RIFLE SHOOTING AND VOLUNTEERING

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1667, 10 February 1904, Page 22

RIFLE SHOOTING AND VOLUNTEERING

SEELEY CUP COMPETITION.

The final competition-jbliis year for the Seeley Cup was fired at,‘JPolhill Gully on Fxidaiv morning, Private. again, being top scorer. He scores. d; win ior the cup (having secured the highest aggregate) and receives a gold ; liiedal. This cup was presented te the Guards for competition about sdveh years ago by Major John Edward BerhsLrd Seeley when touring New Zealand. Major Seeley, who has been M.P. for the Isile of Wight since 1900, is one of the most prominent Volunteers in the United Kingdom. When tne Boer war broke out he went to South Africa in command of the Hampshire Contingent of the Imperial Yeomanry, arid received the D.S.O. for his services. 'He, also takes a great interest in lifeboat, work, having on several occasions pulled an oar in the Brooke lifeboat to vessels in distress, and has helped to save eeieral lives.

If the Cup is won twice m succession or three times at intervals it becomes the property of the winner, and when that happens Major Seeley has promised another trophy. V'jV This year the conditions . were—Three matches at 500 and 600ydis ,and three at 600 and 700yds, two matches only in each series counting for the aggregate. Private jpacey’s score of 240 out of a possible 280 is a splendid performance, it being sixteen over an average of "inner's,’’ the value of each shot being 4.2 out of 5. Private Tinney, the runner-up, and Private Raven third, both got over the average of “inners” also. Private Aamodt, the fourth man, got six below the "in- * v ner” average, but taking the aggregate of the four men named, it works out at 16 over an average of "inners”—a curious coincidence. This team, should do credit to any company of volunteers if it J was sent to a rifle meeting. Tinney, the runner-up, won the Cup last year, and had he been. successful this time the. prize would have been his own. The only member who has won the Cup twice is Private Aamodt, the fourth man. Yesterday’s range scores were:—

" ranfurly cup competition.

The “fire off” between the ZeaJandia - and College Rifles for the Ranfurly Cup took place at Polhill Gully on Saturday aflter,noon. Lieut-Cokmal Cbtflins was again in charge. The conditions for;the "ehioot-off were—One section of six men per company; three volleys at 500 yards. On the targets being examined after the corps had fired it was found that another draw had resulted, there being ten hits cn each target. The companies then fired aigain, the same conditions prevailing. This tim« the Zealand ias proved successful, scoring the possible—lß points-£he College men making 13i This win is a fecprd for'New Zealand—if not th© world. It may be mentioned. that the' Zealand!a team was not a picked one, thus making the win much more creditable. The

... Zealandia Rifles were represented by ... tniraiber 2 section, and were as follow: •ASergeant Harold Rogers, Corporal Richards, Privates Smart. Wilson, Hanford, > Bellampre and Ovenend,.

KARORI CLUB.

This club fired the second of a series of five matches for Messrs Gascoyne’s and Benrya* trophies on Saturday. Ranges 500 and 700 yards. The weather was splendid, and the wind, though light was tricky. There was a good attendance, and a keen, competition was the result, H. Marshall compiling a useful 60. The following were the best scores:

: - . ' PETONE CLUB. (Fine wealthier favoured the Petone Rifle Club on Saturday last, when the usual Weekly shooting tor trophies and aggregate took place. J. Wilson, who is in ' . ygiood form, secured first honours, which ■ ifoaa placed him in the lead for the aggregate shield. Captain Hobbs ran him very close, with a steady sqira of 84. • Principal score®: • 600 700

* . The first four soared wihs for tropMes. W. ' Ballinger finally wins the Ludwig trophy. ■ •• ; ; GUARDS v. CITY RIFLES. 1 The second match between these com-' .■ paniea ;for-thoi Xhrthie Cup tpok place on ' Saturday at Poihill Gully. The condiUohs were— soo and 600 yards; seven shots at each range; ten men a -side. The • match resulted a win for the Guards by-48 points, making awn company. There is one more jgatch to bo fijped, which; takes place next jqqnth. The . Opiarjpe scoring a win on that on will , • ew>ure the cup, the conditions Bein'? two Whfis out of three;' Followxiig' were the :;»core3 ihad.e ou ; Sati'rday:‘u ■ 7 •• ' •: nr.m-.'j

GUARDS,

POST AND RIFLES

Firing for theI*"Baillenstein 1 *"Baillenstein Cup and the Post and Tdlegraph Rifle Company s Belt took place atiTrentham on Saturday The conditions were 10 shots at 200 and 500 yards. Scores:

A CLASS

C CLASS.

Competition prizes were won by Sergeant Johnstone, Private Bolton, Private Shiifch and Sergeant Milne in A Class; Sergeant Combs, Lieutenant E&son, Private Highet, B Class; Private McGill, Private Baskiville and Corporal Gamble in C Class. . Cup aggregates—A Class, Private Smith, 202; B Class, Private Highet, 162; C CHara, Corporal Gamble, 121. Best aggregate—A Class, Private Smith, 202. In A Class Private Bolton, who was leading for ‘ the Cup and Belt in the first two matches, withdrew his scores, as his transfer did not come along in time to allow of their being counted. In B Class, Sergeant Combs is two matches in arraar. In C Class, Privates Banks (one) and Gillies (two) in arrear. In addition to the above, a match was fired between the officers and 1 non-coms. v. privates, resulting in a win for the for mer by the narrow margin of four points Appended were the scores:

OFFICERS AND NON-COMS. 200 500

PRIVATES.

