FINAL BATTLE FOR THE BELT AT TRENTHAM

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 764, 12 March 1910, Page 12

FINAL BATTLE FOR THE BELT AT TRENTHAM

——— ' | CAPTAIN KING SECOND MAN. . .. ■—' ' ' ! NERVOUS MARKSMEN IN A DULL GREY LIGHT ". -.v .• DOMINION WiNS EMPIRE MATCH.

ft:; / Yesterday marked the culmination of ! • ' tho great . annual New Zealand rifle . at Trentham. It was a strenuous ■ time, for the . miserable weather of the iv / previous day had left - several matches j- ' • uncompleted, and to. be carried over to tho final day—a day .which should be - strictly reserved for star items. Con- ! ■ . jequentiy the whole: of the forenoon was i : ■ ■ • -. fully ocoopied with' a great washing up f; ; - ■ of. minor events, and the finish of the big j. • -Umpire match. It was a dreary doy; i . dawn broke with .a' scowl ; Nature's mood iwas antagonistic to shooting, and there j ; Itraa no promise of betterment by the • : , <aftarnoon. • The events, which were'topped, r Aoff by the "King's Prize,"' were fought ; . dn dull, misty weather, the '. mist." freK' 'quently thickening to ; "good . growing |' rmin " Anxious men. , of--; the ■ "King's >; •}, ' Jifty" eyed tho heavens, and shook their t ■ 'Heads, but, as the conditions. would .bo f. : ," ■ ■- similar for every man,. a plea from the .f - : .. ■ discomforts of the weather. did not matter i-:.- wwli.; ;.

'iThe Championship Match. After lunch, the general "wash up" having been duly and successfully accora"plished, an unusual bustle and stir be]tokencd the advent of the-star event— ' 'the Bong's Priie match. At 2. p.m.,, a f'dfltachment of Royal New Zealand Artili ilery .in 'blue, ■ spick and span -as these , ifellows always,'.are, marched up to the tiparade. ground, took up easels, black- , [■boards,: and ohalk, and proceeded to the fJOOOyds.'mound, on the Seddohv, Range, where the , "King's Fifty": annually fight , ►ont; . their., .'argument. The competitors ■were then paraded, and eaoh man drew by : lot' the humber; of; his. target, and was ' off with another two - men to each :. >of the twenty-five targets. The company - »at' once proceeded to ;the Seddon Range; A good deal of enthusiasm is needed. ; 4o bring people, out of comfortable homes i a wet afternoon-to 'see fifty men eachtfire ten shots at 1000 yds., and. the weather . ..[yesterday afternoon,;-before, during, and >after the King's match was won-and lost, <was unutterably ■ dreary. Thero is much '•"function" '. about the Championship and the competitor must necessarily, have nerves of steel to put on a Lgood- 6Core before' a large crowd of ladies 'Rand man. With few exceptions,-• the nofficers .abandoned,. their ..field service iuniform .for the' more . picturesque blue, . -Vnd, a? usual, the Permanent. Artillery ,4id the scoring. : Shot, : 'As some. Ministers-of, the Crown.- had i-gignified . their intention ."of patronising fthe championship "shoot,"-'it would have . .ibeen'. bad form to ; commence at , the time;: so these fifty marksmen, . ("whose- nerves were on edge after a par-. Vticularly arduous meeting, , were, Kept :■ flying on soaking mounds for 15 minutes ; tantil ;tha ; Ministers "arrived.. The. effect (jof . the long wait was at once observed.; <» -.very;.-large .nqmbfcr of the preliminary' 7. hehotgfregistered.j ''no ' score.", ' The , fqrj. kmalities, howevor, were .observed, -every; : target jumping-froin' the-trench simul- • , «tanfiously.>t the sound of the biigle,' and "iintense interest was. manifested by . the Uarge gathering of competitors, and • those ; iladies who ;uhderstood'..lvhat was happen- . Japg appeared to enjoy, tho tense.'excite- . jmeat. When all was. ready the red flags 1 • [dropped,' and, almost. immediately, ,Wilfliams, of Ohura, fired. - ';■■.' ■'- .' - -, .The_ echoes, had hardly . ceased among ■ the hills whei'the;firing became.general. : Tho shooting, was wild, and; as one passed j (down tho line of scoring boards,"blobs", ■were everywhere- ; visible. - There were ::(xeally. _only fomr men in it so far as the ; championship, itself was concerned. Cap.tains Kiiig and Ross, who tied for.'the -■first place in tho King's Fifty, were mound. marksmen to be reckoned with, whilo Halliday, of the Karori Club, and

