NEW ZEALAND RIFLE ASSOCIATION MEETING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8473, 26 January 1891, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND RIFLE ASSOCIATION MEETING.

THE AUCKLANDERS' DOINGS. THEY WIN MOST MONEY. "A" BATTERY WINS TEAMS MATCH. HENDERSON TIES FOR UNION CUP. [by telegraph.—press association.] Napier, Saturday. Another fine day was experienced on Saturday, although during the afternoon the wind blew stronger than was agreeable to the competitors, particularly at the long range. The light in the morning was all that could be desired, but for the greater part of the afternoon it was rather dull. At eight o'clock all the competitors who were not in the first 100 aggregate, and who had not won more than £10 in prizes m any foregoing matches, were squadded to fire off the Last Try Match, 10 shots at 500 yards. Thirty prizes, value £70, were nut down for this event, and the Hawke's j Bay Licensed Victuallers' Association sup- I piemen ted the amount with a donation of £12 12s which was given for Ist paize. The following is the prize list: — LAST TRY MATCH. Mr. W. Pickett. Tenui Rifles, £12 12s ... 44 Bugler Rislier, Wellington Navals, £8 ... 44 Capt. Wilmot, N.Z. Volunteers, £6 ... 43 Sergt. Maddock. Blenheim Rifles, £5 ... 43 Sergt. Johnston, Wanganui C.R., £5 ... 43 Seaman Greener, Wanganui Navals, £4... 41 P.O. Spinlev. l'onsonby Navals, £4 ... 41 Sergeaut Hyders, Dunedin Engineers, £4 40 Trooper Perry, Alexandra Cavalry, £3... 40 Mr. Rule, Ash burton, £3 40 Major Acheson, N.Z. Volunteers, £3 ... 40 Sergeant Gelibie, North Dunedin, £2 ... 40 Major Skinner, N.Z. Volunteers. £2 ... 39 Lieutenant Foster, Wanganui, £2 ... 39 Seaman Holmes, Petone, £2 ... ... 3!) Mr. Weaver, Taradale, £2 39

The following take £1 each : —Mr. Smeaton, Dunedin Ride Club, 39; Private Osborne, Auckland Guards, Ml: Sergeant Frederick, Dunedin, 38 ; Private J. W. Ballinger, Wellington Guards, >8 : Private Thorpe, Wairoa Infantry, 38; Private J.Scott, Christehureh Rifles, 38 ; Captain McKeich, Rifle Club, 37; Sergeant Sandford, Christchurch, 37; Hammond, Reserve Corps, Christchurch, 37; Trooper Chapman, Alexandra Cavalry, 30 ; Private Salek, Ashburton Rifles, 36; Corporal Borough, "H" Battery, Nelson, 36; Private Askew,' Christehureh Rifles, 35; Private Miller. North Dunedin Rifles, 36: Major Donald, Masterton, 36. The following counted out:—Chicken, Napier ; Franklin, [Eustace.

