KING'S PRIZE WINNER.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 March 1922, Page 6

KING'S PRIZE WINNER.

RIFLEMAN ROOTS RETURNS. CIVIC RECEPTION. Rifleman Roots, winner of the championship belt at the Papawai rifle meeting, returned to Hawera on Thursday evening, and at 12 o’clock the next day was accorded a civic reception in the presence of quite a large number of pople at the Jforough Chambers. When the champion? drove up in a taxi, accompanied by his wife and mother, he was greeted with cheers, and Rifleman Ritchie and Robertson carried him shoulder high to the steps of the building. Mr. Morrissey, the deputy-mayor, congratulated him on having won the King’s Prize for a second time. He understood that Rifleman Roots had also won the Bidwill Shield, and he could assure him that the citizens of Hawera were very proud of their champion. He trusted that Rifleman Roots would be included in the next Bisley team representing the Dominion. He also congratulated the Hawera Rifle Club on having secured second position in the champion teams match. He thought this a wonderful accomplishment. He understood that there were only 17 in the club, and yet it had provided two champions and had come second in the teams match.

Mr. Jones, president of the Hawera Rifle Club, said: Out of seven men they had sent to the meeting three had made the coveted 50, and the championship team, which consisted of five men —including Rifleman Loveday, Ritchie, Robertson and Crossan-—did very well, : getting a place among the best the Dominion could produce. He wished to i refer to Rifleman Guy, of Kaponga, i who was present, and who had also I brought great honor to Taranaki, and i congratulated Rifleman Guy on his success.

Mr. Burdekin, speaking for the sports bodies, also congratulated the champion and other members of the team. Mr. Guy offered his congratulations, especially as Rifleman Roots was an old i member of the Kaponga Club. His perj formance at Papawai was almost wonderful. From start to finish he had dropped very few points and fully deserved the success he had gained. Rifleman Roots, who was received with loud applause when he stepped forward to reply, thanked them for the reception given the members of the club and himself. He was not a good speaker; his game was shooting. He felt proud that he had been able to bring the belt back to Hawera, but a word of praise was due to other members of the team, especially two or th¥ee oi them. Rifleman Ritchie deserved special mention. He had put on 48 out of 50 in qualifying for the final, and in the final had put on 45, which was well above the average. The meeting terminated with cheers for Rifleman Roots. THE CHAMPION’S FINE RECORD. Mr. D. Roots, who commenced his career as a rifleman by joining the Harleyville Rifle Club in 1907, almost immediately came to prominence, and he has now a very long list of success ,to his credit which mark him as one ’of the ; best riflemen in the Dominion. While a member of the Kaponga Club in 1911 he won the King’s Prize and Championship Belt. He proceeded to Bisley in the same year, as a member of the New Zealand representative team, where he finished in the first hundred competitors. Again in 1920 he was chosen as a member of the New Zealand team to compete in the Empire Match against the best shots in the Empire, and finished in twenty-eighth position. Immediately after this meeting he was a competitor at the Victoria Rifle Association’s meeting at Melbourne, and again distinguished himself, finishing in the first 100. Mr. Roots is a fine sportsman, and has been largely responsible for the prosperity and success of the Hawera Rifle Club, the members of which hold him in the highest respect (says the Star). On his return to Hawera he showed no great elation about his success, and seemed more anxious to discuss the fine marksmanship of West, for whom he had nothing but the highest praise. The following is a list of Mr. Roots’ most important successes:— Won Hawera Championship, 1910. King’s Prize, Trentham, 1911. Third North Island Championship, Wanganui, 1911. Won Taranaki Championship, 1912. Finished seventh Trentham meeting, 1912. Third Hawke’s Bay Championship meeting. 1912. Fourth Trentham meeting, 1913. Second Taranaki meeting, 1913. Fifth Auckland Exhibition meeting, 1912. First South Island Championship meeting, 1915. Third South Island meeting, 1916. First Taranaki Championship meeting, 1920. First Taranaki Championship meeting, 1921. Ninth North Island Championship meeting, Wanganui, 1922. Ninth Auckland Association’s meeting, 1922. Jle also held the championship for Patea and Kaponga Clubs.