RIFLE MATCH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 416, 27 January 1909, Page 3

RIFLE MATCH.

. PONGAKOA r. WEBER. ' ' Tho Pongaroa and Weber rifle clubs met on tlie Pongaroa Kange on Anniversary Day to five their' return match at 200, 500, and .600 yards.' The result of the previous match. was a win for Pongaroa, at Weber, by 27 points. It had been arranged to fire eight men a-side, but Weber were, only able to raise seven met, prac.tically of the club, and at their suggestion it ; was agreed- to allow them the average of the fifteen men,; and as it worked out at 83, "Mr. Average" proved, a very efficient and an important factor in the victory, which Weber, secured .by 11 points. , Weber secured a lead, including the average, at 200 yards of 14 points, which was increased to 21 points: at 500 yaiids, but the strength of Pongaroa came out at 600 yards,wheTe tliey scored 10 points more than their opponents, including "Mr. Average.", It is interesting to compare, fie first five and seven men of each team. Following are the scores-.— • ." ' ; WEBER.

CULTURE TO COME. •■■■ ■', » —r-:.'' .■■■■'■ -' ' ..THE ART OP MARY YOUNG HUNTER. A TRIBUTE TO MR. ALFRED HILL. ■11l a recent number 'of the "Windsor Magazino" appears an article ontitled "The Art of Mrs. J. Young Hunter". (formerly Miss Mary Towgood, -of New Zealand), in the course of which the writer says:— - "It is; not more than 150 years,'ago since Captain Cook for King George 111. took, possession of the 'Long White Cloud,' the !Ao-tea-roa,' as the Maoris called the land <n -which we.bestowed the.title of New Zealand, and those who followed' him have thought less of ..painting their" walls than of building them. 'To colonise' is a . process which absorbs the whole energy of. a people. While every inaiv is living for himself there is no time for the interchange of functions, and the artist, as well as another, must see to his daily wants, must bo his own mason, tailor; butcher, and ser.vant. Beauty is'but a follower iiv the footsteps of utility; it-in ;no way ministers to the material welfare of man's existence. 'Fine art' to mankind is what play is to the individual; a free and lrbitrary. vent.i for energy .which is hot needed, to .be spent upon tasks, and it must be some years\before New Zealand finds itself with,: sufficient, leisure to turn its, attention 'seriously to art;, but in producing an artist 6f such distinct merit as Mrs. Young Hunter it lias demonstrated hopeful future 'possibilities. '■

"Possibly it is a colony which has had peculiar advantages oyer others, for the Maoris, who- came thirty :or so generations ago, under the guidance of Ngahue from the least, following the sailing direction—'Look at the rising of the star and the sun; aaid keep ! the. prow of your canoe-to it,' are an artistic ; race. Their legends are full of imagination, ; their carving. is world-renowned, and every • act of their lives is > connected with music, wondrously rhythmical and expressive.- In musib Mr. -Alfred Hill' shows his indebtedness ,to Maori talent, as much .of-the charm of the ■cantata ('Hinemoa') : by which his reputation is established lies in the treatment the Native .theme has permitted—that of the maiden Hinemoa's swimming of the country's Helles-, pont to her lover Tutanekai, who from the island of Mokoia calls to her in the clear tones of his shell-trumpet. With Mr. Hill as.'pioneer in music, jvith Adam Lindsay Gordon and Mr. H. B. Marriott Watson in literature,'and .with Mrs. Young .Hunter in painting, is revealed in each case that reiCeptiveness of mind which is a hopeful sign 'wheniit shows., itself possessed by the inhabitants, of a new land;\but, as Newman saysV .we • 'cannot set limit either, to origin, extent, : or to the minut«ness'of this wonderful web 'of causes and effects 'in which all wo see-is involved.' V -

"'As.'Miss Mary Towgood;, Mrs. Young Hunter left New Zealand top. young : to have any but very vague recollections of the country, arid these are not of the bush rich in trees':'and. shrubs, interlaced with creeping ind. climbing 'plants,' and carpeted "with iflowers, where, the.'ping' of-the parson bird alternate's "with that of the three-note chime of the bellbird, but of the .harbour of : Wellinjjton,r,.of clear,.moonlight, of the purple' liallicircle of liills, and of great waves rolling on i;he beach-at l ' Napier." Her recollections are, :in fact, : of the; one important event of-her ;earlv life—her departure thence for the Mother Country. ..." ',

: ■ With respect to Mr. Alfred.Hill, the public, indeed many of his most intimate friends,: do not know how seriously ill he has been, and is still, for that matter. ..Mr. Hill was out of sort's when .he conducted the first concert' of.thc Orchestral Society on November 12. ' After that ho. collapsed .completely, and pneumonia supervened. It: be--oamo necessary: to' operate, an ordeal, which' reduced his condition' to ' the.- lowest, but, thanks te tho care , and attention lie is receiving from' Mrs. Prouse (who brought,him in from' Island Bay to her charming. homeon ' Clifton Torrace), he is. showing" signs of recovery, ;which. must necessarily bo gradual..

1 ' '200, 500 BOO 1 ' ' . yds.. yds. yds.- T'l. J. Franklin ... ... ... 31 30 28 . 8.9 W. Franklin ... ... ... 31 33 . 21 88 C. Weavers . ... - ... .27 /. 31 : 28 1 86 W. Harvey,'' ... ... ... 31. 30 ■ 2-t 85 F. Franklin ... ... 31' 30 . 22'' 83 G. Lovejoy ... ... ' ... 31- .27 .23 81 R.Stewart ... , ... .„ .29 31 20 SO "Mr. Average" '29 29 25 ; 83 Total. ... i 675 - I'ONGAROA. ' ' 200 • 500 * 600 ' yds. yds. ' yds. T'l.. ,H. Coe ... ... ... .... .29 .32... p: 90 R. Reed... ... . ... '29 SO" 29;.- 88 G. Atkins , : ... ... ... 31 28 ' 28 87 F. Brenton , ... ... . ... 28 M 21 80 A. Herbert '... 30 28 .25. 83 E; Davics' '' • ... 25 •' ■ 29 25:' .-79 lY'. Herbert .... ... .....27 31 20 78 T. Boardman ... 27 ; 23 23 73 Total ■■ m GG1