SECOND SET, SKIRMISHING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1063, 13 April 1872, Page 3

SECOND SET, SKIRMISHING.

At a single target 6x2 feet, centre two feet across target. Competitors to fall in as skirmishers in extended order, a target being opposite each at an unknown distance. They w 11 fire at such distances, advancing and i'etiring, as may be directed by sound of bugle. After ten minutes, firing to cease. Position, any. No trial shot. One point for each hit to be added to score. Ties to be fired off shot for shot, at unknown distance appointed by the commanding officer. Ist prize, £12 ; 2nd do, £9 ; 3rd do, £8 ; 4th do, £7 ; sth do, £5 ; 6th do, £4 ; 7th do, £3 ; Bth do, £2.

To the spectators this was the most interesting match which has been fired yet. The men were divided into squads of ten each, and each squad in turn extended across the range, each man having a numbered target opposite him. Their movements were then directed by bugle, and each had to fire as many shots as he could in any position, and during the time given. The targets were afterwards examined, and the number of points recorded by them taken as the score of the man opposite each. The centre counted 3 and the outer 2, one being added to the score for each hit, The highest number of shots fired by any competitor during the six minutes actually allowed for firing was, we believe, twenty-four, by Hoskins ; but a large number of competitors managed to fire from twenty to twenty-two shots each. The squads fell in at about 250 yards trom the targets, and on the " commence firing " being sounded, they began ; 60 seconds afterwards the " retire " sounded, and they had to stop firing and retire for 50 seconds. Then " commence firing " again sounded, and they had 60 seconds allowed before the "advance" was sounded. They then advanced for 70 seconds, fired for 60 seconds, retired for 40 seconds, fired for 60 seconds, advanced for 80 seconds, and then fired for the remaining two minutes. Anyone firing after the "cease firing" sounded forfeited a centre, and one or two of the competitors incurred the penalty, and had to pay it. An error of a rather unfortunate character occurred in regard to this match. The first squad was ordered to stand up until the "commence firing" first sounded, but the other squads were allowed to assume any position in readiness to fire on the first sound of the bugle. The order to stand up given to the first squad was evidently given inadvertently, as the conditions of the match allowed any position. After the last squad had fired, Captain M'Parland, on behalf of himself and. the other members o* the first squad, represented to Colonel Harington the disadvantage at which they had been placed by the improper order given, and they asked to be allowed to fire over again. Colonel Harington admitted that the men should not have been ordered to stand, but said they ought to have known the conditions of the match themselves, and have drawn his attention to them at the time. After some discussion the matter was referred to the full staff, and it was decided that no alteration could then be made. This error did not affect the position of the winners in the actual match, but it is quite possible that it may affect some of the aggregate scores by which the championship is decided. It will be a very unsatisfactory affair if such proves to be the case. The shooting in this match was of the most excellent character. Last year, Reid, of Otago, won the skirmishing match under precisely the same conditions with a score of 50. This year the winning score is 69, the lowest prize score 60, and there are twenty-one scores above 50. The following are the scores :—: —

Cowie and Muir having" tied at 61, had to shoot off for fourth and fifth places. Cowie secured the fourth by a bull's-eye, Muir making a miss. For the eighth prize, Wales and Partington tied at 60, and in firing off, the former made a bull's-eye to the latter's outer.

THIRD DAY, APRIL 4l'H. 4th set.

Range 3 400, 500, and 600 yards ; seven shots at each range. Position, any. No trial shot. Targets 6x6 feet, centre 4 feet, bullseye 2 feet square. Ties decided by general regulations. Ist prize, £20 ; 2nd do, £16 ; 3rd do, £14 ; 4th do, £12 ; sth do, £10 ; 6th do, £7 ; 7th do, £6 j Sth do, £5 ; 9th do, £5 j 10th do, £5. .

The ten first-named took the prizes in the order in which they are placed. The shooting throughout the match was very good, At the two first ranges there was scarcely a breath of wind, but a few gusts occurred while the third range was being shot, and the three last rounds were fired in a drizzling rain, which somewhat interfered with the shooting. This match is considered the principal event of the meeting, and it will be seen that the prizes in it have been pretty fairly distributed over the Cclouy, although Canterbury was not fortunate enough to obtain any of them. Otago took four, Auckland one, Taranaki one, Wellington three, and a Constabulary representative one.

Christchurch, April 6th. 7th match.

Eanges, 200, 500, and 600 yards. Prizes.— lst, £12; 2nd, £9; 3rd, £8; 4th, £7; sth, £5; 6th, £4; 7th, £3; Bth, £2.

