H.—l9.

Order of Merit for B.D. Shooting, — No. 1 Canterbury .. . . . . .. ... . . Ist. No. 1 Otago .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 2nd. No. 2 Wellington .. .. .. .. .. .. 3rd. Order of Merit for Q.F. Shooting, — No. 2 Otago .. .. .. .. .. ■■"..•; .. Ist. No. 1 Canterbury . . . . .. .. . . .. 2nd. No. 1 Wellington . . . . . . .. .. ~ 3rd. No. "1 Company, Canterbury Division, is awarded the Coast Artillery Cup for B.L. No. pany, Ofcago Division, is awarded the Hudson Cup for Q.F. shooting.

Table B. — Average Figure of Merit of Divisions arranged in order of Merit.

Dominion Rifle Association. The annual rifle shooting meeting was held at Trentham in March last, commencing on the 4th and terminating on the 11th, and was particularly noteworthy as being the occasion of a visit of a representative rifle team from New South Wales, which came to compete for the Empire Match and the Gordon Highlanders Trophy. The Empire Match, which is open to a duly accredited team of eight men from any part of the British Empire, and is fired for in two stages, the first at 200, 500, and 600 yards, and the second at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards, was won by the New Zealand team with a score of 2,043, the New South Wales team scoring 1,932. In view of the weather-conditions, the score of our representatives was distinctly good, and the win against the excellent team representing New South Wales was indeed meritorious. The Gordon Highlanders Trophy is also shot for by teams of eight men, but under novel and difficult service conditions. The trophy was presented by the Gordon Highlanders Regiment for competition between the States of the Commonwealth and New Zealand, in remembrance of their association with the overseas contingents during the South African War. This match was also won by the Now Zealand team, the Dominion thus retaining possession for this year of the valuable trophy, which was won by New Zealand at Randwick in October, 1909. Under the conditions of competition this trophy, which is becoming historic, has again to be competed for in Australia during 1910. There was again a large increase in the number of competitors, totalling 568, of whom 336 were Territorials and 232 Rifle Club men. The latter show a marked increase, and the total was another record for New Zealand. The amount received from entrance fees for ordinary matches was £1,624 75., and for re-entry and extra matches £75 10s. ; disputed shot fees yielded £86 2s. 6d.; and donations from the public amounted to £45 ss. The cash prizes paid totalled £1,702 155., the prize-money being allocated as follows :— £ s. d. Open to all competitors .. .. .. .. .. 1,522 15 0 Open to Territorials only .. .. .. .. .. 80 0 0 Open to Rifle Club men only .. .. .. .. .. 50 0 0 Empire Match .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 0 0 £1,702 15 0 The expenditure incidental to the meeting is chiefly made up of items as follows: Preparation of range and targets, £140 ; printing and stationery, £100 ; markers' fees, £100 ; postages, £10 ; freight and cartage, £30 ; wages, £175. Although a much larger number of the competitors stayed under canvas during the meeting than formerly, a considerable number of them did not take advantage of the liberal meals provided by the Association, consequently the cost of catering largely exceeded the receipts, and it is a matter for consideration as to whether a catering-fee should not in future be included in the entry. Further improvements were made in the service matches, with a view to inculcate skill with the rifle for use under service conditions, but, beyond the provision of moving and disappearing targets, the limited area of ground available and the safety of the public preclude any more extended scope. The figure target —brown, and green ground—which has been in use in one or two matches at Trentham for the last two years has been adopted by the National Rifle Association at Bisley and by the New South Wales Rifle Association, Sydney, for competitions up to 600 yards, and there is no reason why it should not be more generally used here.

2—H". 19.

9

Division. Commander. Fis Figure of Merit. gui re of M< [ei ■it. 1 ! Average Class. Average Canterbury . . Otago Wellington . . Auckland i . . j Lieut.-Colonel Cooper .. I Lieut.-Colonel Allen Lieut.-Colonel Campbell Lieut.-Colonel Patterson "t »"• 1-021 0-958 0-863 0-521 iu x 1st. 1st. 1st. 3rd.