THE KING'S PRIZE

Evening Star, Issue 16994, 17 March 1919, Page 2

THE KING'S PRIZE

1 HOW IT WAS WON. When tho 50 men qualified to take part in the final stage for the King's Prize assembled at the firing mound at Trentham on Saturday afternoon a breeze of uncertain strength from the rear and left rear, with the sun showing a shifty eye through passing cloud banks, and thin, yellow haze from the smoke of bush fires on neighboring ranges, formed a tost for many quidnuncs to propound wonderful prophecies, i Trentham is known far and wide to shootI ing men as the lair of one of ASolua’s handI maidens, typically feminine in her ficklej ness, being since nicknamed “ Tricky ; Trixie," and many times blessed or cursed according to the manner in which she : smiled or frowned on poor mortals who had sought her favor. The competitors were well scattered along the 800 yds mound of the Sommerville range, in which the final test was I fired, and expectant groups soon fanned ) around them, tho obviously hopeless rearj guard men being neglected. Jarvia, ot j Taradalo, was the first to get a shot away, I bringing up a 5, which he followed up with I another, and then a 4 and a 5, after which , be got a aeries of 4’s, and finished with 5, 4, 5, making a total of 45, which was . very good indeed, and brought him forward to such an extent as to lead to interest being taken in his efforts. W. J. i Morgan and H. Loveday were at this stage. Halliday had. after causing his friends a thrill of anticipation, lost his place in the popular mind by finishing with only 52. He missed his sighter and his first “ business ” shot, then rang on a string of five bulls; but hero “Trixie,” who had not forgiven him for old-time successes, gained despite her blandishments, and cast a spell over the man, for he missed the target next shot, and then found tho inner ring. The next wont unrecorded, and tho last was a detested “ magpie.” So Karori’s only hope for 1919 went down from fourth place, at the beginning of the match, to fifteenth. Meanwhile Morgan and Loveday were fighting nn uphill battle against light and shade and the vagaries of the wind. Each got 17 out of the first five rounds, made up of s’s and 4's; but Loveday was the better on the count back. Their other five shots v’eldprl the same result, making them 39 all -n-ii-t Loveday still the better on tho count back. ... ,nis time a new star became visible on the. horizon of the scoring board. West, of Blenheim, throwing out his sighter (a magpie), brought up a bull disc five times in success, and then fell in an unguarded moment to a puff that carried him off into the magpie ring. He recovered with a bull for bis next shot, but was evidently less confident, for he finished unevenly with 4, 5. 4, making a total of 46. Hamilton got on a very rood 46, marred only by magpies in the third and ninth shots, thus lifting him from to fifth place in the line up at the prizegiving. Merrilees put a row of five s’s on the score board, then trailed off in irregular fashion with 4, 5, 3, 5, and 4, totalling 46; but, as he was so far behind at the start, this fine fighting effort could not help him into prominence at the ceremonial parade. Later on, though, it lifted him from forty-sixth to twentyseventh place on tho Ust,_ with £1 as souvenir and painful memories of “ Trixie’s ” attentions during the hours of ordeal. Comparisons of Friday’s aggregate positions with Saturday’s final line-up will serve to make clear to shooting men how lower and middle sections fared. After the first 10 minutes the question became not “Who has won?” but “How many will King get?” He meant business from the jump, opening with a 5 and continuing with three more s’s; then a3, followed by three more huffs mid ending with two 4’s a total of 46. That he made a“ 3 ” was a puzzie to the onlookers, some of whom attributed it to a canted rifle; but King ■was hardly likely to be guilty of that, so a couple of points must bo debited to the account of Trentham’s flighty moods. King started with a lead of 8 points over his nearest opponent, and rose from the mound with bis advantage increased to 14. Following is the result of the King s Prize Match, the scores at Saturday afternoon’s shooting including: Score. Ag.

