VOLUNTEER INTELLIGENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4669, 31 October 1876, Page 2

VOLUNTEER INTELLIGENCE

RIFLE MATCH.—VICTORIA CO. V. ] H.M.S. SAPPHIRE. | A vert interesting rifle match between} eight members of the Victoria Co. and aaj equal number of the bine-jackets and marines] of H.M.S. i sapphire :was fired at :;he Mount! Edau Rifl? Range, yesterday afieiaoon, and,! contrary to anticipations, resulted in favour J of the local "shots," who fired with wea-j pons far inferior as arms of precision! to those which their opponents pojl sessed. The competitors . left thi foot of Lower Queen-street in a drag! at about t o'clock, and the shooting begaaj an hour later. The wind was not at aIS favourable to the putting together of goal scores, as it kept shifting about, blowing] first in one direction and then in an op-j posite one. There was also a shade on that target, which militated in some degreffl against accurate shooting. A large numbers of spectators wera present, and watched! the progress of the contest with the keenest! interest. Sub-lieutenant Skinner acted! as captain of the Victoria team, and SergeanH Westway occupied a similar position in that' c- the Sapphire. Mr. A. Brace, Volunteer! Buff, and a seaman of the man-o'-vrur were* the scorers, and discharged the duties! entrusted to their care in a highly efficients and satisfactory manner. The match wijjj fired under the superintendence of Captain Derrom. The ranges were 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 yards, five shots at each; it . 200 and 300 yards third-class targets were nsed, and second-class targets at the remainder. -The position at the 200 yards range was standing, and at this distance only one of the Sapphire team figured to any advantage, viz., Marine Hill, who made % capital score of 19 out of a possible 20. The same figure was attained by Volunteer Bowden, of the Victoria team, whose first four shots were bull's eyes, and the fifth a centre. Volunteer C. Cooper and A. Payne made 18 each. The firing at this range caused quite a flutter of excitement among the on-lookers, for on adding up the aggregate scores it was found that tha citizens were no less than 25 points ahead o£ their antagonists. The blue-jackets proceeded to the 300 yards range fully deter-] mined to restore the balance, but their efforts proved abortive, the result being that 2S more points were added to the number by which the Victoria was leading. The besfc shooting at this range was made bj Volunteers E. Cooper and W. H. Hazard. The shooting at the remaining range?, instead of lessening the disparity, in" creased it considerably, the match, eventuating in favour of the home teaa by 91 points. The best score was mada by Marine Hill, viz., 76; and the second test by Volunteer Bowden, 71. At the first ranges the scores of both men were precisely the same, and it was not until they cama to the long distances that the Martini Henry rifle began to shew its superiority over tha Snider in the hands of Vol. Bowden. W*. may mention that this gentleman has mada some really first-class snooting this and we have no doubt' but that he wiMj assume a prominent position in the firing / of M representatives. On the result of the faringM being made known, the men of the Company gave with right good-will threßH| hearty cheers for their opponents, and threag more for the highest scorer—Marine HnMH The sons of "Old £ r ep" lustily the compliment. At the conclusion of firing at the 400 yards distance, a short au"M journment took place, when refreshment* B provided by the Victoria Company er ?lg discussed. The match was throughout by the greatest good-humour an iW| friendliness. Tho scores were as follow. |jg

In giving, the other diy.Jbf narn " ° gentlemen composing th"* inadvertently fell into a _ that Messrs. Henderson selected as emergency - the case. - -

VICTORIA. ., n av) 200 300 400 opO 6w T , yds. yds. yds, pis. yd Vol. Bowden ..19 15 16 U o 69 Vol. Hazard .. 12 18 16 " ,, 6S Vol. B. Cooper .. 14 18 17 ° " S3 Vol. A. Payne ..18 14 13 g ej Vol. C.Cooper ..18 12 » u 63" Vol. Henderson.. 15 15 J? q 3 61 Vol. Mills.. .. 14 15 1» 6 61 Sb.-Lt. Skinner ..15 12 _ — lis U9 122 S3 74 523 SAPPHIRE. 6()0 200 300 400 £>W XL yds. yds- T u 75 Marine Hill .. 19 10 i2 61 Seaman Hall .. 10 J? 12 10 f® Seaman Sogers .. 9 J* ,, 9 12 Seaman Leonard.. 13 }* ,, 9 7 Seaman Mutton.. • I 5 ?r 9 0 Marine Snook .. 1* 1£ r j 4 6 J® Seaman Naah ..18 7 g 2 Sergt. Westway * 5 — — ~ a i3 S 102 7* f 3