L.Axmoarer-fitjrgeant W. H. Cutler, of : New. ]South .Wales,.'.Vere..too strong in their - .-aggregates to he despised by their less (fortunate rivals. King and, Boss were F.eaai 4-11, and Halliday'was 440, while jOitler and Govenlock (who finished fifth) ii. before the commencement I'of. the match. To the figures were added ' the result of their ten- shots at 1000 yards the King's Prize match. When- it is that the seventh man-of the fifty : iTWas 430, it will he seen that only a fatal j-coUapso on the, part of the leading five •i il n ,P se , t the ,poplar prognostications f-of the final result. ■•...:, jAfitißS. • .One of the four* mentioned first were ; ,-regarded as a certainty, and so it proved. , .The result is set' out in ::the prize list' which appears below—the figures need no (amplifications. As for the astonishing i collapses •of the others, it , can only be iflormised that the cause was extreme nervousness.. Hallidny won.. His score was .not the-best, as Sotheran, of Greymouth, i-made a brilliant score .under the circumh#d his aggregate in the i T;lfty _ (42i) been a little'more formidable; the belt would have gone to the "VY&st toast for the second time. ! For a t-vhile everybody thought that King would r win. He., began fairly well-much better ,-than Ross, whose , first. five shots . were mne , r - a bull, an inner, a miss, and 'Tr a .-King began with an outer, ■,-tnen got four inners,. and finished with r T?' 0 n-j ' a ma ffP'e, and- two more bulls: Point behind King in the king's hiity aggregates, made two bulls ■for his opening counters, then ah inner, • two more bulls, a ! magpie, a bull, another magpie, a fiftt.biill.'and' fimshed a r s3l% ? al lid£y thus got. sis. bulls to ? n - r 't captured more magpies, and just won by a point. Chairing and Cheering.

v3l 3 1 ay had ' pnt ae tt»iUt yond question he was. seized and "chaired" tJLI Club ' ia the Vndsome piece of furniture presented by ex-cham-?h» n r ? ge Hyd ej for the- purpose, |and the Garrison Band struck up "See the Conquermg Hero Comes." Before the band , had finished playing in the -small enclosure policed by tho E.N.Z.A., the « a l n ' A t heM o£F during the shoot, became more earnest. Patient celebrities of botl). sexes who were on the platform protecied themselves with umbrellas, and there was; a calm deliberation about the proceedings that suggested blue skies,and laughing flowers, gentle zephvre and summer raiment. Rain could not aainp . tn© . ©nthnsasni, as tho success* iuj competitors .advanced to receive their /prizes from tho hands of Lady -WnrH, and the big wet-crowd burst into explosions of joy when the popular hero of the meet-ing-was invested with the historic belt i that has been the "blue ribbon" of Now I Zealand shooting since 1861. 'Other 1 men who reosived special orations were Capt., W. S.'lCing, of Lin wood, Capt. Eoss, of I Wellington, and Armourer-Sergt. Cutler, I of Nev; South Wales. 'When tlie.dripping function cloiscd there was a remarkably rapid disappearaaioe. of everybody to teni or train, but, despite the rainj thero was great cordiality, good temper, and laughter, and everyone 6eemed satisfied and happy. Thereafter, the chief word spoken was "Goodbye"—mon who meet only at Trentham parted for another year, and thero is some satisfaction in the fact that the belt is in Wellington,'and in tin "hands of a popular rifleman.

•Tails ! Win." - Captain J. H. Boss tied with Armourer* Sergt. W. Cutler, New. South Wales, for third place in the "King's," and was to ■have shot off with, the popular New South Welshman. As, however, both had done enough shooting, they decided that they would 6hoot no more, and so deter-

mined' the place by the time-haftoured method of tossing a coin. : Lieut.-Colonel s Hughes, chief range officer, spun the coin, and Ross, calling- "Tails," ■ won. Cutler,'who tied with. Boss for third, pin:"?,' is a brother of A. Cutler, probably the beat shot -in New South Wales of late. W. H. Cutler-has shot very consistently throughout the meeting, and has done better than any other member of the visiting team. Although' oily a young shot, his record during tie past few years has been.o fine one. He was a member of the .Commonwealth team iihich went .to Bisley, and : -whilst-in England he distingmshod himself by. winning.the Prinro of Wales match. . .. • ; Among those who witnessed the firing for the'.King's Prize wero.th© members .of the Now Zealand General-Staff—Col. A. W. Robin, - C.B! (Chief, of the General Staff), Lieut-Colonel E. W. Chaytor, Col. J. K. Purdy (Director of-.Medical Serr vices), Lieut.-Col. ..Hawkins (Officer Commanding the District), Lieut.Col. Joyce (Offioer Commanding the Nelson District), Lieut.-Col: Bauchop (O.C.D. Wellington District), and the'staff officers of the General and District staffs.