HE MIGHT HAVE DOME WORSE.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9391, 10 March 1909, Page 7

HE MIGHT HAVE DOME WORSE.

Tbs story of how he nearly drilled a hole in two of his fellow-beings with a bullet was told at the Raudwiok Rifle Club’s dinner on Saturday week by the Federal AttorneyGeneral (Mr Hughes). There happened to. be a Parliamentary shooting match at one time when Mr Hughes was a member of the State Parliament. The politicians were a man short, “and, said Mr Hughes, “I was asked to fill the place, presumably because I was a short man.’’ Off they i went to the Rand wick range, where Mr Hughes was given a rifle. On the left of the mound was a little tmhut., where ammunition was kept. “I had no idea how far the target was away,” explained the politician,“but it was a long way—quite a long way. They gave me a number of cartridges, and tbe rifle was loaded. The instructor was perambulating in front' of me,| , and while I was turning round I pulled the trigger accidently, and the rifle went off. The bullet went through the perambulating gentleman’s leg—he was a Scotsman —and struck the litle tin hat on the left. There was another gentleman inside the hut, sorting ammunition, I think. Ha came out in great style—very fast. The instructor said, ‘My God! it is incredible!’ I suppose he meant it was incredible that people like me should have a gun.” But Mr Hughes appeared to have been mostly concerned with losing the shot. He demanded that it should not count, and with the assistance of one Mr “Billy” Dick, carried his point. “With one or two ricochet shots, and a good deal of luck, I did not,” he concluded, “do so very badly. Still, I have always thought that I might have done a great deal better, and I am sure the Scotsman and the ammunition gentleman thought I might have done a great deal worse.”