A MASTERTON RIFLE CHAMPION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9047, 13 March 1908, Page 4

A MASTERTON RIFLE CHAMPION.

The reception given to Rifleman George Hyde, of Opaki Rifle Club, upon his return from the Trentham rifle meeting, last night, did honour to the Masterton district as well as to the individual. Rifleman Hyde belongs to a rifle club which has made itself conspicuous throughout the dominion for its enthusiasm, for the number of men it has sent yearly to the annual meeting of the Defence Forces Rifles Association at Trentham, and the marked success of its representatives at New Zealand's Bisley. The record of that club during the past few years has been a remarkable one, 'and there is no rifle club in the dominion which has been so persistent in the acquisition of markmanship. As one of a company of local cracks, and in competition with 500 riflemen, Rifleman Hyde has come on top, and his capture of the Belt on this occasion reflects not only credit upon the famous club to which he belongs but to the dominion as a whole. The club, as a club, has also secured honours second to none in New Zealand. Members of that body have achieved phenomenal success at various provincial rifle meetings as well as at Trentham. Names such as G. Hyde, R. J. King, W. J. Henry, A. J. Cameron, D. McCalmont, Bairstow, M:Leay, Winslade, Feast and Turnbull, all members of the Opaki Club, will go down to fame as pioneers of highclass shooting. As an indication of the skill with the rifle of the members of this club it may be mentioned that at the meeting just closed at Trentham a special match, which took place, yesterday, between Rifle Clubs and Volunteers for the Dawson Shield, twenty men a-side, seven members of the Opaki Club were participants, and the Shield is now in the possession of the Club. It may be further mentioned that of sixteen Opaki riflemen who competed at Trentham no fewer than fifteen won substantial prizes. Lieutenant Timbrell, of Linton, was the runnerup, ancVj'deserves praise for his excellent shooting. The firing conditions throughout the Trentham meeting were the reverse of favourable, but the skill shown in overcoming the obstacles of wind and weather is creditable to all and adds to the glory of the win of the Masterton champion. On a previ -us occasion Mr Hyde won the Belt, and was once second and once fourth in the final fifty, and we congratulate him most heartily upon this last win, which is emphatically a popular one, for no one on the field is more esteemed than the Belt champion cf to-day.