The next match got off was the District Representatives Match—2oo, 500, and 600 yards ; seven shots at each distance ; open to 20 bona fide volunteers from each of the following districts :—Auckland Provincial District; Taranaki, Wanganui, and Napier ; Wellington, Wairarapa, and Masterton: Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland ; Canterbury . Provincial District; Otago and Southland Districts. There were teams from five of the above districts, Nelson standing out. The prizes were : The Exhibition Challenge Shield ; Hobson's Cup; and £20 in money to the winning teams, the shield and cup to be held for one year. The Otago team secured the top place with a respectable score of 1609, made up of 591 at 200 yards, 543 at 500, and 476 at 600. Wanganui stood second on the list with 1593, having made 592 at 200 yards, 543 at 500, and 45S at 000. The shooting for the first two ranges was remarkably close. anganui had a point to the good of Otago at 200 and also at 500 yards. At the short range Auckland and Canterbury put on the same score, and on rising up from the 500 yards there was only a point between them. Otago scored 18 more than Wanganui at the 600 yards, and thus won the match. Auckland, who was in the third place at the finish of the second range, maintained that place, and at the long range out - distanced Canterbury, who was only one behind them at 500 yards by 32. Wellington, who were 31 behind Canterbury at the finish of 500 yards, pulled up considerably at the long ranges, and came within two of taking fourth place. The top score in the match was made by Kruse, of Wanganui, who put. on 92. On returning to camp the victorious team was loudly cheered. The scores were: — DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES MATCH. Otago ... ... 1609 Wanganui 1593 Auckland 1544 Canterbury 1512 Wellington ... ... ... 1510 The following were the individual scorers of the Otago team :— Oakden, 89; Begg, 87 ; King. 87; Montgomery, 87 ; Morrison, 86 ; McGregor, 84 : J. Dickson, S3 ; Murray, 82; Private Hutchinson, 82; Corporal Hutchinson, 81; Martin. 81; Chalmers, 78 Bowman, 78; (J. Fraser, 77; Sontav, 76; Wollett, 75 Wilson, 75; McCarthy, 75; T. Frazer, 74; Cameron, 72. In the earlier part of the day doubts were expressed as to whether the Companies Team Match (200,500, and 600 yards, seven shots at each distance) would come off, owing to the small number of entries. Eventually, however, Captain Somerville decided to get it off, but with greatly reduced prizes. Eight prizes of the value of £150 were set down on the programme for the event, but seeing that there were only nine teams entered for it the amount was reduced to £60—being £30 for the. first team, £20 for second, and £10 for third. It was late in the afternoon when a start was made with the first range, and the 800 yds was not finished till about half-past six o'clock. "A" Battery (Auckland) and Wanganui Rifles were the most fancied, each having a pretty warm team. At the short range Wellington Guards headed the list with 158 ; "F " Battery, Napier, coming next with 155; while Wanganui had to be content vrith third place with 153 ; and "A r ' Battery fourth with 152. At the next range Wanganui and Auckland kept within a point of each other, being first and second with 150 and 149 respectively ; Wellington Guards only put on 140, which threw them back to third place; and "F" Battery broke up, only scoring 126. Going back to the long ranges Wanganui Rifles had two points to the good of "'A" Battery, but the latter made the respectable score of 143 at range and took first money with the grand total of 444. Wanganui did not show up so well, their score of 119 not being in keeping with their performance at the other two ranges. Several of the men went within one of the possible at the two short ranges; Foster, Wanganui, A. Ballinger, Wellington Guards, and Doughty, Auckland, made 43 at 200 yards, while Remington, Wanganui, Webster, Auckland, and Scott, Wellington, recorded a similar number at 500 yards. Towards evening the wind had disappeared entirely, and had the light been better, the possible might have been ' reached in one or two instances. Doughty, A" Battery, Auckland, ran up a rattling score of 99 for three ranges, 34 at 200 yards, 32 at 500; and 33 at 600. At the last distance he made six consecutive bullseyes, and finished up with a magpie. Webster (Auckland) and W. Ballinger (Wellington) were the next highest scorers for the three ranges, with 92. The "A" Battery's total would have been several points higher had Parslow not broken down at the last range, where lie could not make more than 20. Bunting, of the Wellington team, also burst up at 600 yards, making 14 after going back from last range, with the respectable total of 61. At last year's meeting an "A" Battery team carried off the same ovent, their score on that occasion being 447. The following are the scores : —

companies' teams match. " A " Battery, Auckland, £30. Corporal Doughty 99 Bombardier Webster 92 Gunner Buchanan '' ... 87 Gunner Taylor 87 Sergeant Paralow 79 Total ... .... 444 Wangamri Rifles, £20. Sergeant Remington ... 91 Private Kruse ' 89 Lieutenant Foster 87 Private 'Anderson SI Lieutenant Hughes 74 Total , 422 Wellington Guards, £10. Corporal W. Ballinger 92 * Private Scott ... 88 Private A. Ballinger 88 Private Henry... 77 Private Bunting ... 75 Total ... 420 ' The scores of the other teams were: — Honorary Reserve Corps, Christchurch,4l3;

rl Wellington Navals, 406; "P" Battery, I Napier, 405; Napier Rifles, 382; North Dunedin Rifles, 369; Hastings Rifles, 298. At 6.30 the final stage, ten shots 700 yards, for the Union S.S. Co.*B cup was commenced. This had been looked forward to with great interest all day, and in addressing the twenty competitors Captain Sommerville said he looked upon the match as one of the most important on the programme, .and the rules and regulations in regard to firing would have to be strictly adhered to. The evening was very calm, but the light was the worst that lias been met ' with at the meeting. To this fact several of the men who were well up on the list attribute their failure to put on anything like a score. Private Kruse, Wanganui Rifles was the top of the aggrogates with 210, and making 31 at the final range, brought his grand total up to 241. Gunner Webster, " A " Battery, Auckland, who held second position on the list with 207, made a big try for the trophy, but,_ with 33, could only get within one of Kruse. The next man on the list was Sloane, Victoria, also starting with 207, but ho put on one less than Webster. What might be termed a piece of bad luck happened to Sloane at this range. His two sighters were a centre and an outer, but he declined to take them, and his subsequent score showed that the decision on his part lost him two points, and perhaps lost him the trophy, for lie was only two points behind Henderson

