ENGLAND'S BISLEY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1263, 19 October 1911, Page 3

ENGLAND'S BISLEY.

AND A SHATTERED IDEAL. WHY TIIE NEW ZEALANDERS FAILED. By tho Manuka, which, arrived from Sydney yesterday, returned m<vt cf tlie Now Zealand men who represented llio Dominion at Bisley. These included President H. Marshall (Karori Hide Club), Trooper Miirenzi (Ekelahuiia). Bombardier C.hijij (Lyttelton), Riflemen Needham (I'aimcrstoii Norlh) and Hoots (Kaponea) binco their return from England these men, with shootists Janice, Lovetlay, and Henderson, have been engaged at tho Kandwick meeting, Sydney, where they nave done remarkably weli. James, of Napier, came fifth on the Kind's Prize list, only three points below Motton, the winner, anil Ching was eighteenth. \t Kandwick the New Zealanders won ,Cl" 7 in prizes, and in the Longfield Aggrepto—all matches outside the King's—tliey nad three men in tho first nine, which was highly creditable. .lames, Loveday and Henderson, of tho Bislev team, and Harold Phmiuer, Given, and Batt, also of New Zealand, havo gone on (o Melbourne to compete at tho big Victoria shoot.

Interviewed yesterday, Mr. n. Marshall, Pi r °i'i? nf: of " 10 aror i Rifle Club, stated that tho disappointing show made by the team at Bisley was not without, cause. In the first instance," said Mr. Mar/lro Ivero stale. We commenced practising a month before the meetingmuch too long, and wo were all feelinc pretty flat and stale oil it by the fimo tho actual shooting began. 'The Canadians, who die! much better than we did, only arrived a week before, and were much keenor asid fresher on their work than wo were. Then with the meetin" c.-jiue the phenomenal heat wave, the liko ol winch we had never experienced, and <Io not want to meet again. I don't know it must have been in town, out at Bisley we had it 97 degrees in the shade, with intense humidity. It was really awful. So bad that it prevented us getting our regular sleep, and a rifleman wants Ins sleep to do good work. Tho night before we fired for tho Kolapore vup vrecoukl not got to sleep until early f£ m J» we had to be up again soon after G a.ni. I think we wero le?s ablo

to stand .the heat than any of the others, as Australians, South Africans, and CanawfS i- h ? vo thelr s P clls of intcnss neat, to wluch we wore strangers. Jt was S ? bad that the authorities at Bisiev stated that special food and clothing would havo to be provided for the men fntnlT -\r Con PP S P r<:v:lil «l in the tuture. Men IT , K i | lorfc , su fi- Pra i hv t]le extreme heat. I was going alone the btrancl one day at about 9 a.m., when a man in front of me crumpled up and fell UK-e a log stricken by heat npoplw. He was promptly picked up by an ambulance «agon and taken to a hospital. It was no uncommon sight." _ And having experienced a Bisiev meeting, what do you think of it all? asked our representative. 'All my life," Ra id JJr. Marshall, "I have regarded Bisley as the ideal of ?n» r 3 i i? 'T 1 connocticn with riflc-shoot-ing, but to tell you the truth I was disappointed. Without exaggerating in any particular, we are twenty years ahead n'f tnem as far as arrangements and administration is concerned. They are very conservative, and have a form of ' procedure which is impractieablo and rather irritating to tho colonial. To ilmrtranf~TV l™ ar °i three ran " es in °ne L ar ,' f , Bls ' c f' "J"! not one of these can bo used until all three are disengaged, n.'^U 0 tlat cffcct > 3 the hoistiml fL f° ? 7' er • llil i of a rcd drnm n? m i S °'1 ,' si f" al B" 11 . It is one ot tlieso useless old customs which has "°!j7 ns t7l ,° stoyuttr, and which to seriously delay (he mreting. Another—l went to the office to make an inquiry about a match which r knew we had been entered for by Colonel Hushes On making my inquiry the officer told mo that Neir Zealanders were not eligible !™ S h°M ln I" at S lu 1 "stained that ThonL bM " enter ?, d , a " d tho fpes llio ofheor then ca led several other ofli(thero nro rr° nf s f' \ r Cß«lations tinlk tnem >;. a !; d "greed evenshnnt T E 1 p]l S ,blc - The first shoot I hfld opened my eves. Before S"®? "VT I asked tho .officer fo charge if it was optional to count it a score, and was told that it was a compulsory 'no score.- I registered a 'bulT' winch was duly entered and crossed off then I went back to tho Cfiflvds. ran 4" and, registered another 'bull'" f or sighter. TiV-ill you (ako it, sir ' said tho marker, much to my surprise, and to mv amazement I found tho sighter was ontional, though tho officer in char-o of I n/mfJ f ot i k 7 o,v tho Potion. So I at once applied for tho reinstatement of my first 'bull' on tho 500 yds. " lhat s tho sort of thing I met with ri^ht -it OU i? H, Sm aloi l° n, y opinion it is the general one held amongst all the colonial 'troops." au . I do not th:nk they take rifle shnof ing seriously enough iif the Old Co, ntry There was great interest taken in the i Cunl'm, S f ln<?t f 7 the fakim ™ bup teams entering from all parts of tho Empire When it was all over we alf'et mff to SPO the rcsuWs i irnl thi- wo had came, and this was all that appeared on a Sv * T Cnp; Canadians, l.)Sl points! No reference to any other team, and wo had to wait for tl/papers to see where wo had come. The best proof that Bisley is not a success is that the entries havo decreased iO per cent, in the past ten years, and fear tho prize money was reduced bv over .£IOOO. It dees not encourago tho ' joung man to shoot. He cannot'afford Jiislet. It costs Inm .£1(1 to enter, and to fceloiig to one of the clubs, which .are largely social institutions, is a costly matter. So you do not seo tho j-oun'g man at Bisley—only tho matured man c ?'\ af^ord i( - T!lere •">« no Defence rifle clubs in England—they are sporting an" social clubs, having no connection at all with tho Army, and no provision for attachment in caso of war. I pointed this out in a speech I was eallecl on to make at the London and Middlesex fiifle Club meeting, and advocated the New Zealand idea for England, and a grad deal to my surprise my remarks were applauded. Speaking about service shooting, Mr. ..,Y S i.?V "nfntio'-d the running man. At Bisley the 'running man' onlv walks He is about eight feet high, and the buli is an eight-inch strip extending from the head to the feet, and you blaze at him from a distance of 112 yards onlv. Xono of us missed him. At Trontkm the running man' runs, and he is only six feet high, and you fire at him from the 300 yards' mark. There is a difference. Thj Kandwick meeting was much better run than Bisley, bnt Trentham is the best meeting of the lot. We havo nothing to learn from the English Bisley."