RIFLE SHOOTING.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13164, 24 January 1936, Page 2

RIFLE SHOOTING.

OLD NEW ZEALAND SPORT, MANY FINE SHOTS. Rugby football and cricked are generally regarded as being very old .sports iii New Zealand, but from a national point of view they are considerably yonng.er than rifle shooting, which inasmuch as the first New Zealand championship meeting was held in 1861, can he regarded as the oldest organised sport in the Dominion. For those who have not been initiated into its mystojries it probably seems a most prosaic pastime, a feeling no doubt engendered by the fact that it receives comparatively little publicity. But that this cannot be so is evident from the? fact that it numbers thousands among its devotees. There arc- dozens of rifle clubs scattered up and down New Zealand, several of which have produced some of the finest shots in the world. Naturally our appearances in international competition have not been many, but wo have had one English Bisiey champion, Sergeant L. Lovedav, who was successful .in 1919, while on other occasions several of our representatives have been in the final fifty. New Zealand, too. has won the Kolipore Cup competition, symbolic of British Empire teamshooting supremacy. Our colleges havoc also boon successful in the Empire aggregate for secondary school competition. KEENNESS OF VISION. New Zealanders have a natural keenness of sight. Their perception pi distance is probably not excelled among the peoples of those nations which have adopted rifle shooting as a national sport. This is ;x. condition for which the mode of living of many of the Dominion’s best shots has no doubt been largely responsible. It us well-known that th<> vision of people living in the country is. as a rule, so far as discerning objects at a distance is concerned, much superior to that of the town dweller. It is significant that since 1900, when country rifle* shooting clubs commenced toi flourish in Now Zealand, only on ten occasions has a town of any con sequence produced the winner of a national championship. Naturally there have been brilliant exceptions, for example. A. Ballinger, of thu Petene Rifle Club, Captain Wales, of Otago. H. V. Croxto.'i and R F. Nicol, of the Ivarori and Petone Clubs, Wellington and Captain H. Bjimmonds. Wanganui. FURTHER SUPPORT. Further support for the theory that dwelling in the country is an asset sc. far a s rifle, shooting is concerned is lent by the fact that In both Australia and Canada the standard of the sport is particularly high. The rural life led by so many of the leading shots of the two countries is directly responsible for much of their prowess. This is not the whole story, of course since coaching and training of the eyes are other vital factors, but nevertheless* natural keenness of vision is more than half the battle. New Zealand lias produced many interesting personalities, and of these Colonel E. R. Smith is one of tlie most notable. H<> started shooting as long ago as 1868. when he was a member of the* Otago Boys’ High School Cadets. That, of course, was long before the day of modern rifles. The Terry carbine, a breech-loader, was the weapon o.f the day. In 1873. he won the cadet championship belt for New Zealand, and in 1894, as a member of the Dunedin City Guards, he was successful in a wider sphere by winning the rifle belt. Though it is a. far cry from that year to the present day. he was a- competitor at the national meeting at Trentham in 1934. and it is just possible that he may put in an appearance at this year’s meeting early in March. As a sport rifle shooting knows no jealousy, no public applause, and therefore has no idols, and gives as much pleasure to the youth as it does to the grandfather.