THE DEFENCE FORCES' RIFLE MEETING.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 56, 7 March 1904, Page 2

THE DEFENCE FORCES' RIFLE MEETING.

SATURDAY'S SHOOTING. CANTIiKIIUItY" AND WELLINGTON AIATCIIIiH. TRKNTJLUI, Thin Bay. Tho shooting 11L t ho 20Uyds i tinge in tho Cjiiioibuiy match took place under coiulil ioum vi ly favourable for good scoring—the ''ghl being (food and (ho weather c.ilm. Two "possibles" veio made— one liy Kitlciuau \\ ih.on, of I'etone, und tho other by I'orpl. Lester, of (Jlnistehureh. \Vllson\s big- hung shot was a "magpie-," after vhich ho iio\cr got oil' Hid bull'seye. His shooting ut Mibs«!i|iiciil. langcs was v .itched with conbidei.thlo interest, as was th^t, of Cliing, of Waimea (who tslill maintain* liis lead in tho aggregate) for tho championship-), and W. Jl. JJnllingcr, G. Hawthorne, and G. Loveday. Although King (tho present eliumpioii), G. Hyde, and Henry, of tbo Opaki Club, have not been quito so prominent as was expected, it is not at all improbable that they •will be found shooting it out for tho finish. Ohing'.Ni sighting ehot was an " outer, " then ho improved with an inner, after which ho mado fii.v "lives," leaving hi in still leading aggregate with 200. Maingay, tho Auckland district champion — who.se ecor.o wus 31 — has not ueen ahooting up to his best form. King, of the, Opaki Kiflo Club, started well with a. "sighter" of five, then followed tAro inners, after whicli ho put on tho major shot four times, finishing with a magpio. W. 11. Ballinger'a individual s>hot.<» wero 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, A. At tho 500 yds, possibles were mado by Sergt. runiell (Wauganui), Drummond (Dunneyirko), Lieut. Okey (Taranaki), and Bifloinon I<'oi3b, of tho Kaiwaiwai (Featherston) Rille Chjb. J. Wilson, of Petone, maintained liis repuijttion for euiLsistent shooting this year by registering 34. Ho started with a flvo sighter, and kept on tho "spot" for six shots, his last being an inner. G. Love day, of Wnikato, who gradimlly improved his position in the aggregate, mado an "all-bnl," but *later in tho afternoon finished with tho most remarkable performance of the day. King, of Opaki, waa onlx onco off tho bull's-eye at this raugo, and that was his first shot, which was an inner. Thirty-thrcc'a wore fairly plentiful. When the men went back from this riuige, Ching still maintained his lead in UlO aggregate, being six above W. JI. Ballinger and eight above G. Hawthorne, and he led Loveduy by nino and Wil.«on by oleven. At tho next range (600 yd») Artnit,-ige, of Tarotiaki, mado the vpnly possible. Sandford, of Christdiurcli, shot into first place, and carried oft' the top prize with the splendid scoro of 100 out of a possible 105. ■ Ms ficorcs at the three ranges werf ; 200 yds, 32; 600, 34; 600, 34. Much intcrent was taken in tho last, two shots of Wilson, of PctiMie, for it was possible for him to havo equalled .landlord's total by making two bull's-eyes. There must have been a group of over a hundred competitors watching Wilson's last Hhots, which woro a nngpio and an inner, making his total 97.