Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1905. RIFLE SHOOTING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12922, 29 July 1905, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1905. RIFLE SHOOTING.

A few weeks ago Lord Roberts, in a letter . to the English i.rets, appealed to the' people of j*ngiand to take to heart the necessity for encouraging rifle shooting as a. national pursuit, and establishing a system of obligatory physical training. In support jof his appeal the Field-Marshal urged} that courage and discipline will: not "win battles] nowadays, unless they are Accompanied \by shooting, at least as good as "that of the adversaries. Rifle shooting, he said,\ should be | made a national pursuit, and skill wftjh the rifle ! a national . accomplishment, in the ■ same mannen that archery and skill with the long--Tx)W were. so. considered in the:' olde* days' 'of i feflWa."^H« dsked; for ; a sum of oiie hundred thou- ; sand pounds to put a 'scKeine on a' satisfactory 'basis^-'^u*^-to a cable recei^ed^yes^efday, the responses ' has 1 liir &e6ri^tiisappointing, which shows how, .soon the English, peoplei have J 'folps : sen one of thelessons of the "Boer f war. The; chief factor iri -the success of the, Boers— a :coteparartaiMe*handfiil only —in withstanding hugb-- Jarmies of British soldiers for three' year's- was' their-, skill* ' with the rifle. Their, mobility enabled thenHb J etae cap-; have sufficed ; it was their' shooting,: which sustained TtheV otherwise un-j [equal contest. : Etery ' man and ; fevery boy, ! aye and many of the' women,, were » expert; rifle shots, while opposed to them were hosts of men who, while able to execute all sorts )of manoeuvres ' on 1 the J parade grounds, > and endowed, with at least as great courage as their opponents, had little or no knowledge of the use of . the rifle as a shooting instrument. In foayonet exercises they were doubtless efficient, but. they- are of Httle use in actual warfare, unless at extremely close quarters. It is rather remarkable that v the very •bvious

essons of the war are so soon overooked, especially so when Lord Roberts— 'England's greatest au:hority on such matters—has so jlainly pointed the moral. In his etter to the press lie said the chief difficulty in the 1 way of the cultivation of the art of rifle shooting is in providing safe ranges. %Skill in, Lhe use of the rifle is not, However, sntirely dependent on long-rarige practice, open or covered ranges, not exceeding a hundred yards in' length, which can "be arranged for ak most anywhere, either with -miniature rifles or from any kind of rifle fitted with a tube for firing miniature ammunition, 'being 'a good substitute. The^ appeal of Lords Roberts and its . result naturally turns 1 attention 'to { what is < "being done in the same direction in New Zealand. Cod forbid that New Zealanders should ever have Lo defend their hearths and homes against a "foreign invader,, yet the colony ought 'to prepare \ .itself in some "measure for sudh a contingency, however remote jit seems. Recalling again the Boer waivaad applying similar ' circumstances} here^ it is evident that an invasion by any considerable force could mot be withsttood 1 from' within unless the people possess skill in the use of the rifle. Our main defence is the Imperial Navy, I yet it is conceivable that the* Navy might fail us at the crucial moment, and that an enemy might effect a landing, in force. -A nation •' of marksmen, such as the Boers* are, would make it impossible for such a force to overcome the country. Are we training these ' marksmen ? r Only in - very small .degree. We are^ devoting a great deal of > . attention) to drill, both among adult Volunteers and in : the schools, but drill is not sufficient. It is said that a revulsion of feeling on the subject of the cadet movement is comiag; about, and not unnaturally, txecausd it is leading, to, little. The boys look very smart and natty iv their uniforms •on the parade 'ground, marching and countermarching with! the steadiness and preciseness^of veterans ' of the line, but to what end ? For the possible defence of the • country ? Hastily, because without good shootin"- all the drill arid discipline f is almost! useless. L/ess time ought to be spent v upo* the cadet movement, or ', else it oufrht to be carried- a step further and be made to 1 , lead up i to" skill with, a rifle. It is a matter .worth the attention of the authorities, for there- should be Hdme./ definite 'andreasonable' objec-^tbehind.f'ali thej instruction; '-iyenWn -the schools*, as well as,- behind <-oitt iVolumteer 1 system. > \ :* > " '>"'!>} ' . ■ „ -\

A Wellington wire states that the captain and thiee lieutenants of the Wellington N&vals 'have resigned, on the ground, it is believed, of dissatisfaction with. official treaunent of the corps. . .;.'-, The alleged evils of the memo- telegram system was, r wires our special, debated for very many hours in the House last niglit." TtYis "significant tha? on the day before the debate began an order was issued in the Post and Telegraph Department forbidding telegraph officers to accept "memos" from private persons to Ministers. The attention of local poultry fanciers is called to Mr iNewton King ? s advertisement of his sale of pure-bred birds, which will be held in I/he Drill Hall at 1 o'clock on <" Monday afternoon. Tlie entries which ntimfber, about 300, are} from . the i yards 7of some lof our foes't known and most successful breeders, a»ct comprise all the favourite varieties. The greatly increased demand 1 for poultry; of all class.es, and /the high quality of the birds to be offered, . should ensure a record sale. The case of Robert Coleman (builder) v. A. W. Woods, G. W. Browne, Hal." Goodlier*, E. U. Okey, C. Ahier, B." Snowball aud H. A. Lennton, members of the Exhibition Committee, and J. A. Maisey (architoct), claim for £67; and return of deposhT £25, In »connection with the buildings aK.the_ Exhibition, was called on^in^he S.M. Court on Friday morning. A§ it is understood jtlie case is to bo submitted. -Jo arbitration there was virtually no appearance of plaintiff, and defendants and defendants on the application of counsel (Mr Qullliatn) ■ *<vere * allowed costs amounting to £3 10s. Our Parliamentary Reporter wires :— There was x>na outcome of the debate on the Imprest Supply Bill which was of an unpleasant nature. One of the prime movers' in the attack on the Government was met in the precincts oi ihe House by a person concerned in those charges, and it is currently reported that something in the nature of a personal encounter ensued. Uo harm resulted, but there was some exhibition of feeling, and it is understood that Mr Speaker was informed of the occurrence. 1 Whiteley Band of Hope will be held on Monday evening next at" 7.15 in the Whiteley Hall , ,Key. .Buttle in the chair. al6o Whiteley CEurch, Sunday, July. 30. Preacher, Rev. J. N. Buttle. Subjects: Morning, €< X National Revival ;" eveuiog, "Naboth— Ahab— Elijah'." Collections for Trust Fund. Everyon* made welcome. dl6l