W. J. Paynter (Blenheim), £1 43 412 Counted out: Major J. Searle (North Otago Regiment). , , Following are the positions of the last 15 men in the match; —Major J. Searle (Oamara), score 59, aggregate 412 ; A. K. Woodland (Walhi), 41, 411; Captain J. H. Ross (Wellington), 42, 410; Captain M. Irvine (Nelson), 41, 410; G. Gardiner (Taumarunui), 37, 408; R. Duthie (Christchurch), 36, 408; Sergeant R. Hester (K Company Engineers), 38, 407; Sergeantmajor A. O. Lowe (Auckland), 35, 406; G. P. Harrison (Hawera), 37, 405; E. Spedford (Christchurch), 54, 405; P. Browne (Waihi), 29, 402; J. E. Bryden (Kaiapoi), 32' 401; A. Woir (Petone), 31, 401; H. R. Keane (Dargaville), 31, 399; and H. Reynolds (Christchurch), 30, 398. The scorers of 46 fired off for the Rifle Challenge Cup, awarded to the best scorer in the King’s Prize Match, and West won, beating King, his nearest man, by 5, 5, 4 (total 14) to 4, 4, 5 (a total of 13). Out of 10 ex-champions competing at the meeting, five—namely, King, Halliday, Roots, Milroy, and Irvine—were in the final 50; but apart from King, Halliday alone had a chance, and a very slender one, of recapturing the coveted honor.

R. J. King (Opaki), King’s Prize, Ballinger Belt, gold medal, gold badge, and £25 46 446 W. H. West (Blenheim), silver star and badge and £25 ... 46 431 N. R. Jarvis (Taradale), silver star and badge and £15 ... 45 430 H. Loveday (Ohura), silver star and badee and £13 39 450 N. J. Morgan (Akarana), D.B.A. badge and £5 39 430 P. C. Hamilton (Wanganui), D.R.A. badge and £5 46 428 Sergeant F. W. Cliing (R.N.Z.A.), D.R.A. badge and £5 ••• ••• 43 427 S. Elliott (Akarana), D.R.A, badge and £5 -• 41 425 Lieutenant W. Hudson (P. and T.), D.R.A. badge and £5 ... 44 425 P. Morgan (Christchurch), D.R.A. badge and £5 45 425 H. G. Day (Nelson), D.R.A. badge and £5 43 423 President C. J. Nix (Featherston), D.R.A. badge and £5 42 423 R. H. Harris (Christchurch), D.R.A. badge and £2 ... ... 40 423 N. A. Wilton (Mauriceville), — 423 D.R.A. badge and £2 39 6. Hallidav (Karori), D.R.A. badge and £2 32 422 A. C. Crossan (Wanganui), D.R.A. badge and £2 ... ... 43 419 A. Lovelock (Linton), D.R.A. badge and £2 42 418 Lieutenant H. H. Donald (Ruahine), D.R.A. badge and £2 ••• #36 418 N. Mawley (Masterton), D.H.A. badge and £2 41 418 J. C. Comes (Waihl), D.R.A. badge and £2 , 37 417 F. W. R. Kummer (Waihi), D.R.A. badge and £2 45 416 W. J. M'lrvrida (Petone), D.R.A. badge and £2 ... 43 416 Gunner A. N. Duthie (N.Z.G.A.), D.R.A. badge and £2 ■■■ 42 416 C. Hadfield (Blenheim), D.R.A. badge and £3 43 418 F. Franklin (Petone), D.R.A. badge and £2 37 415 S. M‘Nabb (Dunnevirke), £1 ... 44 414 Major A. J. Merrilees, 6th (Hauraki) Regiment, £1 ... 46 414 Lieutenant A. S. Henderson, Reserve of Officers, £1 39 414 D. B. Mackeraey (1st W.I.B.), £1 v . 44 413 President A. W. Cheal (He Kuiti), £1 59 413 J. Steenson (Oamaru), £1 40 413 T. H. Carter (Nelson), £1 ... 42 413 D. Roots (Patea), £1 41 412 J. W. Milroy (Nelson), £1 ••• 41 At 412 /110