THE KING'S PRIZE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3145, 27 November 1922, Page 7

THE KING'S PRIZE.

A stick of lead over four miles long, a slip of white paper over four -miles long, and—half a ton of paste! In one way this sums up the result of the King's Prize meeting at the rifle ranges at Liverpool (states the Sydnev Sun). You can add to this 9J300,600 grains of the best cordite, three tons of brass, and the- noise of 300,000 detonations, and you will got another line on what has been happening at Liverpool. All these things were part of the meeting, but nobody seems to have been aware of the fact, and more interest was taken in question as to who was going to win the mere one hundred pounds attached to the King's Prize than to the twelve hundred spent on ammunition'in getting it. It is estimated that there were 2000 riflemefri and riflewomen engaged in the various contests, and they used up between them 300,000 rounds of ammunition. Each round, or cartridge, had at its business end an inch of nickeled lead, and contained 31 grains of cordite encased in a brass sheath. This lead, if placed in an unbroken line, would go considerably over four miles, and the cordite in the 300,000 shells if exploded at once, would make a. very handsome noise, as you can realise when you multiply 31 grains by 300,000, and, having translated the result, turn it into an enormous Chinese hunger and—let her go! Each of these 31 grains of cordite when touched off by the trigger «nd detonator was in such a tremendous hurry to get away that it sent tho inch of lead out of the riffle muzzle at the speed of 206T)ft a second. Everybody in the vicinity heard the cordite's angry ejaculation, some saw its fiery tongue, but nobody spotted the evicted bullet leave its brass home; that _departure was tho very acme of celerity; tho absolute pinnacle of hurry! And one can hardly imagine what sort of thing would " happen if the 300,000 inches of lead were put together as one bullet and sent through the air by 9,300,000 grains of cordite in one magnificent bang! Yes, it costs a bit to go after a. King's Prize. For instance, there were fully 2000 rifles in use, and the value of thes was anything between £4 and £lO, a fair estimate being £B. So there you have an armory of guns worth quite £16,000. And then, on top of all this, there were the windgauges—each worth 25s—and the telescopes and field glasses. It's a scientific business this shooting at a hundred inoffensive canvas targets; but then, you see, the targets can't shoot hack and did you puncture them with bulls all dav long the only results would be, firstly, that £3 15s would "go bang" every time you registered your thousandth shot, and, secondly, the perspiring markers in the pits would curse you for a. bally nuisance, or a suitable candidate for "blithering blazes." That brings l u® to another sidelight in the going after a King's Prize. That is the markers, their targets, and their paper and paste'. There were m use 100 targets. Each had an attendant, each attendant had a roll of paper, each had! a. paste pot and each paste pot had l (besides paste) two brushes. Sounds somehow like going to St. Ives, but there's the fact. The targets, were composed of white canvas, and when the evicted bull came tearing along it met the target, and passed through, leaving a small hole such as you might make by thrusting a pencil through a piece of* paper, ft was then that the marker got busy. He noted the score, and then, seizing a piece of paper about an inch square, flopped some paste around the hole on the target and' dabbed the paper on it. Some idea, of the amount of flour and hot water needed for the bill-posting act may he gathered from the fact that half a 'ton of the sticky mess was used up at Liverpool—enough for all the amateur wall paperhangers in Sydney to cover themselves with glory —dirt- ■ for a month. Then the riflemen have to be well oiled. Not in the alcoholic meaning, for that would render it difficult to distinguish which of the three or four targets was the middle one, but in the efficiency direction. Every shooter, :f he hasn't forgot, has a small bottle of lubricating oil. Some have two. and to these the forgetful ones turn. The bottles usually contain about six ounces of oil 1 , so that if you like to work out what 2000 bottles each containing six ounces means, you will find that there's enough to grease' a Big Bertha perhaps twice a day! Then there are all sorts of other "whys and wherefores" in the great game of Getting the King's Prize that are, as the dog remarked) about his tenants, "too numerous l to mention" ; and it is not >'• hasty business. It is educative, no doubt, but not like the education spoken of by the gentleman who Drew his little Smith and Wesson To inculcate a moral lesson! That lesson resulted in several holes in a "sport," but to-day's results/n, among other things, straight shooting, prize money, fame —and sunburn. There is another item that- cannot he passed over. Tine camp officials did not miss it; the competitors did full l justice to it; and those who supplied it in person certainly knew all about it. That was the commissariat. There were 700 men under canvas, and the -feeding of these—and others who while not under canvas at night were there in the day —was a big job. If you were to line up the bullocks, sheep, pigs and —"tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Asealon" —pigeons,, they would make an army, not terrible, with banners, but toothsome and acceptable to the King's Prizers, especially when flanked by the mountain of potatoes, peas, parsnips, cabbages, carrots, and cauliflowers. But of tobacco, and the smoke thereof, there is no record. If one were of a Knibbsian frame of mind, one might quote figures showing how many tobacco plants were used, how many matches, how many pipes, and—well, you could go on for ever and be as wise at the finish as the shooter who asked plaintively for the hundredth time: — "Who shook my pull-through!"

During a recent visit to Great Britain the Chicago Streets Committee were greatly impressed with the efficiency of the underground 1 railway system of London. They admitted that it was the finest system of transport on a large scale in the world; and the chairman of the Committee described the conditions as luxurious. In spite of the high standard attained, improvements continue to be made in tht service and in the mechanical equipment. The latest effort to keep in the van of progress is in connection with, new carriages. The Underground Company has put five of the leading rolling stock manufacturers of Great Britain in competition with each other, so as to encourage the introduction of clever innovations which will lead to economy of operation and additional convenience and comfort to the passengers. These new cars will bo built of steel throughout so as to give additional' strength and security against fire.