Miss Rawson forwards a parcel of "Books for Bushmen.'" %i the House, which sat till 4.25 agn. to-day, the Imprest Supply Bill passed all its .stages: ;A civil sitting* of tho S.M. Court wds held by Mr Hutchison, S.M., at New (Plymouth on Friday. s ■ > ;ithe Treasurer of the Western Park Boai'd • desires to acknowledge receipt of/, a donation of £2 2s from Dr. Letatham. ;;CafJt. Edwin wired at 12.38 p.m. :—: — Sttong t wind.; to gale from" between south-east and south and west. Glass rise, tides moderate, sea considerable, southerly oil' si. ore, rain probable, and weather colder. Messrs ' Bewlov and Griffiths have been favoured with instructioms from Mr ; Geo. ,Poit, who is giving up housekeeping, 1 o sell, 'without reserve; at -his residence. Fitzroy, the whole of his superior household furniture,^ in-cluding--piano, also horse, trap, ' harness?, j Iji'ke, etc. - Pale commences at 1.30 p.m; - . i - . v ,The Poultry Society's cake will be finished by 8 p.m. . Anyone wishing to have a slice should call along- early. The Art. Union will also , be -drawn tonight, at 8.30. Tickets for this shouk be' secured, as the prizes are all valuable. The Bank o£ New, Zealand arc. holding the midgets, and thfe winners will receive an order on the Bank for same. , ■ -■'' ■ An arbitration to determine the va-' lue \of the -'building at Belt Block> the prpperty of , Mr O. E. .Hoby, which wa^ recently destroyed by fire was commenced., on Eriday, 28th, the arbitrators -being -Messrs F. P. Corkill aird H. Baily. Mv Hoby was represente&yjy Mr Hutchen . and the National" Insurance; r Co. by, Mr F. E. Wilson (Roy and Wilson). Evidence pit pa£n was given b.y M'essi's O. E. Hofoyj Geo.' Cliff, D. Hutchen for the insured, and by Messrs W. Lawson and 1 A, Laird for the Company. The •hearing' w "was" adjourned until Monday when further evidence will be taken. 'Pupils are coming forward in large numbers in connection with the technical and continuation I classes, and' close upon ninety have now been enrolled, which must> be regarded as very satisfactory " as all the classes have not yet been established. The demand for additional', classes is encoUraging, especially in dressmaking, Wood- working and electricity. }/ A x& vision !of the time-table has been rendered necessary and the alterations made, to take effect from Monday, are as J' follows : — Monday : Arithmetic (senior), English (junior), building' construction ; Tuesday : Shorthand, - freehand arid model drawing ; Wednesday : ; Arithmetic - (junior), ( "English .(senior) ; Thursday : Commercial correspondence,, mathematics ; Friday : Book-keeping, plane and solid > geometry, theory of plumbing. The practi- ' cal. plumbing class will be held at Messrs Smart Bros/ workshop on Tuesday from 7.30 to 9.30. 3Saoh class now -meetsifor -fcwo bottlegtone liight'a week. As many students in town have been receiving instruction through the *uedium of correspondence classes and fees for this year have been' paid the committee of management has decided to admit at half rates) anyj student who ' produces his receipt for this year's fees paid to any recognised correspondence classes. The services in ; Queen-street Church to-morrow will be as follows :—.: — . Morning at 11, Rev. • John Nixon ; evening at 7, Rev. H. Daniel. Mr White will be at Fitzroy at 7 p.m.* d 159 The inhabitants of this district are indeed -fortunate in being able to take advantage of the latest scientific antiseptic process of shaving. \By this process the razors and brushes are sterilised after every customer has been attended to, also the soapj' used for shaving is specially prepared and is positively anti-septic. This is't a sure prevent ative of blood poisoning and other infectious diseases which all frequenters of public saloons have been liable to in the past. Tne Central Hair Dressing Saloon have shown considerable enterprise by introducing at considerable; expense this method in their -business, and in future every one of their patrons will receive the benefit of this process without extra charge. We-nmy state that, so important is this matter considered in America and some of the older countries, that it is made compulsory to use the Anti-septic process.* dl7l Pupoaga Coal^— Ask, lor Puponga. No Soot. Ko Cleaning of Ranges. •Fires will not go out. Best Household Coal on the Market. A first-claßf Steaming; Coal.