FIRING AT TRENTHAM.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12702, 4 March 1912, Page 7

FIRING AT TRENTHAM.

A MARKER iNJURED;

TENTS BLOWN DOWN BY WIND,

(Per Press Association.) TRENTHAM, this day. Saturday Was the worst 'day encountered oh the range for years. Shortly after daybreak rain started, and by the time "the fairih was. soun'decl, 8 o'clock, it had' settled into a steady, tiownpour. The first matches were snap.-snooting at 300' yards and a moving target at .300- yards. Again '.the hits were spotted, and the conditions, While service so ■ far as the rifles and targets were concerned, were nearly ■ assimilated to* standing . target ones. The heavy rain did not appear to dnmp the ardor of the competitors, but many of them, who looked with contempt upon this portion of the programme, did not do justice to it m their shooting! In snap-shooting, although no sighters were allowed, many men got to the target at once, spotters of the exposure showing quite a large percentage of hits, Law (Damievirke) made no mistake. Jte struck the bullVeye with each shot, getting the possible. Mawley (Opaki) and Bitnmonds (Blenheim) each scored 22, and there were four §i's, among:, tlienl Ciipt. King, m the South island champion moving target match, which wns taken at the same time, tht» competitors had to fire at a head and shoulders target, which wns exposed seven • times for four seconds, each exposure being made at a different part of the butt. Eacli hit counted foiit- points. As showing the merit of the shooting, there j were nine : possibles, but Pui'nell, a son of Major Purnell, the champion of lfl6S, itnd May hew (Feildihg) got .first, places, owing to the great number of bull's-eyes. ■ During the firing of this match Gunner Watkins, R.N.Z.A., one of the markers, t'.was "injured. A low shot struck a mound, and either a stone or the nickel case of the bullet struck his shoulder, inflicting a painful wound. Firstaid was rendered b^r Merrilees, one of the competitors, and a doctor was at once telephoned for, m the unavoidable absence of Dr. Purdy, who makes daily visits to the camp. ' Watkins was afterwards removed to the barracks for further examination. He is a man about 6ft m height, and as there is 'no head cover to protect them, the tall markers are always placed m the Collins butt. The butt had been overhauled by the Public Works Department just before the meeting, and the point at which the accident took place was a foot above the regulation height. The official Board of Enquiry took evidence, and a report was forwarded to headquarters. > . In the afternoon the attack match, which comprised an attack on n position at 400, 300, and 200 yards, and observation of fire, was commenced. There was still a steady downpour, which had continued without intermission from morning. Kussell (Petone) did exceedingly well here. All his shots hit the figure, and seven out of nine were bull's-eyes. This easily gave liim first place. Boleyn (Cholton) came next, with eight hits, and there were four with seven hits. The shooting all round, considering the conditions, was very good. . While the attack match was being fired an extra match was started at 1000 yards. Despite the heavy - rain,'' there was a fair entry, the best score being put up by Hunt (Wellington) 32. The shooting all round was fairly good. ■ • The storm continued '.luring the night, with intermittent gusts of wind and driving rain hard against the tents. Although there was a certain amount of . discomfort, it was not ' till i 8 o'clock this morning that any of the canvas ' structures were demolished. An extra heavy gust struck, the camp, and m a minute ot two Col. Collins headquarters marquee was lying on the ground, ' while m -another corner three or four tents collapsed, as did the large Press marquee and Karori Rifle Club's "marquee. . v Capt. Sandle quickly had a squad of Permanent Artillery., at work, and the marquees were re-erected. ■■"■.., This morning . the belt series, m which the Ballinger Championship Belt forms the principal trophy, will be commenced. The first 1 event will be the Auckland match at 300 and ■ 500 yards, the Wellington match, 500 and 600, yards, being fired m the afternoon. The following are the leading prize-winners m the service matches on Saturday: — ; Snap-shooting,. 5 rounds: Law (Dannevirke),! £4, 25; Mawley (Opaki), £3, 22; Simmonds (Waitohi), £2, 22. [ Moving target, 300 .yards, 7 shots, head and shoulders target: Purnell (Wanganui), Mayhead (Feilding), £3 10s, each 28, with five'] bull's-eyes each; Morgan (Auckland), HallLlay (Karori), Belk (7th Regiment), Drummond (Westport), £1 4s, each 28, with four bull's- , eyes each. Attack Match, 400, 300, and 200 yards, three ! shots: Russell (Petone), £4, 45, with seven bull's-eyes; Boylen (Charlton), £3, 40, with four bull's-eyes; Randell (Linton), £2,35, with five bull's-eyes. ■* . | The following are the 10 leading' scores for service aggregates: 1, Russell (Petone), 207; 2, Simmonds (Blenheim), 196; 3, A. H. Guy (Kaponga), 177|_4, Mayhead (Feilding), 176; 5, Merrilees (Thames), 176; 6, Masefield (Sounds), 173; 7, F. James, 168; 8, R. Duthie, 177; 9, R. J. King, 166; 10, H. R. King, 164. i The running man competition will not be ! competed for till Wednesday. The earnest business of the Trentham meeting started at 8.30, when the first shot m the championship series was fired from the Collins range. The first event was' the Auckland Match, 300 and 500 yards, 10 shots. The best scores at 300 yards were Elliott (Auckland) 50, Duthie ' (Christchurch) 49, Atkinson (Auckland 48, Anderson (Wanganui) 47. There were a large number of 46's. The weather is now fine, but there is a strong baffling breeze. Shooting at 500 yards is now proceeding. The best scores at 500 yards were Mcl-itosh (Dunedin), who scored the possible, and Elliott (Auckland), 48. . This places the latter, who made the possible -at 300 .yards, as a certain winner with a total of 98. Mclntosh's total I for the match was 93. Jones (Opaki) and , Masefield (Sounds) also scored 93. Vclton (Dannevtrke), Needham (Linton), Puthic > (Christchurch), Dewar, O'Hani, and Loxoday I (Woodville) scored 91 each; Hodges (Opaki) J 90, Carter (12th: Regiment) and Sandford j (Christchurch), eacli 89.^ .