot being no doubt attributable to the wind rising suddenly at the moment of firing. At about a quarter to six o'clock the firing ceased for the clay, the aggregate scoring standing—Christie, 172; Walker, 184, Both men used muzzle-loaders—Christie a Bigby, and Walker a Whitwoith, Walker makes all his preparations with extreme care; he is furnished with every appliance for facilitating loading; and "his attitude when firing is much more graceful than that of his opponent, With his feet towards the target, he clines on his back, resting on his light, shoulder; his left foot is planted firmly and the right kept erect as far as the knee, the angle thus formed by the crossing of his two legs being the support of the fore part of the barrel, Christie adopts the ordinary lying down attitude. There were between 350 anc| 400 persons on the ground in the afternoon. NOYJiMBEB 21. As was the case yesterday, the shooting did not begin till nearly two hours after the appointed time. At twentyfive minutes to two both men appeared at the 700 yards range <o commence theday's work. Christie started with his, sighting shot, for which he registered a bull's eye. Walker, mounting the mound complained of its irregularity, and after ten minutes had been occupied in making it tolerably level, Christie went on it again to take a fresh sighting shot One of the assistants appeared alongside him on the mound to afford him shelter; while the other stood directly in front of him, the mound being too small to admit of a second person appearing on it. Walker at once raised the objection that in, terms of the clause of the regulations cited iu connection with yesterday's dispute, the marksman must have his two. assistants on the mound The point being conceded, a further adjournment was necessitated, and the mounds had to be lengthened. This action on Walker's part gave rise to considerable comment on the part of the on-lookers, which, to say the least of it, was totally undignified. Walker no doubt acted from a sense of what he considered right; and to cast motives in the face of a competitor, more particularly a stranger, is ungenerous. The mound difficulty having been got over, the men obtained fresh shots, Christie leading off with an outer, Walker following suit, Christie's second sighting shot was an outer, and Walker's a bull's eye. At the stroke of two, the match was resumed, the wind blowing strongly from the .north, with a tendency to rise, Christie's first shot was a capital one —almost in the centre of the bull's eye. Walker followed with a bull's eye rather low down. The next shot each made, registered a centre, boh shots in good line. Christie's third shot was a dead on—right in the centre of the bull's eye—while Walker's was ratherlow, but of good elevation. Then followed a succession of bull's eye's —all the shots well placed, until the seventh round, when Christie led oIF with a centre, scoring another at the ninth shot while Walker registered a bull's eye for his seventh. It must be stated that at this point the targets became shaded, which will doubtless explaiu Christie's falling off. A bull's eye and a centre each for the two last shots brought the shooting at the 700 yards range to a close. 700 Yards. Christie 4344443343-36 Wa lkor .*.'.' 4344444345-37 Proceeding to the next range, Christie, for his first sighting shot, scored a hull's eye, a fine shot, fairly in the centre, Walker's shot was an outer, and well out too; and in the second shot both obtained centres. The shooting at this range at the commencement showed a felling off. Christie leading oft' with a brace of centres, while Walker followed with with a couple of outers, whereat many rejoiced; but as he in his third shot scored a bull's eye to his opponent's centre ? the rejoicing slackened, until the

last three shots, when Christie by three well-placed bull's eyes, two of them being dead in the centre, headed his opponent by three points on the range, reducing Walker's majority to 10 points. CJhristie's last two shots raised an involuntary cheer from the crowd, which by this time must have been numbering fully €OO persons. 800 Yards. -Christie 3332443444—34 Walker 2243444323—31 At the next range the excitement grew apace. Christie led off with a bull's eye, which being signalled evoked a hearty cheer. Walker led off with a miss, and in his second shot only scored a centre, very high, while his opponent amid ringing scored a brace of bull's eyes in succession. In this he was followed by Walker, who amid increased cheering, registered two bull's eyes, the last was a splendid shot dead in the centre. For a couple of shots, Walker's chances brightened as he kept increasing his majority; but unfortunately at his eighth shot he scored a miss for the second time through imperfect loading. Walker's ill luck .appeared to give some of the crowd great satisfaction, which was openly expressed; but the mote thoughtful of those present checked the unseemly exhibition as far as they were able. Christie's last two shots being bull's eyes, while Walker only secured centres, the scores at the finish of the range showed Christie eight points to better, and Walker only two points in advance. 