FOR THE BELT

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 54, 5 March 1923, Page 8

FOR THE BELT

THE AUCKLAND MATCH

WON BY J. SMART, SUBURBS

SOME GOOD PERFORMANCES,

The shooting for the rifle championship of v New Zealand was continued at Trentham this morning under conditions which were more unfavourable than any experienced in the earlier matches of the King's Prize series. There was a good even light when the Auckland Match opened at 300 yards, but the wind from the;£outh-east was variable, necessitating frequent adjustments of ' sights. The wifld became stronger while the second sta&e at 600 yards was in progress, rendering conditions even more choppy than before. One of the worst factors the marksmen had to contend with was a deflection of the breeze down the gully behind the butts, which made shooting very uncertain, and necessitated allow-, ance for a lateral and downward influence on the bullet. Under the conditions described, the standard of Bhooting was really very high. The performance, of J. Smart, of 'the Suburbs Bifle Club, in winning the match with a score of 92 out of 100 —49 at 300 yards and 43 at 600 yardswag distinctly creditable in the circumstances. He commenced with an inner at Hie shorter distance, and then pumped in Siine bulls.. At 600 yards he knew lie had to beat 91, that had already been put up by F. H. James, of Napier, who was firing nearby, and he took his finishing shots very coolly,'closing with a bull. Smart's chances in the Belt competition are; unfortunately, affected on account of his; having missed the first match; he was unable to attend through being detafned in town on business. He usually shoots consistently, and last year he won the long-range aggregate in Hawkes Bay. The next best card was that handed in by^J. Rryden (Kaiapoi), a former winner' of the Trentham aggregate. His scores were 45 and 46 at" the two ranges, a. total of. 91. James made the same tally, but;lost on the count back, having been less successful at tho long ran>e. „' . ■ The only possible of the match was recorded by "Carbine" Ross, one of the oldest veterans, at the 600-yards range. At the. short distance, however, ho made only 38. Ross is one of the bestknown riflemen in the Dominion*, and has a v/onderful. jecord...". He is popularly known as >"Garbine"' as the winner of the-Carbine'Belt,;outright 35 years ago. J. Hood (Opaki} went close to winning the. match,;.and,, judging by .the general appearance of bis tally, he only lost because of a., defective bullet. In the middle: of his turn at 600 yards a miss was recorded. He challenged, but the marker was unable to find any. mark on the target, and Hood's otherwise splendid score was spoilt with a naught. If he had made only a magpie he would have tied with Smart for highest score. The adverse conditions were apparent from the performances of the crack shots. Connor, the clever shot from Okawa, who has been . promising very well in the; aggregate, started well at 300 yards ■wit.hfive.good shots, but finished poorly_ with'three "magpies, which placed him fairly well down in the prize-list. CroxtonJKarorj), always a consistent shoot-' er,- is again well up in the list with 88, 46 of which were made at 600 yards, Roots, last years-Belt"winner,s-Belt"winner, made .89,• "while Ritchie, the young Hawera exponent, who won the Marlborough match, scored only 82, .Th.6 winner of the Canterbury match, Q.-'Ar Eyles, of Napier, was amongst those who put up Some of the marksmen were unable to meet the conditions at first, and many cards showed a profusion of outers and misses. ' One performer fired four shots before he got one on the target. Clothier fired three misses before he discovered his sights were set wrongly. The award list is as follows': — £f>r-J. Smart (Suburbs) 92 £4^-J. Bryden (Kaiapoi) 91 £3-^F. H. James (Napier) 91 £2—Lieut. J. A. Munro'(Wyndham) 89 £2^-W. E. Boys (Temuka) „ 89 £I—P. S; Hood (Featherston) 89 £I—G. A. Eyles (Napier) 89 £I—L. G. Loveday (Linton) 89 £I—F. J. King (Okawa) 89 £I—D. Roots (Napier) 89 £I—G. Lamborn (Timaru) 89 £I—Capt. J.H. Ross (Suburbs) ... 88 £I—E. Vennell (Te Wharau) 88 £l-4-W. H. West (Blenheim) 88 £I—JH: V. Croxton (Karori 88 £I—W. ' Mills (Kiwi) 88 £1-^, Goodall (Suburbs) 87 £I—Lieut. L. T. Atkinson (Akarana) 87 £I—E. J. C. Reston (Akarana) ... 87 £I^-C. Whiteman (Suburbs) ......... 87 £I^-Capt. W. N. Masefield (Keke- '• langu) 87 £I^J. F. Sunnex (Flaxborne) 87 £I—Pres. L. E. Braithwaite (Okawa) 87 £I—W. M. Garth (Greymouth) 87 £I—Pres. G. Smith (jvaponga) ... 87 £1— . Briengan (Gisborne) ■86 £l-^-J. H. Cheesman (Blenheim) ... 86 £li-F. Needham (Linton) 86 £1--Dep.-Pres. W. K. Williams ". (Ohura) 86 £I^-W. E. Alton (Old Navals) 86 £I^_S. J. Mayhew (Linton) 86 £I—J. L. Turner (Suburbs) 86 £I—A. C.'rCrossan (Linton) 86 £I^-Depf-Pres. R. J. King (Opaki) 86 £I—C. J^ r'Nix (Featherston) _ V.7...... 86 Counted out:, J. L. Sutton,' E. J. Leritferi'S. M'Kay, C. J. Colenian, T. J. Edwards. Other prizes were awarded^ fifteen tyros,' three tyro returned soldiers, and three cadets, who made scores ranging from 85 to 72.