WELLINGTON NAVALS IN CAMP.

For the purpose of testing the efficiency of the' Garrison Artillery and the electric light plant the forts in the vicinity of Kanaka Bay were manned for action on Saturday night. Orders were issued to the Permanent Artillery and No. 4 Company Garrison Artillery Volunteers (Wellington Navals) to be ready for all night duty on Saturday. The Janie Seddon wao ordered out to represent a hostile vessel trying to enter the harbour while the forts were being manned. General Babingbon, accompanied by Staff Officer Major Moore and Captain Campbell; proceeded aboard the “ hostile" vessel at 7.45 to witness the manoeuvres from the side of the enemy. The men were divided into two reliefs, Colonel Campbell being fire commander of the first relief, Lieut, Pilkington, of the R.N.Z.A., having 7 charge of the second. Lookouts were posted at Dorset Point (off Seatoun), and every gun detachment had a special man for this duty as well. • Three attempts were made by the enemy to enter the harbour during the night. In the first place the invaders endeavoured to raid the town by attacking the hai> hour in a manner that might be adopted bv a torpedo boat. This attempt was made at about 10 o’clock. The second attempt of the enemy to do-damage was made at about 11 p.m., the xOi signer this time trying to destroy <the minefield. The third and last attempt of the enemy to take Wellington was'ihade in the small hours of the morning in the form of_a cruiser endeavouring to f run past the forts and shell the town;-: A liberal allowance of ammunition was served out to tire guns, the night firing being a new experience for the Volunteers. The

ranks showed very keen, interest in the operations, the work being novel as well as interacting. Formerly it was the aim of the Wellington Naval officers to ‘'school” a section of their corps with a view to winning the annual gunnery competition at which ali the garrison corps take, part. The regulations now in force do away with this, the object now m view being the efficiency of the corps as a whole, and not merely a portion. Master-Gunner Richardson, of the Permanent Artillery, lias arranged a number of model targets in front of the guns representing ships which, are worked on wires, by which means gun-layers have always got a moving target to “lay” on. Before these contrivances were put up the gun-layer had to “lay” on imaginary targets if .it happened that there were no boats to be seen in the bay.

On Saturday afternoon no drill was held at the forte, the men being exempted from duty in view of the all night parade coming on. Advantage of tnis was taken to carry out a programme of sports, the officers presenting a number of prizes for competition. The results were as follow: —Cigar and Umbrella Race (swimming)—P.O. Calnan.l; Gunner Trevor, '2. Walking Greasy Pole— P.O. Cain an, 1; Gunner Trevor, 2. R.P. Race (up a. hill and back, about one mile a.nd a half)—Gunner Baker, 1; Gunner Weller, 2; Gunner Jansen, 3, Neatest Header —P.O. James, 1; Lieutenant Denniston, 2. Bicycle Race—Gunner Palmer, 1. Swimming Race—Gunner Taylor, 1; ex-P.O. Johnson, 2; P.O. F. Smith. 3. Comic Diving—Gunner Trevor, 1; P.O.’s James and Griffiths (tie), 2. N.A.V. Swimming Race—Gunners Bruce and Owler (tie), 1. Ladies’ Bracelet (swimming, ex - P.O. Davenport’s trophy— P.O. Smith, 1; Gunner Parker, 2. Tug-of-War —Permanent Artillery v. Navals—won by Permanent Artillery. The Gingun squad won the detachment tug-of-war.

The annual cutter race between No. 1 and No. 2 Companies for P.O. Davenport’s cup was rowed, and resulted in a win for No. 1 Company’s cutter (P.O. McKav). This was a hard struggle, P.O. Griffiths’s crew being only about a quarter of a length benind the winners. Fallowing arc the names of the successful crew : P.O. McKay (coxswain), P.O. Churmside (Stroke), Sleath, Gilchrist, F. Smith, D. Smith, Francis, F. Jansen, A. Roberts, McGregor, D. McKay.

THE BATTALION.

The First Battalion Wellington Rifles paraded at tlie Drills'hed on. Sunday, and proceeded in the Loyalty to Seatoun to undergo the annual encampment. On arrival at Seatoun a guard and picket were to,ld off and the work of tent pitching was started. At 6.30 tlie men were paraded, and the camp orders read over to them. Three hundred and eighty-nve men are in camp; tnis, out of a total oi 480, is considered a record muster..

' Lieutenant Charters, who lias been elected captain of the Masterbon. Rifles, was at one time an officer m the Keiburne Rifles, and more recently m the Wellington Engineers. He served in South Africa. - The Ivarori Club has secured the services of ex-Quarterm a-ster-Sergeant L. Kruse, late of Wanganui, an ex-belt-win-ner. He has for the last few years been in retirement.