and Kruse. Henderson, "A" Battery, Auckland, made 35 at the final stages, and this brought him up from fourth place to a tie with Kruse for first place. These two men had to fire three shots each, to determine the winner of the trophy. Henderson went first, but apparently through nervousness fired at the wrong target. The marker showed an outer (2), but of course it was disallowed. Kruse replied with an inner, and Henderson's second shot was a magpie. The black disc came up after Kruse's second shot, and with one shot each to go lie was three ahead. Henderson finished up with an inner, making a total of seven. Kruse then only required to hit the target to take the trophy, and this he just succeeded in doing. He was loudly cheered as the black disc showed up. King (Oamaru) was looked upou as having a very good show, but he could not overtake the leaders, and Eales (Victoria), who won the Cup last year, and whom many thought would just about take it this time, broke completely down in the final, only making IS out of a possible 50. The light appeared to puzzle him very much, and his first four shots were off the target altogether. Sergeant Perry (Alexandra Cavalry), who was low down the aggregate list, made the top score of 39 in the final. Private A. Ballinger (Wellington Guard) and Parslow ("A" Battery), who were in the first twenty, did not fire. The following were the highest scores among those who fired off : — UNION S.S. COMPANY'S CUP. Private Kruse, Wanganui. Rifles ... . 241 Gunner Henderson, "A" Battery 241 Bombardier Webster, ''A - ' Battery ... 240 -Mr. Sloane, Yarrawonga Rifle Club ... 239 Bandsman King, Oamaru 236 Sergeant Perry, Alexandra Cavalry ... 233

So far the Auckland district has taken the bulk of the prize money, the amount of its representatives' winnings being about £200. The highest amounts won by individual competitors up to the present are : Webster, Auckland, £34 ; Kruse, Wanganui, £26 ; McCallum, Auckland, £22 ; Wakling, Christehureh, £22 ; Doughty, Auckland, £20 ; Taylor, Auckland, £20 ; Perry, Wanganui, £1S ; Sloane, Victoria, £18 ; Bunting, Wellington, £18; A. Ballinger, Wellington, £18; Weir, Thames, £17; King, Oamaru, £16 ; Oakden, Dunedin, £14. Some of the Southern competitors left for their homes by to-day's steamer, and others leave by to-morrow morning's train. The Intercolonial, Parliamentary, Press, Running Man, and Continuous matches were abandoned. The Grand Aggregate match, open to the hundred highest aggregate scorers in certain matches, will be fired tomorrow morning, and at two o'clock sharp the final stage for the Championship will begot off. The result should be known in the various parts of the colony about halfpast four p.m. It has been decided that the next meeting of the Rifle Association will be held the first week in March, 1892. A long discussion took place upon the subject of rifle clubs, and on the motion of Lieutenant Ross it was resolved that in the future members of rifle clubs having membership roll of 20 be allowed to shoot for the belt, providing they appear in uniform. A similar resolution was passed at last annual meeting, but it only, held good for this ' year's competition. Captain Somerville has a proposition which he will put before the Council on Monday, and that is, that the Champion Belt after this gathering bo done with, and a trophy of the value of about £50 be presented to the champion shot at each meeting instead of his holding the Belt for a year ; in the event of this being carried the Belt will probably be presented to the Colonial Museum at Wellington. [by TELEGRAPH. — CORRESPONDENT.] Napier, Saturday. All the forenoon and part of the afternoon was taken up with the District Representatives Match. The Auckland scores were:—Kelly, 87; McCarthy, 86; McCallum, 85; Taylor, S3; Haultain, 83; Doughty, 82 ; Webster and Parslow, 81 ; Henderson, 79; E. Buchanan, Tiffen, of Gisborne, and Tobin, 78 ; Greenshields, 77 ; Weir and Cooper, 70 ; Shepherd, 75 ; Craig, 74 ; Osborne, 62 ; Skinner, 61 ; Spinley, 60 ; total, 1544. The " A " Battery was the only team we had in for the Teams Match, and the splendid shooting they made is a feature of the meeting. Doughty only left the bulls eye once at each range, making 18 bulls out of 21 shots. The ten shots at 700 yards, to decide the Union S.S. Company's Cup were fired late in the evening, almost in the dark, and resulted in a tie between Henderson ("A" J3attery), and Kruse (Wanganui). In firing off the tie Henderson made nine for his three shots, and Kruse 8. But one of Henderson's shots being fired on the wrong target wa3 disallowed, and Kruse gets the cup, although beaten by a point. Webster was only one point behind, and McCallum, Taylor, and Buchanan some points away. The Grand Aggregate and the Championpionship are to be fired off on Monday morning, and the camp will be broken up and tents struck in the afternoon. Most of the men return via the West Coast, arriving in Auckland on Sunday, Ist February.