THE NEW ZEALANDERS AT BISLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 55

THE NEW ZEAL ANDERS AT BISLEY.

- Dublin, August 4, 1897

Friday, July 23. — The great match of the day, and one of tbe greatest of the meeting, wai the Alexandra, of ueveu shots at 500yds 'and s -yen at 600 yds. There were several scores of 69 out of a possible 70, and 63's were very plentiful. The New Zealtnders were particularly fortunate ju this ma* cb, and the following,' out of some. 2000 competitors, took places :—: — 500 600yds. yds. Tl. Prize. P.ivate Parsons ... 34 34 —OS — 17th, £5 Bandmaster King ... S5 33 — 6S — 2(sth. £5 C.P.O. Williams ... 34 33 —67 — 50tb. £B Private Ballingor ... 33 33 — 60 — 79rh, £3 Corporal Banks ... 30 35 —B5 — 108 th, £3 Private s>imp*on ... 31 33 —64 — 210 th, £2

Tbe Duke oT Cambridge Match of 10 shots at 900yd8 found a winuer in Corporal Windalt, of Canada, who scored 47 out of 50 ; but Bandmasttr KiDg secured thirteenth place and £2 with 45, aud Private Ballinger thirty-first place and £2 with 43.

The Association Cup of seven shots (kneeliDj/) at 200 yds and seven shots at 600 yd«, which had been running since the opening of the meeting, closed at evening, won with the " poswblo" at both ranges. Corporal Simpson, of Canterbury, ■was twenty-seventh with 67, and took £3, while Private Hawthorne, of Wellington, with the same score, took tbirty-second place aud £2.

The results of the " extra match" of ses-en fhots ah 600 yds, completed the previous day, w»s made known, when it was found tfcafcßauc?mt«ler King had secured eleventh place with 34 out of 3b.

Saturday, July 24. — The hundred leading men in the Sfc. George's Match paraded in the forenoon to shoot off for the possession of that magnificent trophy, for the b&dgej which are given to - the " runnere-up," and for their positions in the first hundred prizes. Ten shots are fired at 800 yds. As intimated in my previous letter, Bandmaster King, of Ounaru, alone qualified for the hundred, and in shooting off secured thirty-sixth place with a store of 310, a St. Georgt-.'s badge, and a prize of £7. His score was as fvl'ows : — First Stage SOOj-ds. ' Grand Total. ■ 67 2555355454-43 110 The winner secured 117, and only one other colonial — x Queenslandar — beat King. Tbe third stage of the Queen's — 10 shots ab 800 yds and. 10 at 900 yds— brought out only one ' New Zealander — Private Hawthorne, of Wellington. In the first range (800* ds) his shooting was phenomenal, and the hopes of the New Zealanders went up when it was found that bis score of 47 was the highest on the ground. In the latt stage, however, he was not so successful, and never appsafed to obtain a. secure hold of the target, wita the result that on one occasion he lost his shot. On the whole, however, he held his position, and obteins the badge and £8 of prize money. The following is his score : — First Second Third Grand Stage. Stage. Stage. Total. 95 207 SOOyds— s 45 5554455— 47 900yds— 3 33 042553 3-31 78 285 To understand the position attained by Private Hawthorne understand that the Queen's Prize at Bisley is the greatest honour , which can be obtained by a volunteer rifleman in the Empire. There are about 2000 competitors, who fire through what is called the first stage— a match at 200, 500, and 600 yards. The top 300 then fire in the second stage, at 500 and 600 yards, when the top hundred shoot 'off at 800 and 900 yards for the final prizes. Altogether 600 prizes are given in the match, the bottom 300' being determined in the first jsbage, the next 200 in tbe second, and the order ~of tbe leading 100 arranged at the conclusion of the match. To win the Queen's Prize in such competition shooting of a very high standard is requisite, but in addition to that there is a very large element of luck, and as it can only be attained by one, the real test of the first-class shot is to obtain a place in the last hundred — the Queen's Hundred. To have shot in the Queen's Hundred is considered an honour for life, and a badge worn on the left arm records .that fact so long as the baarer is a member of the volunteer force. Private Hawthorne's eucoeas is all the more creditable when it is known that for many years no New Zealander has hel<i that honour.

The London and SoutVWestern Railway Tyros Match, of seven shots ab 200 and seven at 500 yards, which had been open all the meeting and with unlimited entry, was the ueib match to close. AgUn the New Zealand competitors showed up well, Private Hawthorne and C P O. Williams tieing for fifth place with 69 and prizes of £4- 10s each, Bandmaster King, of Oamaru, taking ninth pr'ze of £2 with 69, and Corporal S'rachan, of Wanganui, a prize of £1 with 67. No less then four competitors in this match scored the double possible, scoriDg 70 points.

