THE RIFLE ASSOCIATION MEETING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5519, 20 March 1896, Page 1

THE RIFLE ASSOCIATION MEETING.

[Per Press Association.] j OAMARU, March 19. To-day was set aside for the Federal Match, but at first it appeared doubtful whether it would come off, owing to some of the Australians threatening not to go on unless a better quality of ammunition was procured than that in use- Better counsel, however, prevailed, and teams from the four colonies took part. Last night the Council was approached as to the inclusion . of Wakelin, the champion, in the team, as the conditions of the match provided , that it should be fired from a prone position, and Wakelin fires from his back. Wakelin declared, however, that he had no misgiving as to hia ability to fire from a prone position. Major Byron captained the Queenslanders, Major Sommerville the New Zealanders, Lieutenant Keating the New South Welshmen and Major Hamley the Victorians. The- weather was fine, with a leaden -coloured sky, which threatened rain, but none fell. The wind . was light 'in the morning, but changeable, coming in all directions, and at times fairly puzzling some of the marksmen. In the afternoon the wind, which had been chiefly from the north-east, chopped round to the south and freshened as the longer ranges were being fired. At 600 yds it was not so bad, but at 700 yds there was a large num-' ber of misses. At 300 yds the shooting of : the teams was fairly good, except on the part of the New Zealanders, who fell off , from the jump, for which Wakelin and A. Ballinger were chiefly responsible, both the champion and the ex-champion appearing to be quite out of form. With this range finished the Queenslanders led New South Wales by one point. Victoria was only seven points behind the leaders, while New Zealand was twenty-one to the bad, and there was a good, deal of grumbling at Wakelin not having withdrawn from the team. At 500 yds there was an improvement in the shooting, and the Victorians, keeping well on the spot, recovered most of the lost ground, and -having passed New South Wales, were second, one point behind Queensland, who wound up at the range with a total' of 840, Victoria 839, New South ""Wales ' 824, New Zealand 821. . Thus ' New Zealand had gained two on the leading team, but - fell back from Victoria, though they shot up. to within 3 of New South Wales. At 600 the New South Welshmen got on a fine score, and wiping off the 16 deficit at the completion of the last range, went on with a lead of 4 from ■ Queensland. Victoria began to fall back, and were 11 points behind New South Wales, ; 7^ b.ehind Queensland, and only 1 point in front of the New Zealand team, which had gained 11 points on Queensland and 18 on Victoria, but New South Wales had increased its lead of 3 from New Zealand to 12. Going back to 700 yds the totals were : — New South Wales 1222 V Queensland 1218, Victoria "l2li and New Zealand 1210. As the New Zealanders were gradually crawl--1 ing up great interest was taken in their shooting, and the public, many of whom ,_ were. .present,.; it .beingthe half-holiday, were crowded round their firing point. . The New South Wales men, who were the first to finish at 600 yds, seeing, the probability of a change in the weather, got back to 700 yds as soom as possible, and had a little the best of the weather. Those who firedin the first squadhad a greatadvantage, as before the second squad went down the wind had become very treacherous. When four, men from each team had finished at 700 yds it was seen that Victoria had made a complete burßt,. the squad only putting on 94, while the New South Wales squad was 128, New Zealand 140 and Queensland 146. Thus Queensland had raised her total to 1364, and New Zealand had shot up even with New South Wales with 1350, Victoria being hopelessly in the rear with 1305. The next four men of the leading team scored 121, while New Zealand gained 2 points. 1 on them, and was second, 12 points behind Queensland, and 13 points ahead of I New South Wales, and 51 of Victoria. The totals at this time were : — Queensland 1485, New Zealand 1473, New South Wales 1460, Victoria 1422. There were now two men of each team to fire ten shots to complete the match, and, notwithstanding thai, • ■ New Zealand Vas still 12 points to the bad, ' there were not a few who thought it within the bounds of possibility that they might yet win. Doughty and Ross were the two New Zealanders who were to pull the colony through, if possible, but it was. not to be, as in Winterford and M'Pherson, the last two of the Queenslanders, they met decidedly more than their match. New South Wales, wer^ the first to finish with a grand total of 1512, and it could be seen that they had no chance, and so it was with' New Zealand, , as while Doughty was only getting on poor . hits and Ross was missing, the two Queens- . landers were shooting on in grand style, and- .. 4 . finished up, with 34and35respectively. Thus Queensland wound up with .1554 and won the match. Owing to the wretched scores of the two New Zealanders the colony narrowly escaped losing the barren honour of second place, as Ross missed five of his shots, and it was only with his eighth shot, which was an.outer, that he put the issue beyond doubt, and then he got a bull. The last two Queenslanders scored 69 to the New Zealanders' 46, Victoria's 68 and New South Wales 56. To Corporal Bradley, of the winning team, belongs the cr-edit of putting on the magnificent score

of 179 points out of a possible 200, which must be pretty near a record for the distances. Lieutenant-Commander Kirk, of the New Zealand team, was- the next highest with 163, and Major Hutchison, Queensland, third with 162. At the conclusion of the match Major Sbmmerville warmly congratulated the Queenslanders on their well-earned victory, and called for three cheers, which were heartily responded to. Major Byron, replying, testified to the excellent arrangements for the match and the fairness with which it had been carried out. There was no ground of complaint about the ammunition, and in fact the excellent shooting was proof positive that it was of excellent quality. The following is the result : — Federal Match, 300, 500, 600 and 700 yds, ten shots at each, open to teams of ten men nominated respectively by the Rifle Associations of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, West Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, lond fide members of the defence force and sworn in under the Defence Act of the colony to which they belong ; three teams to shoot or no match; prizesIntercolonial Challenge Cup, presented in 1887 by Mr John M'Gregor, to be held for one year by the winning colony, and gold medal presented by the Federal Council of the Rifle Associations of Australasia to the captain and each member of the winning team, the cup to be held from year to year by the captain ; also a silver cup presented by the New Zealand Government.

