THE VICTORIAN QUEEN'S PRIZE.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7476, 25 November 1889, Page 5

THE VICTORIAN QUEEN'S PRIZE.

SUCCESS OF A NEW ZEALANDER.

[from our cobkbspondent.]

[By Telegraph from this Bluff.]

MELBOURNE, November 20.

The shooting for the Queen's prize at the annual matches of the Victorian Bine Association, Just conoluded, -was particularly interesting this year, and the result will be gratifying to New 55ealandera, aa a former resident of that c olony carried off the honor. The interest in the competition was sustained right up to the last shot, when by a strange coincidence it came about that the two highest in all but the final range of 900 yards were not only required to shoot from the same mound, but, according to the rales of the competition, to score for each ojher. Those who know the keen desire amongst riflemen to win the Queen's Prize can understand that the position was' a particularly trying one, yet the excitement was confined to those behind the mound, for the two competitors. Sergeant Logan, of the Field Artillery Brigade, and Mr Fred Page, of the Melbourne Rifle Club, were the two coolest men on the ground. The latter was not merely scoring for his opponent, but coaching him also, that is to say calling the position of the shots on the target as shown through the telescope. Until the last shot was fired the result was not known, for in that last shot Sergeant Logan required a magpie, or 3 points, to tie, and a centre, or 4 points, to win; and at 900 yds, or something over half a mile, men are apt to average considerably under the centres. The ring on the target told of a hit, and as the white disc came out there was a shout of " bullseye." Logan had put the matter beyond all idoubt, and won the Queen's Prize by two points. Bombardier Grummett, another of the crack shots of the colony, was third, and he, like Logan, is a member of the C Battery of Meld Artillery. The shooting of these two, Logan and.Grummett, had been so remarkably close for years past that a general opinion was expressed that wherever the one finished in the Queen's Prize the other would not be far away from him, and bo it proved; in fact, on the day before the match one officer of the Battery was haunted with., the presentiment that th"c "G Battery twinsi" aa the two crack shots are known, would: hare to shoot off for first place. The result of the Queen's Prize for this year is eminently satisfactory, singe it bringa to the front a man who, while having formerly won it, is recognised as one of the beet shots in Australia. Sergeant 'Frank Logan gained his first military experience as a member of the Wanganui JJifles, New Zealand, and on coming to Victoria joined his present corps, then the Emerald Hill Artillery, and a garrison instead of a field' battery. His average shooting is best demonstrated in the face that for the last six years he has alwaye been chosen to represent hie colony in the intercolonial match, in the laetof which, fired on Friday, he made top score, Grummett being second. Both are young men, and both the steadiest of shots in an emergency. Sergeant Logan has always shot in good form in the Queen's, but never got to the front rank before. Last year he .won the gold medal in his corps for the best shooting through the year, though he {only beat Grummett by 2 points. He ie employed as a mechanic in connection with the tramway works.