The only other matches remaining to be chronicled are the aggregates. In New Zealand there is bub one aggregate, and that, including all the matches fired at tho meeting 1 , carries the championship, but in the N.R.A, the blue ribb"U3 go to individual matches, and the aggregates play a secondary part. In all cases, however, they are ths best criterion of the steadiest and best shots.

The Corporation of the City of London prizes were given to the highest aggregates among the colonial competitors in certain matches open to volunteers and to voluubeers and allcomers. There were 12 pr'z^s, and the ficst was secured with a score of 354-. Bandmaster King, of Oamaru, took third piize of £10, with a score of 353;' Private Hatvtboru^, of Wellingtpn f tenth pl&ca and £5, with 34-7 ; and Private Howo. of the same place, twelfth prize and £5, wRh 346.

New Zealanders were equally fortunate in the Allcornere' aggregates, comprising the hiijhest scores in the Da ; ly Graphic, Graphic, Daily Telegraph, and Alexandra M«tcbe?. The fir3fc prize was won with a score of 168 ; Corpornl Bank?, of Christchurch, came fourth with 165, and took £5; Bandmaster King nineteenth, with 165, obtained £3 lGs ; and Private H*wthorue fifty-eighth, with 162, obtained £2.

In the Grand Aggregate, which corresponds to our Champi-mship, tbe le&d'ng places went to threj Scotchmen — Muirhead, Macalium, and Scott. Buidoaaster King took teventeeuth place and £3 with 353, Private Hawthorne sixty fifth pKca aud £2 with 347, and Private Howe seventieth plac3 aud the same money with 346.

For the Volunteer Aggregate, comprising all the matches open (o volunteers only, Private Howe takes thirty-ninfch place and £2 with ISO, and Bandmaster King seventy-sixth place and £2 with 188

The mf efciDg over, the men h<ive goae up to Scotland, under »p*cial- arrangements with the railw&y companies, who have met the volunteers very h*udpomely all through. I understand all hands leave by the Mataura ou the 19% of August.

Ou all hinds the success of the colonials ia the subject of comment among shooting men. It was no 1 -, confined to the runaway victory of tbe Victorian and New Z aland teArtis, but in the subsequent scooting both colonies worthily maintained their high standard. Though but oue man qualified for tbe Queen's Hundred — and that was proportionately ou>full share— ifc must nob bs taken as an ind-ca-tion that our ahootiDg was swamped. The Quesu's Prize is but one match ouj of many, and in that one match none of our men shone out so prominently as in some of Ihe otheri; but when the aggregates are examined then consistent shooting of a very high standard i* at once seen. Comparing them with the other colonials — 14- men out of 93 present — we took third, tenth, and twelfth prizes. In the other nggregafcts, where New Zealsml had tbe same 14- among some 2000 competitors, the 14 captured the fourth, nineteenth, and fiftyeighth place* in the 100 prizes, in the grand aggrpga'e, the seventeenth, sixty-fifth, aud seventieth places, and in the volunteer aggregate the thirty-ninth and seventy->-ixfch places. Major SommeivMe has indeed reason to be proud of the success which has attended his supervision, for it wa* a new weapou, and tinmen shot under condition* vary different indeed to thoae which they were accu-timed to in New Zealand. Ia common with the other coloniee, too, they were competing against mer some of whom had had the Lee-Metford for tw. seasons, and all of whom hsd had considerable practice with th^m before the Bisley meeting. Concerning tbe Kolapore team and the work done by the men I can, as an onlooker, speak in nothing but the warmest praise. Someone^ luck it is to be bottom place, but not a man shot that dny whose place was the property of any other mau on the ground. In the old days of rifle shooting Parliament; used to acknowledge the honours brought home by their provincial representatives, and now would bo a fitting time to look up such old precedents as these. The treatment of the men to date does not overburden the Defence department with too much credit An amount per man has been handed to them which would not have provided thtni with rifles, ammunition, prac'icp, and entry through the B"sley meeting, to say nothing of the passage out and home if the authorities here had not granted some of the above items free. The Government cannot know that, the ueople of New Z*alaad don't know it, or they would see that better treatment was meeted out to the men who, being under military dieciplica, have not the freedom of the writer.

Robert M'Nab