900 Yards. Oiristie 4444323444—36 Walker 0344434033—28 At a little after five o'clock the men moved to the last range, 1000 yards. The wind was still from the north, and very puff}'', blowing strongly at times. The light, too, was very uncertain —the target at times being so much shaded iis to be imperfectly visible to the naked eye. The position of the men was so close that Christie's backets and friends hoped, and for a little time with good reason, that he would be enabled to pull off the match. The excitement, which had been very keen at the two preceding ranges, was now most intense —as shot after shot \va« fired the interest increased, until towards the finish the closing shots were fired amidst almost breathless impatience. In the first sighting shot each man made a centre, and in the second each had a miss. Then the range shooting began, Christie leading off with a bull's-eye, well placed—the signal from the butts raising a hearty cheer, and many cries of "Bravo Chiisiie." It was now Walker's turn, and as he proceeded to file it was noticeable that he took extreme care in making his arrangements. There was not that rapidity in his movements that was noticeable in Christie's ; ho was more calculating, and, we will say, equally cool to all appearance. Away went the bullet eyes were strained through every instrument that bore the semblance of a glass, from the large unwieldy telescope to the smallest opera-glass; and when the possessors of the former—who could tell the result of each shot long before it was announced from the butts—gave it as a centre, there was mote cheering, for Walker's major'.ty was reduced by one. Then Christie fired his second shot, a centre, rather wide, but of good elevation ; and Walker followed, scoring a similar number. So with the next shot, but in the fourth, when Christie again made a centre, Walker only scored an outer, and a bare one too. This brought the men level, and was the signal for loud cheering. The betting, which from the finish of the last range, had been, if anything, slightly in Christie's favor, was now openly so. Christie's fifth shot was a centre, while Walker scored a bull's-eye, at which an encouraging cheer was given which again made him one point in advance. Then Christie only scored an outer, while his opponent registered a centre, so the majority was increased to two. Yet Christie's friends were confident that he would make up his deficiency in his remaining shots; and as he fired each time the loud cries of " Bravo Christie," i; Christie wins," or " it's a bull's-eye," before the shot had struck, and sometimes even before it was fired, showed that " the wish was father to the thought." At the seventh and eighth shots each man made centres. There

were now only two shots to go, and in them Christie must make bull's-eyes, to Walker's outers or misses, as some uncharitable people seemed to think the latter must make, to enable him to win. Of course such a result was highly improbable, to say the least of it, but many fondly believed it to be a possibility. The Fates, however, were against their man, who, by some unaccountable means made a miss—his first miss during the match. There was a general feeling of regret—what a contrast to the feeling when Walker made his misses!—and all hope in Christie died out. Walker was four points ahead, and it was folly to think he could then make a miss. Christie fired his last shot for a centre, and Walker fired—this time all ears were strained, and there came the clear ringing sound which accompanies the bull's eye shot. Up went the red and white flag, and amidst loud cheering Walker was proclaimed the winner by 5 points. 1000 Yards. Christie 4333323303—37 Walker , ... ... 3332433324*—30 Aggregate Scores. Walker 310 Christie 305 Thus terminated the greatest rifle match ever fired in the Province, and for excellence of shooting, it has not been equalled in the Colony, Walker carries off the stakes, but there will remain here in the minds of many, a belief that he is not the belter man. It is and will be argued by Christie's friends that his opponent had it too much his own way, especially in the matter of the mounds, &c, and Walker on the other hand, complains of the way in which he was treated. We will not venture to express an opinion either way ; but we cannot help saying that Christie is entitled 1o the highest praise for the pluck} 7 manner in which he carried on the contest. It is admittedj we believe, that he is but a novice in,the use of the small-bore, while Walker it has made his For our own parts, we would have wished, for the credit of the Province, that Christie had won; and we console ourselves with the reflection that it is a very honorable defeat. We have heard it stated that at the conclusion of the match Walker offered to again compete with Christie for .£IOOO a-side, but that the latter declined. It was understood that the preliminaries for a second match for a lesser sum has been arranged, but we cannot learn whether or not there is any likelihood of its coming off. Both men are to be entertained at dinner this evening.