THE WIMBLEDON RIFLE MEETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1189, 12 September 1874, Page 7

THE WIMBLEDON RIFLE MEETING.

We extract the following account of the Wimbled mi Rifle Meeting from the Pall Mall Gazette of July 11th :—: —

There was a good sprinkling of visitors in the camp yesterday afternoon. The number might have appeared less than usual, but there is now so much more room in the most frequented parts of the camp that the crowds of former years must not be expected. A saunter through the regimental camps is more enjoyable tlnn it has ever been before. Tho camps are not so huddled together, and all of them have a good square parj.de ground. There is no lack of Hags, flowers, and shrubs, and the absence of the black dust of the old Strathnairn Road, now no longer used, loaves the tents as white as snow. The only regimental camp missed this year is the St. George's, but the men of the other corps in camp are rather more numerous than last year. The Victorias, London Rifle Brigade, London Scottish, and Ist Surrey have nearly their old sites, but more space. The other corps are not so easily found, but if a visitor provides himself with the Volunteer Service Gazette, published daily in the camp, he will find a plan of the ground and an itinerary of the camp which will give him all the information he can require. The Canadian Camp is close to the Iron House, and the men who are lodged there have made their quarters as comfortable and as pretty as any camp on the common. There ia the ustial display of gorgeous tent 3, luxurious furniture, and c atly plants and flowers in the members' camp, and Lady Dude's delightful marquees and garden are again the favourite lounge of the visitors who are tired of watching the shootingi and prefer listening to the capital band of the Victoria Bines and see tho arrivals and departures at the Cottage. The heat was very oppressive yesterday, and tho friendly shade of the Large umbrella tent was sought for till the sun had lost a little of its power. Steward's thermometer registered 84. in the shade, There is every prespecfc of a dry fortnight.

The shooting was all got through in due time, and there was no hitch in the marking. The new system of scoring is liked by the competitors, and the plan of shooting off the

only fair way of finding out the best shots, and the man who loses, as well as the winner, feels satisfied. There was only one subject suggested by a visit to the firing points, to which the attention of the Council should be called, and that ia whether kilt 3 are a proper shooting costume for Wimbledon. The rule at present specially mentions kilts as being proper uniform, but on what reasonable ground it is hard to conceive. Hythe position in short petticoats was bad enough, but "any position" is several degrees worse. The dress is as barbaric as the bagpipes, and as to its being the costume of Scotchmen, every one knows that more kilts are to be seen at the Wimbledon Camp than in any of the principal towns of Scotland. The subject is not one to dwell upon, bub if the Council heard the remarks-made at the firing points by the spectators they would seriously consider their rule on the subject. The shooting of tho 110 yards, with sporting rifles, went on pretty briskly all day, but no remarkable scores were made. The target is a disc twelve inches in diameter with a bull's-eye of three inches. Competitors may enter any number of times on payment of 2d Gd for the five shots. Lord cle Grey yesterday with a double-barrelled rifle made 14 points, Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm 19, and Edward Ross 16. The best score at the first two ranges for the Queen's was made by Private Yonng, Ist Herts, who scored 30 at 200 and 33 at 500 yards, the highest possible score at each range being 35 points. The best score, 61 points, in the Alexandra 500 aud COO yards, was made by W. Ilig'iy. For the Curtis and Harvey prize Colour-Sergeant Pigott, Cambridge University, and Captain L3'sons, 19th Lynn, stood first, with 34 points each. The targets begin to look very much out of shape, and at the close of the firing yesterday all trace of the concentric circles as marked on the original targets had disappeared, and some of the 200 yards carton targets were not workable owing to the warping of the wooden frames or the splintering of the wood by bullets. At half-past eleven to-day the thermometer had already reached eighty-eight degrees in the shade, but the heat was in some degree tempered by a west wind. The contest for the Silver Medal, which is as good a test as any to try the progress made by the rank and file of the volunteer force in shooting with the Snider, may be pronounced as satisfactory. No actual comparison can be made with the shooting of former years, as the conditions are so different, [but, making due allowances, the shooting is an improvement on former years. The prohibition of coaching has made a wonderful difference in the number of well known names which used to appear in the first sixty, but are now nowhere. The secret is that these men used to "coach" each other in every competition. It was not an uncommon thing to see as many as five ni«n coaching a comrade. Each was supplied with the best of telescopes, and they were severally told off to look out — one on the left, another to the right, and one for short shots or ricochets, while the fifth man polled the shots on a small target by the side of the shooter. It did not matter where his shot went, there was some one to tell him where it had gone. But contrast yesterday. One of the oldest shots at Wimbledon fired at the 600 yards, and missed. "Where's that gone?" said he. His coach would have told him that he was off to the right, and the next shot would have been aimed to the left to correct the mistake. Bat yesterday he had to giess where his shot had gone, and his judgment so far misled him as to make him miss every shot. This is not an imagined nor yet an isolated case, and the soundness of the rule against coaching is proved to demonstration. The medal was won by Corporal Young, Ist Herts, with 87 points out of a possible 105. The next man was 81. On looking over the list of the sixty winners of badges in the first stage of the Queen's, it is gratifying to find that the oldest corps in the service, which has so often been pronounced effete, and talked of as being too gentlemanly to be useful, has three meu in the sixty, a success achieved by no other corps of the same numerical strength. The Honourable Artillery Company, and Captain Field, their musketry instructor, were heartily congratulated yesterday, and there wore not a few who hoped that either Ensign Hunt or Privates Jay or Wace may carry off the cold medal on Tuesday next. Cambridge University has one man — Corporal Browning - in for the second stage, and another, Private Strickland, who has to shoot off a tie for the chance. Captain D.inkwater, of the same corps, mads 7t, and is one point out of the sixty, and Colour-Wergeant Mfinneker Ranee is in the same unlucky position. Colour Sergeant Piggot made ol>, so that the chauce of Oiimbrid^e for the Chancellor's Cup is hopeful. Oxford has not a man in. The Lords and Commons match attracted a great crowd, and in spite of the intense heat the shooting was watched with great interest. It. was by agreement between the sides that the Marquis of Lome and Earl de Grey shot with the Lords, they really being members of the Lower House. It should be mentioned that neither Lord de Grey nor Lord Gifford wished to shoot, both protesting that they were no good at 500 yards. There was nothing noteworthy respecting the shooting, and the following tables tell the history of the match throughout : — COMMONS. Plunkot .. ..64443455555555 S— GO Fordyce „ ..455644554454G5 5—09 Malcolm .. ..44554645453544 4—65 Vivian .. ..35453535554535 5-05 Bass .. ..455552555 4 54555 -69 Total 337 LORDS. Lome — ..35 4 355345 5 455 5 4—05 Wiridcgrave .. 25545 5 53454345 4— 03 Duoio .. ..3 5 354544025345 5—57 De Grey .. ..50 4 33302503323 o—3o Gifford .. ..05403434235322 o—4o Total 201 Majority for the Commons, 76 points.

Old St. David's Cathedral in Hobart Town, built, we believe, in 1819, is now being pulJod down, tho now Cathedral, a splendid structure, having been finished. The fittings of tbe old place of worship have been aold lately by public auction, and iv nearly every late issue of the Mercury there j is a plaintive wail from old colonists at this sacrilegious method of disposing of things that have bean rendered dear to the wot.