BISLEY, 1904-AND AFTERWARDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 15, 18 January 1905, Page 9

BISLEY, 1904-AND AFTERWARDS.

(By Colour-Sergeant Irvine.)

CHAPTER 111. One of the everyday occurrences at Bisley is the shooting off of "ties.'' Where the entries are by thousand-, in almost every match a large number of men get exartly the same -core, and us th*-re are a limited number of prizes the only way is to shoot off the tie. The most exciting "tie" of all is for the last place, or places in the King's Hundred. Sometimes as many as oO men will ti-* for the last place. These are told off in twos, to tire at certain targets, the range being KOOyds. Each man understands that failure will put him out c-i the running for this year, perhaps for ever. It should be understood that at the targets Die highest success, a lmll's-eye. is represented by five, and that other results descend to four called a centre, three a magpie, and two an outer lof course there is no one). They fire shot for shot until each has fired seven time«: then there i-s a pause while the range officers sort out the scores. If the weather conditions have been favourable nothing less than '14. or one short of the possible, has a hope. An officer announces, "All those'below 34' may retire." Seven men remain on the firing mound, each has made 34, two of these have finished with a four, and are weeded out. their score not being considered so good as those that began with four and finished with six fives. Then the five remaminir men. each keenly watching a variable wind with one eye. and their opponents' move ments with the other, tire one shot each: by some freak of fortune each scores a four. Another cartridge is hamted all roiwid, this time four men make fives, and one man a four, and the latter has to retire, the remaining four each again get bull's-eyes. Another round is issued, and the first man get« a four, and he is out of it, his three opponents each getting fives. Amontrst the spectators excitement becomes intense, the actors feel it, yet show no sign. For several rounds in succession each of the three warriors now wore bull's-eyes: in breathless expectation the onlookers wonder whether the record is to be broken. Untrained observers would suppose that first-ola-ss shots, having struck the bull so often. L-ould continue to do so, The expert thinks differently, and wonders whom Fortune will frown on firs*. Down jn the heart of each contest an., excitement is si niggling upwa'tK but is sternly repressed as fat.! to niarksumrLsbitr. To each the slruggi •is fierce as mortal combat fought in an amphitheatre of o'd. only that the result docs not go to brute strength, or even to skill alone, for even when intelligence is pit' rted against intelbgence there always is th© possibility of what goes by the name of luck rufc-deasly intervening. The best man may bave 'to fire in an unreadable gust of wind, or he o»y use a weak owtridg*. All this tends to deepest tbe in-dmrtn*- jjetesnest of tbe ■match.