600 M700 yds nydfl hli. Tl. Pyt. Lacey ... 31 ..W27 sc — 58 Pvt. Aamodt • ... 29 3**26 sc — 55" Pyt. Watson ... 25 >’19 9 — 53 Sgt. Tinney; ... 26 24 sc — 50 aggeegates. . 500 and 600 and 600yds 700yds Tl. Pvt. Lacey :i. 62, 64 56, 58 - 240 Pvt. Tinney ... 50, 58 61, 60 — 229 Pvt. Eaven ... 60, 56 56, 53 — 225 Pvt. Aamodt ... 54, 55 54, 55 — 218

500 700 > ' ' ' . yds. yds T1 H. Marshall ... ... 34 26 —.60 Ft Standidga 29 • -25 — 54 W. Aston ... ; ... 31 21 — 52 01 Kmse . ... ... ... 31 21 — 52 J. Burns 29 :: 21 — 50 R. Randell ... ... ... 28 22 — 50

'V yds. yds. Hdcp. Tl. J. Wilson ' ... ... 48 38 .. so — 86 Captain Hobbs ... 44 40* -ec — 84 W. Croft ... ... 83 — 82 W.’ Ballinger; ... 40 41 <*•" sc. — 81 J; Kyle ... ... 37 88j i 1 ■: 3 • 4 — V8 W; Thomas: ... 40 34 4 — 78 07 E. HoMard , ... 38 32[. P , 1: . ,6 — 76 . A.r Ballinger , ... 37 37 s so — 74 I). Wilson ... ... 35 it ' 21 — 73 C. Trevethick.. ... 34 36 sc — 70 - W. Judd . 86 '28 6 — 70

500 600 yds. yds. Tl. Private Lacey ... ... 32 29 — 61 Sergeant Tirney . 29 30 — 59 Private Macaskill ■ 30 27 — 57 Private H. Jones .(ft >'■ ... 32 25 — 57 Private H, R avoir +3; ... 29 27 56 Sergeant Holland iqov ••• 30 26 — 56 Private ' q... 31 24 — 55 Corporal (1 J'Opea,;,, ... Private Aannod't’ ...' ... 33 22 — 55 31 21 — 52 Private Stevenson ... 26 CITY RIFLES. 22 — 48 556 Sergeant Wood 28 30 — 58 Corporal A. J. Jackson... ' 33 24 — 57 Sergeant Tullock 24 31 — 55 Feasey' 30 25 — 55 Private W. M. Jackson, jr 26 28 — -54 Private G. Hams 29 25 — 54 Private Westwood 27 24 — 51 Private W. M. Jackson, sr 28 19 — 47 CplourMSergeant Davis ... 19 24 — 43 Private Hook 15 18 — c3 tor

200 500 Tl. Hdcp. yds-. ryds. Pvt. Smith — 41 ‘40 — 81 Lieut. Barton ... — 41 34 — 75 Q.M.-Sergt. Carmine — 40 32 — 72 Sergt. Maine ... — 38 39 — 77 Sergt. Johnstone... 5 39 40 — 84 Oorpll. Collins ... 3 31 "~35 — 69 Private Withers 5 35 36 — 76 Lance-Corpl. Eagles 5 34 31 — 70 Pvt. Bolton ... — B CLASS. 39 42 — 81

Pvt. Highjet ... — 37 26 — 63 PVt. Chant ... ... — 38 23 — 61 Lieut. Esson ... ... 3 34 28 — 65 Sergt. Combs ... 6 33 30 — 69

Corpl. Gamble 5 28 27 — 60 Pvt. Baslciville —■ 35 34 — 69 Pvt. Beasley 10 22 15 — 47 Pvt. Banks ... 8 23 21 —- 52 Pvt/ McGill 5 32 36 — 73 Pvt. Gillies 3 34 21 — 1 58 Pvt. Lamb 8 23 13 — 44 Pvt. Brackenridfee... 10 18 16 — 44

- '. - yds. yds. Tl. Sergt. Jolinistane ... ... 39 ‘40 — 79 Sergb. Mi'l no ... 38 39 — 77 Lieut. Hatton ... 41 34 — 75 Q.M.-Sergt. Carmine ... 40 32 — 72 Corpl. Collins ... ... 35 31 — 66 Sergt Com,be ... ... 33 30 — 63 Lieut. Esson ... 34 28 — 62 Corpl. Gamble ... 28 27 — 55 Lance-Corpl. Beasley ... 22 15 — 37 310 276 — 586

Pvt. Bolton • •• ... 39 42 — 81 Pvt. Smiith ... ... 4*1 40 — 81 Pvt. With,ora ... 35 36 — 71 Pvt. Baslciville ... 35 34 — 69 Pvt. Eagpliea ... • •• ... 34 31 65 Pvt. Highet ... ... 37 26 — 63 Pvt. Chant •••» ... 38 23 — 61 Pvt. Gillies ...- 34 21 — 55 Pvt. Lamb ... ... 23 , 13 — 36 ft - ■ 316 266--582