THE KING’S PRIZE.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 March 1922, Page 3

THE KING’S PRIZE.

WON BY TARANAKI MAN. VICTORY FOR D. ROOTS. / CONCLUSION OF THE MEETING. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Greytown, Last Night. Not for years has the King’s Prize match been fired under such favorable conditions as prevailed to-day at Greytown. With tried shots like those leading the fifty It was not to be expected that there would be any breakdowns, as sometimes happens at Trentham, and Roots’ lead of four points made his chance of lifting the belt for the second time practically a certainty. West, who is perhaps the finest marksman in New Zealand to-day. especially when fighting against odds, gave a taste of his quality; Indeed, he might even have snatched victory but for the good generalship of the Hawera man, whose win was warmly acclaimed. Had West won, however, it was certain such a culmination to the great efforts he made In 1919 and 1920, when he was runner-up on each occasion, would have evoked widespread congratulations from sportsmen everywhere. The match was fired in two sections. The first comprised the last twenty on the list, and F. J. King and Low were the best with 47 each. Then the balance of thirty went on to the and the spectators, of whom there were quite a number, crowded round Roots, West and the other leaders. Roots and West were on adjoining targets, and when they got up tlie boards read: Roots, 5355455565, 47; aggregate, 539; West, 5545555555, 49; aggregate, 537.

Both men found the bull with the first shot. When each had two shots to go Roots was about to fire when a breeze, which had been lazily flapping the flags, dropped suddenly and caught various men napping, with the result that threes and twos appeared along the line. Roots spotted the lull and made the necessary allowance, so that he kept in the bull. Had he been caught like the others there was just a chance that West could have tied with him. Pimm, who was in second place last night, got Into difficulties and had a miss recorded against him, thus 5534545045, 40, so that he went down to fourth place. Halmshaw got on 48, only dropping his first and seventh shots into the inner ring. Guy, with nine points leeway to make up, made a fine, start with five bull’s eyes. Then a variation in the breeze apparently found him unmindful, and an outer was signalled, followed by a ragged string, 3533, making him 41 for the range, and sending him down a place. H. C. Loveday, starting with an Inner, put all the rest Into the black, and got up ahead of Guy.

At the conclusion of the match the King's Prizeman was chaired in the time-honored manner, and afterwards the prizes were presented to the winners by Sir Walter Buchanan. Colonel Collins briefly addressed the gathering, giving a review of the position as affecting rifle'clubs and shooting to-day, and urging the need for continued support of the Dominion Rifle Association on the old lines. He complimented the Wairarapa Association on the excellence of the arrangements, which bad enabled the meeting to be conducted in an orderly and expeditious manner. Following is the King’s Prize list, ten shots at 900 yards added to the aggregate: Final

900yds. aggregate Ballinger Belt, Bidwill Shield, Gold Medal and £40: D. Roots (Hawera) 47 539 £20: W. H. West (Blenheim) 49 537 £15: A. Halmshaw (Christchurch) 48 534 £10: L. Pimm (Christch'ch) 40 528 £5: H. C. Loreday (Hawere' 49 526 £4: A. H. Guy (Kaponga) .. 41 524 £4: R. Piper (Christchurch) 44 523 £4: T. G. Bryan (Auckland) 45 521 The following take £3: D. G. Guinea (Petone) .... 42 520 G. A. Kyles (Dannevirke) . 44 520 W. K. Williams (Ohura) ... 46 520 The following take £2: H. R. Hunt (Wellington Subs) 45 519 A. Neilsen (Napier) 43 519 P. Morgan (Christchurch) .. 45 518 A. J. Henderson (Sounds) . . 44 518 R. C. Barkle (Petone) 43 518 H. V. Croxton (Karori) .... 43 517 W. Duncan (Westport) 47 515 W. N. Masefield (Marlboro’) 45 515 F. H. James (Okawa) 45 515 J. Bryden (Kaiapoi) 44 515 H. Simmonds (Wanganui) .. 46 513 The following take £ 1; J. C. Feast (Greytown) 37 512 F. J. King (Okawa) 47 511 J. W. Milroy (Nelson) 43 511 J. F. Atkins (Akarana) ... 39 51) J. G. Ritchie (Hawera) ...... 45 511 G. Hood (Opaki) 45 5uy J. L. Turner (Wellington Sbs) 49 508 P. Goldfinch (Wellington) ... 42 508 S. Mayhew (Linton) 39 508 F. J. Causley (Thames) .... 46 507 R. Caughley (Karori) 39 507 A. S. Barnett (Wakapuaka) 43 505 R. M. Cleay (Te Kuiti) .... 38 505 K. R. Moss (Greymouth) .... 41 505 C. M. Broughton (Rangitikei) 44 504 H. Feast (Greytown) 36 504 F. Clark (Ashburton) 43 503 W. J. Green (Okawa) 37 503 H. C. Evans (Te Kuiti) ... 36 503 A. J. Green (Westport) .... 43 502 D. W. Mehrtens (Ranglora) . 36 502 A. J. Dodd (Wellington Subs) 34 498 H. Dockery (Christchurch) .. 29 493 F. E. Patchett (Blenheim) .. 29 488 J. A. Munro (Wyndham) 28 487 A. Govenlock (Linton), who had an aggregate of 460 yesterday, was -absent.