The general exristement is ncrw ai fnl tewsiou. The rifle? »gain ring out. and ♦wo men secure lnrlPs-eyes. while the third is badly by the wind and gets a. magpie and retires. The o-xpeetation is keener than ever hen. in the m.-xl round, two c'Miip*'!.!:crs only bt'big left, the first nmn g«'Us a 4: Ih>- does not therefore disapptuvr, tor his one opponent may a«*-o atuirvHe, ami as this man's shot, when signalletl. turns out also, to be 4. a»KI they are no •'forrader." tho spectators are excited beyond measure. A minute is usually allowed for each shot.—that is lo say" the shot must reach the target within a minute of the notice to shoot, but on a superbly critical occasion -wh as this, the rule is taoitly and mercifuliv thai is to y ay. 110 one hurries bun. Both having got the cine In their previous blundering—namely, a change of ■wind—each is brilliant in securing a number of bull's-eyes in suec^ss-ion. If in onlina.ry affairs our duty to our neighbour is to ''keep our eyes on him."* it is emphasised on an occasion when a hAirsbreadth departure spe.lis faihtre t<» obtain 11 craw rang success; for should Hie competitor omit to noricc t-iral his opponents latft bull's - eye was very much nsidc. he will not make allowance for a further rising or changing wind, too imperceptible 10 ordinary sight or feeling, hut fatal (ur otherwise! to the bullet, and he secures only 4 ia centre 1. The other will profit by his opponent's sad experience and win a .">. upon which 't-o krtffw what kind of enthusiastic cheers burst forth, nothing but a visit to a big rifle range will suffiec. Tbe ovation the second man receives sometime*? is hardly even second to tha-t of tbe winner, for his splendid fight is re«)gnieeu on nil bands. CHAPTER IV. BISLET WANDERERS. When the shooting wa-s finished the team was dismissed, and broke up into t-vos and threes; all were free to return home, when and how they pleased. All spent a week in seeing something of London. Then some visited friends in England, others went to Ireland. Scotland aud France. Bur before thiall spent a inostenjoyable evening at the New Zcalanders Club. The warmth of that welcome and the number of fellowcolonials we there met fairly surprised us. tStill another pleasure a-waited us all —Mr and Mrs Donnelley. of Hawke's Bay, gave a dinner in our honour at the Hyde Park Hotel. One thing that struck use was the noiseless movements and elegant waiting of the Indian servants here employed. A colonial seeing London for the first time is struck with its marvellous wealth, the immensity of the street traffic, and the splendid system by which it is regulated. There are some electric trams, but most of tbe passenger-carrying is done by omnibuses, accommodating '28 passenger-. From these a very fine view of the streets and shops can be obtained, especially from the top. In fine weather few travel inside. These 'bus horses arc a surprise to strangers: in their class, two out of every three would take a prize a I New Zealand shows: also the draught and private carriage horses are a show in themselves. The four-in-hand horses are truly superb. Such are seen to perfection in Hyde Park, London's great promenade, which Ls exceedingly gay for some hours each day. Here the great men and women of England are well represented, and magnificent dresses, especially for seme day 3 after a big race meeting, such as Ascot, may- be seen. Although these ladies' dresses and jewellery must cost hundreds and thousands of pounds, it is not altogether flattery to say that New Zealand girls can hold their own in beauty. Two of the first places usually visited by colonials are St. Paul's and West- rmitnter Abbey: both arc disappointing in that owing to tfee- size of tbe braidings not more than HWf tbe congrega-

:ion can hear the preacher, unless he ia-s an exceptionally clear utterance. When within those sacred walls awe steals into the soul, quite apart from the divine associations of the place. You are recalling past history, you arc face to face with England's mighty dead—all around are the tombs of statesmen, soldiers, poets and kings. Westminster Abbey, or Churb. <f St. Peter, was, according to legend, consecrated by the spirit of St. Peter himself, in the year tilli. The church, as we sec it to-day. is the growth of live centuries; part, buill by lvlward the Con-fe-sor, is now incorporated into the present Abbey. Wi-re William the (onqncror 11a- crowned: the same can be .-aid of every King and Queen since hi s day. Not far from the Abbey is Whitehall Museum, once ;) royal palace: h'-re Charles I. wa- beheaded, on a balcony fa-ting the street; the window through which he stepped 011 to the scaffold, and thp balcony, still remain. The exhibits in this miw-uni are all military. Several pieces of Wellington's and Napoleon's uniforms, al-o carriage, belonging 10 each, are on view. A small rifle belonging to Queen Elizabeth's time is of great interest; it is sighted and grooved on the same principle as the present-day weapon, yet the idea would seem to have been lost «ight of for hundreds of years. From the top of a 'bus we often gazed at the Bank of England. It covers eight acres, and i- a strong rather than a showy building. Its wealth .practically rules the money markets of the world. Madame Tnssaud's Waxworks Exhibition shows the celebrities of the world for the last 200 years. The figures arc so life-like, and the dress so exact, that there is constant danger of mistaking wax figures for live visitors. The National Art Gallery draw* visitors from all nations, [f a newcomer went to it every day for a week he would have little more lhan an idea of what was t-u be seen. The English excel in landsca-pc pictures, but in art generally the Italians and French leave us behind. In Regent's Park is 1 he Zoological Gardens, where ialK) animals, if birds and fish he included, may be seen. So great is the care taken that animals from the frozen Arctic thrive as well as those from the Tropics. Over a hundred men are employed to attend lo these animals. lt would be tedious to write in detail of the House of Parliament, the British Museum, the CrysVal Palace, tbe Italian Exhibition, etc' but a word must be said about the King's stables. They would delight all New Zcalanders. As stables they seem to have reached the acme of perfection: they are so spacious. There were 130 horses in all. The eight cream-coloured ponies used on Coronation and such occasions wore carefully scrutinised. The harness mounting was of -J2 carat gold: that wiiich iho King ordinarily uses is of 0 carat. Except in the matter of the metal needing no polish whatever, neither the 0 carat, nor fas a matter of fart) the 22 carat, seemed much liner than (lie brass-mounted harness, specimens of which were hanging round the harness-rooms. The roar of the street-traffic, which was deafening, is so splendidly managed that accidents are very rare: once only riid we see irconvenience caused by ;t slight misadventure; in turning, a traction engine locked, and in about five minutes vehicles of various kinds were jammed together waiting to pass along the blocked street. The police are a line body. Every man in it knows his district almost to the number of windows in every house. He lias the maze oi streets on his linger ends; and with th<; precision of a machine he manages the street traffic, and is strictly obeyed both by drivers and pedestrians. In many of the best hotel? and restaurants waiters receive no wages, and even pay the owner a premium. They are recouped by the 'tips' of the visitors; work is so arranged that a different waiter does »ach separate piece of ser-

