The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-04 00:00:00

ME NA7IONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

The annual report of this association has just
been issued, and gives interesting information con-
cerni,ig the progress of rifle shooting, not only in
this country, but in distant colonies, settlements,
aad all places where our countrymen have congre-
gated—in Canada, India, Australia, and China,
where shooting is c Irried on just the same as at
Wimbledon. In 1860, when the association was in-
stituted, 67 prizes were given, of the value of £2,238,
and such has been the progress made that at

last year's meeting 1,045 prizes were given, of the
value of £10,592 10s. The Queen has headed the
prize list from the beginning with the special prize
of the Volunteers, every competitor being the spe-
cial representative of a regiment. The prizes gene-
rally have been usually divided into two classes,
Volunteer" and "All Corners," but last year an
addition was made of " Army" prizes for certain
selected men of the army to shoot for without pay-
ment of either entrance fee or sighting-shot
money. There were 1,830 entries for the
Queen's prize last year, a decrease of 274 on the
year before, but there was an increase of 120 in the
St. George's Challenge Vase competition, the mode
of entry for which is 103. for each selected man of
his regiment, being half the fee paid for entering
the Queen's. For the Enfield All Corners, with
entrance fees of 10s. and ss. each range, the
numbers of entries still keep very high.
For the Alexandra, with an entrance fee of 10s.
each range, the entries for prizes amounting to
£275 each range, were at 200 yards, 1,118,
or 559, double the amount of the prize ;
at 500 yards, 1,121 entries, or £650 10s. ;
and at 600 yards, 1,088. For the Albert (any
rifle), in which no one enters except the smallbore
shots with the smallbore fancy rifles, there were
184 entries for the ,-.4'670 offered in prizes, and the
entrance fees will bring in about £644, the
amount being at the rate of £3 10s. each competi-
tion for the four ranges. This proves that fancy
ride competitions do not pay. Another instance,
in addition to the Alexandra, of mannerthe
in
nwhich the soldier's weapon pays in competi-
tions is shown in the Windmill prizes, the entrance
fee to which was ss. each range. There were, at
200 yards, 1,025 entries, for £175 iu prize value,
and 1,019 entries at 500 yards, for prizes of the
same value. It would appear from this that the
favourite entries of the crowd of competitors are
for those prizes which are shot for with what is
still, so far as the volunteer service is concerned,
"the national weapon"—the muzzleloading Enfield.
One of the most interesting matches of last
year was for the breechloading prizes. The sum
of £5O was given by the Duke of Cambridge for
competitors with breechloaders, and it was decided
to give this sum as a " second stage prize"—i.e., for
winners in a first stage to shoot for. This com-
petition, from which much utility was to be ex-
pected, was not a tempting one to enter, for in the
first stage no priies whatever were offered in the
book of prizes, all the information given being that
competitors might enter three times at each range
(200 and 500 yards), on payment of ss. each entry,
making a total of 30s. in money. Lord Elcho has
been elected as President, his old post, in place of
Earl Spencer, who has been obliged to resign in
consequence of taking the position of Lord-Lieute-
nant of Ireland.

COURSE OF EXCHANGE.—Last Evening.

Amsterdam Short ... 12 ... 12 f
Do
Rotterdam ..... — ... 12 It ... 12 2t
Antwerp — ... 25 35 40
... 23 40
Brussels - ••• 25 35 ... 23
Ramburgh — ... 13 101 ...
25 22f
13 11
Paris
Ditto
Marseilles
34
Frankfort-on-the-Main ... 121 ... 1
12 43 .•• 12 00
Vienna
Trieste
••• 3lf 12 55
Petersburg
Copenhagen — ~ 9 20 ... 9 21
Berlin
Madrid..
Cadiz
Leghorn
Milan
... 26 35 ... 26 40
Genoa
--
Naples .......... .
... 26 33 ... 26 40
Palermo
Messina
.. 26 33 ... '26 40
Lisbon
Oporto
Rio Janeiro — •••
New York - •.

THE NEW BANKRUPTCY BILL. —At a meeting of
the council of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce yester-
day, Mr. Clark, the president, stated that, except as ro-
gards ante and post-nuptial settlements, the new Bank-
ruptcy Bill would embrace all the more important reforms
which chamber had IvaB acly pcated.