The following are the prize-takers, in their order : —

Chrtstohubch, April Bth. The morning was wet, but the d#y turned out a very fine one.

6th match— rapidity*

Bth match.-— running,

Range, 200 yards. ]st prize, £12 ; 2nd, £9 ; 3rd, £8 ; 4th, £7 ; sth, £5 j 6th, £4 ; 7th, £3 ; Bth, £2. Carter, Wellington 51 Marshall, Otago 39 Christie, Otago 38 Buchanan, Otago 38 Churton, Wellington 37 Duncan, Wellington 37 Curtis, Taranaki 36 Moore, Wilson, Todd, and Taylor tied for eighth place with 35 points. They fire off to-morrow. A protest was entered against Carter on the ground that he had not fired the 13 shots shown on his target. The protest was disallowed, as there was no direct evidence of the fact. Col. Harington, however, said the Staff had no moral doubt that Carter had not fired 13 shots.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP. The ten highest aggregate scores for the Championship were :—: —

The following are the prizes awarded to the five highest aggregate scorers :—: —

Ist highest — The Champion Belt (to be worn by the winner until the next competition), Gold Medal, and £50. 2nd— N.R. A. Silver Medal, and £35.

3rd— Silver Medal and £30. 4th — Silver Medal and £25. sth— Silver Medal and £20.

Name, | | J „. 3o£ w £ Private Hoskins, Auckland 36 14 50 19—69 Private Brown, Otago ... 39 10 49 18—67 Private Reid, Otago ... 36 12 4S 18—66 Private Cowie, Otago ... 39 847 17—64 Lieutenant Muir, Otago ... 39 8 47 17—64 Sergeant Innes, Canterbury 36 10 46 17 — 63 Corpl. Carter, Wellington 30 14 44 17—61 Captain Wales, Otago ... 36 544 16-60 Priv. Partington, Auckland 17 16 43 17—60 Private Fox, Canterbury... 17 14 41 16—57 Priv. Humfries, Taranaki. 27 12 39 15—54 Private Gray, Wellington 27 12 39 15—54 Private Greer, Wellington 27 12 39 15—54 Sergeant Blatch, Otago ... 27 12 39 15—54 Private Key, Otago ... 24 14 38 15-53 Sgt. Cameron, Canterbury 33 639 14—53 Colour-Sergt. Chamberlain, Westland 30 8 3S 14—52 Sergeant Wilson, Otago ... 21 16 37 15—52 Private Soper, Marlborough 30 8 38 14—52 Priv. Churton, Wellington 39 0 39 13—52 Private Buchanan, Otago... 27 10 37 14—51 Lieut. Gulliver, Canterbury 24 12 36 14—50 Priv. Philpotts, Marlboro'. 21 14 35 14—42 .Sergeant Taylor, Otago 1 ... 30 6 36 13—49 I Constable Kelly, A. C. ... 30 636 13—49 Constable Todd, A. C. ... 27 8 35 13-^8 Enag. M 'Donald, Auckland 27 8 35 13—18 Private Oat?s, Wellington 33 2 35 12—47 Private Fenton, Auckland 21 12 33 13—46 Priv. Duncan, Wellington 21 12 33 13—46 Private Henderson, Otago IS 14 32 13-45 Priv. Shepherd, Westland 24 8 32 12—44 Priv. Gordon, Wellington 24 8 32 12—44 Private Paton, Canterbury 24 832 12—44 Corpl. Morrow, Auckland 24 8 32 12—44 Captain Pavitt, Canterbury 27 4 31 11—42 Ensign Close, Napier ... 18 12 30 12—42 Priv. Sutton, Malborough 24 6 30 11—41 Captain Macfarland, Otago 15 14 29 12—41 Lieutenant Marshall, Otago 24 6 30 11—41 Constable Harrison, A.C. 21 829 11—40 Private Payne, 'Auckland... 21 829 11—40 Private Christie, Otago ... 15 12 27 11—38 Constable Wiley, A.C. ... 24 428 10 -38 Private Moore, Auckland... 9 16 25 11—36 Captain Hamlin, Auckland 12 12 24 10—34

Private Lean, Otagd ,„ 15 10 25 Private Dixon, Otago ...2ft 223 Private Coleinan, Auckland 18 4 22 Enßign Curtis, Taranaki ... 15 021 Priv. Snodgrass, Auckland 6 14 20 Lieut. F.Greer, Wellington 6 14 20 Private M'Laren, Otago... 12 8 20 3orpl. Bassett, Wellington 12 4 16 Lieut. tiddeM, Wellington 6 6 12 Private Skene, Wesfknd 0 4 4 9-34 B—3l *-30 H—29 9—29 9—29 B—2B 6—22 5—17 1— 6