vk-e required. The visitor as the hotel— I even though he stay one night —for his | bed and breakfast will have to pay any- j thing between 6/ and 20/. This is all j understandable, but—when he goes j through the ball to make his exit, four! or five waiters will be lined up with all expectancy, and all tbe demands of ex-. pectancy. written large on their face —, "Tips." This terror is creeping into the: public and Government offices, and should j be dealt with. It may be men-! tioned with bated breath that tips havei been found edacious in the Customs] department of Old England. j As it cannot be imagined that New Zialandcrs are uninterested in sheep, of course we weni io the London wool sales, j and learnt something from them. Wej should state here that there are six sales in the year, and that each one lasts about three weeks. We learnt that whether the quantity of wool sent, by each grower be one hale or odo hundred, every hale is opened out to the view of the buyers, and that they often complain of the way the farmer classes his woo!. We were made to understand that unless an expert is employed it pays the grower better to make not more than two classes of bis clip: yet. at the same time, speaking generally, two classes should be made. During the progress of a sale there awaits newcomers a scene of bewildering animation. The auctioneer's policy is to sell as many bales per hour as possible; sometimes as many as titty buyers, and these of mixed nationalities, will be frantically shrieking at the same time the same offer. Time is indeed money to the auctioneer, and intolerant of delay, the first man to catch his eye is Ihe lucky buyer. Of course there is a reserve below which the wool cannot be sold. The salp usually begins at four in the afternoon, and often continues until midnight. Nearly half the wool from the colonies goes to French and German buyers: Americans can only buy certain classes. as there is said to be a duty of 5Jd per lb on greasy wool going into America. Tbe London sales are declining. Foreign buyers find it pays better to come to the colonies and buy in Melbourne and WelI lington, and send what they buy- direct to their own manufactories. Thus they secure the wool in better condition and avoid the injurious appearances following on shipment and English handling, the latter of which is very rough. Those interested in the welfare of the colonies get some idea of the need l ? of London by a visit to the Smithfield meat markets. Each market consists of what can only be described as acres of meat: in fact in a walk of two solid miles there was nothing but meat. Great quantities of colonial grown mutton are sold here. When placed down at Smithfield beef or mutton is clean, and generally in excellent condition, but before reaching the consumer it is subject to several grave disadvantages, such as thawing and continuous handling—and has no chance of favourably comparing with what is grown in Great Britain, ln fact, after it has got into tlie retailers' hands, owing to its usual damaged appearance, it is placed at such a disadvantage that most inferior Home grown meat is often made lo look better than colonial. Thi* poor, tough stuff is sold for New Zealand, thereby seriously injuring our industry. The price given by the wholesale butchers is unreasonably low. But the combination of large buyers, with millions at command, have so far prevented (and if is feared will prevent) colonial freezing companies successfully carrying on stores to reach Ihe consumers* without the expensive medium of the middleman. Considering the consumer pays double the wholesale price, it is to be hoped that shops in the interests of colonial farmers, as well as of the English people, may yet be prosperous. Next to tbe damage done the industry by the too large profits of the middleman is tbe uneven supply which, if the different colonies had shops of their own. could be regulated. . (To be Continued next Saturday.)