EMPIRE CADET SHOOTING.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3149, 25 December 1922, Page 8

EMPIRE CADET SHOOTING.

'The Rector of the Waitaki Boys' High School (Mr P. Milner) has received the following letter from Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, Minister of Defence:— "I have pleasure in forwarding for your information a. copy of a letter to the High Commissioner for New Zealand by Lieut.-Colonel R. W. Ffennell regarding the results of the Imperial Challenge Shield Competition for 1922. "His Excellency the GovernorGeneral has advised me that he has written' to you personally congratulatiri <_r you on the fine effort put up by Waitaki High School, and I shall be glad if you will accept my congratulations also in this connection." The enclosure —a letter from Colonel 11. W. Ffennell to the High Commissioner (Sir James Allen)—is as follows : "I beg to hand you herewith the report, of the National Rifle Association that has just been issued with the 1922 results of the above competitions. A summary of these results is given in the. opening passes of this report, and detailed figures regarding the Units that have specially distinguished themselves in various portions of the Empire can be seen at the end under the beading 'Special Prizes.' "It will be seen that 1803 teams entered from all parts of the Empire, while 1296 teams actually fired consisting of approximately 12,000 boys. "May 1 ask you to be good enough to convey my congratulations to the Hon. Minister of Defence in New Zealand and to his Department on the magnificent effort made by the New Zealand boys this year; they have fired teams as compared with only 120 in 1921 and have won 33 prizes out of a total of 170. In all round excellence it would appear from the figures given that New Zealand stands second only to South Africa. How long will she be satisfied with second place? "May I venture to suggest that the most important thing of all in the musketry training of the youth is to aim at all round efficiency on a big scale; to encourage the many and not to concentrate on the few. If New Zealand will enter a still larger number of teams improvement as regards quality will follow as a matter of course. "1 shall be glad if my congratulations could be conveyed to the winner if His Excellency the Governor-General's Trophy, Nelson Roys' College Senior Cadets, as well as to the units that stand next in order of merit—Waitaki Hoys' High School, Oamaru, and New Plymouth Bovs' High School Senior Cadets."