Totals ... ... 412 428 378 336 1554 NEW ZEALAND TEAM. ■ 300 500 600 700 yds. yds. yds. yds. • Tl.

Totals ... ... 391 430 389 309 1519 NEW SOUTH WALES TEAM;

Total ... ...411413 398 290 1512 VICTORIAN TEAM. 300 SOO fiOO 700

The previous winners of the Intercolonial Challenge Cup are : — 1888, February, New South Wales, 1423 ; 1888, December, 1 Tasmania, 1787; 1889, Victoria, 1792; 1890, lapsed ; 1891, South Australia, 1644 ; 1892, Victoria, 1568 ; 1893, Victoria, 1419; 1894, Victoria, 1568; 1895, Queensland, 1554. In 1893 the conditions were altered, and the number of shots reduced; At 5 p.m. the Nursery Match, was fired, fifty competitors taking part. . Little or no interest was taken in the match, and at its conclusion the men returned to town. The following is the prize list : — . Nursery Match, ten shots ; 500 yds. Smith (Oamaru) £7 ... 48 Corporal Allport (Nelson) £6 .:. ; • ... 47 M'Hattie (Wairarapa) £4 ..» ... 47 Major Byron, Queensland, ,£4... ... 46 Corporal Rowell, Nelson, .£4 ... ... 46 Volunteer Shanks, Gore, £2 45 Gunner Henderson, Thames, ,£2 ... 45 Seymour (Woodville), M'Diannid

(Oamaru) and Sergeant Shanks (Gore), G. Loveday (Woodville), Johnston (Southland), Colour - Sergeant Eobson (Napier) and Volunteer Pox (Christchurch), 44 each,- Moore (Petone), Fraser (Wyndham) and Hastie (Oamaru), 43 each; Probert (Oamaru), Lieutenant Stoneham (Dunedin), Willoughby (Petone), Wills (Southland), Morrison (Marton) and Bobyn (Port Victoria), 42 each; Kelling (Hawera), Leslie (Oamaru), Home (Woodville) and Bunny (Petone), 41 each; Gray (Marton), 40; .£1 each. Counted out— Trevethic, M'Hutchison, Wardle, Allen, Webster, and Depelichet. The Teams Match and Bronze Medal Match will be fired in the morning and the remaining matches in the afternoon.

OUU OUU OUU 7UU • yds. yds. yds. yds. Tl. Vol. Young ... 44 48 40 27 159 Vol. Walker ... 43 42 43 24 152 Capt. White ... 43 42 28 19 132 Sergt. Hawker ... 43 47 37 32 159 Vol. Todd 41 46 37 24 148 Vol. Macdonald ... 41 47 41 31 160 Staff-Segfc. Webster 39 39 34 30 142 Sergt.Koss 39 42 43 27 151 Capt. Sloane ... 37 42 33 37 149 Vol. Kandels ' ... 35 39 36 28 138 Total ... ... 405 434 372 279 1490

300 500 600 700 f yds. yds. yds. yds. Tl. Lieut. Keating .... 40 41 40 33 154 Capt. Cork...' ... 43 45 42 30 160 Sub.-Lt. Stephens... 39 40 40 37 156 Crpl. M'Calley ... 44 41 40 28 153 Bomb. Kiernan ... ,38 38 36 23 135 VoLPrott... ... .43 39 46 27 155 Vol. Mathison ... 38 44 44 34 160 Vol. Hicks... . ...42 44 46 21 153 Vol. Vernon ...'.,41-42-36 28 147 Vol.LeMaitre ... 43 39 28 29 139

Sergeant Wakelin, Christchurch ... ,33 44 29 39 145 Bomb. Howe, Wel- ' lington 40 47 34 34 155 Lieut.-Comdr. Kirk, . " • Petone 39 48 43 33 163 C.P.O. Williams, Wellington 1 ... 43 43 44 28 158 Corporal Simpson, Kaiapoi ... ... 41 39 33 33 146 Lieut. Dodds, Port ■Chalmers... ...39 42 47 29 157 1 Lieut. Jack, Dunedin .... ... ... 41 41 43 33 158 Sergeant Doughty, ' ' 7 Auckland ... 40 43 38 27 148 Lieut. Eoss, Napier 39 43 44 , 19 145 Vol. A.. Bailinger, ■ ■*- Wellington ... 36 40 34 34 144

" QUEENSLAND TEAM. ■ .. ' 300 500 600 700 I yds. yds. yds. yds. Tl. Crpl. Broadley *... 43 47 45 44 179 Major Hutchison... 42 44 40 36 162 Vol. Manuel ... 42 42 40 36 160 Lieut. M'Pherson ... 42 , 40 41 35 158 Crpl. Gargett „.. 42 44 29 33 148 Sergt. Moodie ... 41 46 37 23 147 Vol. Hamley ... 41 46 36. 29 152 Crpl. Winterford ... 41 39 33 34 147 Col.-Sergt. Grant ... 39 41 41 30 151 Vol. Crease... ... 39 39 36 36 150