RIFLE SHOOTING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3132, 8 March 1909, Page 5

RIFLE SHOOTING.

TRENTHAM MEETING. Ky Telergaph—Press Association. TRENTHAM, March 6. To-day was devoted entirely to service matches at 'lrentham, and keen interest was taken in them by the multitudinous competitors. These matches have comparatively little interest to the general public because there is nothing that stands out conspicuously in them as in the case of the various matches for the Championship Belt, but ttiey secure the class of shooting for which the Dominion Rifle Association really exists, ana so are a valuable aid to national defence. The weather conditions to-day were similar to those existing during Thursday and Friday, and the' oldest Trenthsin marksmen cannot recall so prolonged a spell of perfect weather during a Championship meeting. The only drawback has been the unusually high temperature during the day, and excessive cold at night. In starting the men off to the mounds this morning, Colonel Collins made a cheering announcement. The programme, he said, had been based upon an estimate of 500 competitors, but the total number of riflemen entered was 536. It had therefore been decided to give £IOO in extra prizes; £SO for a consolation match, open to all competitors who had not won £1 or over, and £SO to be distributed at the rate of £1 per man to the fifty men whose aggregate scores are nearest to the fifty highest aggregates firing in the King's Prize competition.

There were four service matches fired to-day. In Service Match No. 7 (sharpshooting at 200 yards, seven shots), one hundred and twenty-five competitors won 8s each. In Service Match No. 8 (rapid firing, 500 yards), the following were the principal prize winners:— Turner. Petone, £o, 46; Potter, Auckland, £4, 45; Chapman, Te Kapu, £3, 44; Frederick, Marton, McLeay, Opaki, Benton, Pongarca, 43 each; Rait, Gisborne, McCalmont, Opaki, Sofer, Taumaranui, 41 each. In the Cover Match, the following won £2 6s each:—Lowe, Gisborne; Barltrop, Feilding; Drummond, Westport; Moslem, Kaeo; Franklin, Weber: Anderson, Kaitangata; Bent, Taranaki; Stephens, Ashburton: Jackson, Wellington; Standish, Tarata; Pearson, Timaru; Proffitt, Napier; Currie, Riversdale; Wickens, Wellington; Kitchen, Upper Hutt; Irvine, Nelson; Wayte, Mataura; Eden, Nelson; Cameron, Palmerston North; Watson, Permanent Artillery; Wing, Marton; Nix, Apiti; Mirrilees, Johnsonville; Frederick, Marton; Simpson, Waikato; Loveday, Ohura. Match No. 9, distance 400, 300 and 200 yards.—Peak, Waikato, 9 points; Eden, Waimea, 9 points; Pankhurst, Colac Bay, 8 points; Henry, Opaki, 8 points; Zimmerman, Tariki, Cameron, Opaki, Ching, Waimea, 7 points each.