400 500 600 Tl Muir ... 4432344 3323444 3344023—66 Christie ... 3334433 3324344 323322^—64 Gray ... 3443323 2234332 2332434—62 Kelly ... 4334334 4303343 4240242—62 Moore ... 4034334 3334434 4303232—62 M'Farland... 3244432 4444433 0430320—60 Gordon ... 2343243 0423322 3342334—59 Humfries ... 3334334 3224303 2343230—59 Bassett ... 4432344 4323032 2334420—59 Wales ... 4434324 4303323 2333402—59 Philpotts ... 3233043 2434340 3423403—57 Taylor ... 3224434 3404432 2302430—56 Liddell ... 3324333 0430434 2232323—56 Dickson ... 3433403 2223323 3433222—56 Cowie ... 2333343 0233344 0342033—55 Gulliver ... 3233334 3023342 2240324—55 S. Greer ... 3323444 3442230 0222323—55 Blatch ... 3443434 3233322 2023023—55 Hoskins ... 3433423 2323343 0043222-55 Harrison ... 4244434 2332430 0224200—54 M'Laren ... 0323232 0433334 2433303—53 Eeid 3434343 2233243 3030220—53 Partington... 4424344 0440343 0320302—53 Buchanan ... 4343434 4333243 0000032—52 Key 2224334 3424344 2002040—52 Chamberlain 0343323 4223243 4032032—52 Carter ... 3230224 3233232 2223423—52 Brown .. 3444324 2244320 0332030—52 P. Grcer . . 4434444 0223332 0302202—51 Shepherd ... 4323344 0034333 0032322—51 Marshall ... 2334234 2433402 0340302—51 Hamlin ... 4234342 4022333 3023003—50 Soper ... 3443303 4220033 2030344—50 Churton ... 4333434 0042433 0024220—50 Lean ... 2402033 3432330 0304332—50 Oates ... 4333433 2203222 2323300—49 Innes 2333343 3330333 0030223—49 M'Donald ... 4233243 2220420 0240324-48 Wilson ... 3222443 0434333 0042002—48 Morrow ... 3322032 4323233 3333000—47 Close ... 3023323 2430040 3023323—45 Wiley .. 2433032 2323220 0433022—45 Payne ... 0232404 3334322 0200323—45 Fqjc ... 4333423 2003032 3300303—44 Curtis ... 4304232 43340r2 3400003-44 Pavitt ... 2333r43 e4r3223 0222240— 44 Paton ... 3424333 2300233 0202023—44 Duncan ... 4404343 3220033 3220002—44 Henderson... r-133343 24r3223 00e2203— 43 Sutton ... 2330320 3342323 2024200—43 Cameron ... 0423434 0032334 4000022—43 Fenton ... 2330032 4423433 0034000—43 Snodgrass ... 2230343 2233233 2003030—43 Skene ... 0322033 2233302 0430033—41 Todd ... 3332234 2332023 0220000—39 Coleman ... 2224300 0000022 0030222—26

Coleman, Auckland 64 Soper, Marlborough 63 Humfries, Taranaki 63 Lean, Otago 62 Gray, Wellington 62 Bassett, Wellington 1 62 M'Farland, Otago 61 Wilson, Otago 61 The scores of the other Otago men were as follows :—: — Buchanan 60 Wales 59 Blatch 57 Taylor 57 Cowie 57 Key 56 Christie 55 Dixon 55 Reid 54 Henderson 50 Brown 49 M'Laren 48 Mnir .' 46 Marshall , 45

Range, 200 yards. Ist prize, £10 ; 2nd, £8 ; 3rd, £6 ; 4th, £5 ; sth, £3 j 6th, £2. The folio-wing are the pxiae takers ;—; — Wales, Otago „,, 65 Taylor, Otago » „.,., 62 Duncan, Wellington 60 Cowie, Otago 60 Gray, Wellington 59 Fenton, Auckland 59 The following are the scores of the other Otago men :—: — Marshall 58 M'Laren 53 Muir 52 Blatch 48 Key 40 Wilson 45 Macfarlarid 43 Henderson 42 Reid 41 Buchanan 38 Dickson „.«„.,, ; 38 Lean ...,„,.,„.„.,« 37 Brown „«,.,.. 35 Christie „,„ 32

Wales '6m Carter 314 Hoskins 306 Taylor 301 Muir 300 Gray 298 Cowie 297 Kelly 296 Philpots 290 Humfries 290 Wales was loudly cheered, and warmly joneratulated.