The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-05 00:00:00

THE RATIONAL RIFLE MATCH:

Such of the public—and they were a very select
few indeed—as went to Wimbledon yesterday in
the expectation of seeing a worthy repetition of the
exciting scene of last year must have been
grievously disappointed. In 1860 everything
favoured the spectacle. The Volunteer movement was
then in the full fever of its fist enthusiasm, the wea-
ther was delightful, and the patronage and presence
of royalty were vouchsafed to the match. Wim-
bledon was on that occasion decked out in its best,
while wreaths and garlands, and rustic arches gar-
nished every avenue to the common, and the ground
was crowded with all classes of the London popu-
lation, from the peer to the costermonger. The
Queen came forth from her royal pavilion to fire
the first shot, and that gracious act gave a momen-
tum to the sports which carried them triumphantly
through to the close. But this year we had, like
the French doctor, "changed all that." The
weather was as disagreeable as it could reasonably
be in the first week in July ; and if it had not been
for some vague general impression that the comet
had something to do with its condition, would have
been quite unbearable. Tne wind blew strong
across the shooting-ground, seriously disturbing
the course of the balls, and the rain came down in
blinding showers, which were equally inimical to
the comfort of the spectators. The consequence
was, that the common was a wilderness, there not
being at any period of the day more than fifty
persons present, except the officials and the volun-
teers who contended for the prizes. There was not
a single private equipage en the ground, and the
drivers of the omnibuses and cabs speculatively sur-
rounded the entrance pronounced opinions anything
but favourable to rifle matches in general, and espe-
cially to that particular one which had attracted
them to Wimbledon on such a bootless errand.
One fine moral effect, however, of the rather dis-
couraging state of things was, that it completely
killed the spirit of extortion in their whole com-
munity. They would take a passenger to or fro
for anything he was inclined to give, and in one or
two instances actually offered to take him for no-
thing, in the hope that his appearance in their
vehicle might serve as a trap for some more profit-
able customer, It is but fair to add that this
general languor had not infected either the council
of the association or any of their staff. Lords
Elcho and Spencer, Sir J. Paxton and Colonel
Steele had been on the ground for two or
three days before, making arrangements, and
the last-named gentleman and Captain Mild-
may camped on the field, in order that they
might be able to give all the arrangements their
immediate and constant supervision. Quite a for-
midable encampment had been established at the
entrances to the ground, profusely decorated with
the flags of various nations, and commodious tents
were allotted to the council, the secretary, the in-
specting general and his staff, and the representa-
tives of the press. Large refreshment booths, under
the superintendence of Mr. Donald, of the St.
James's-hall, stood in the immediate neighbourhood,
so that all the arrangements were perfect for a suc-
cessful and brilliant campaign. In a far corner a
cluster of small white tents indicated the locality
of a detachment of the Foot Guards, to whom, as in
last year's match, all the fatigue duty was allotted,
and the remainder of the vast space was given up
o the riflemen and their " Tir." It is satisfactory
to be able to state that in this, the most important
feature of the day's business, there was no falling
off, but an increase since the match of last year.
Every corps which had been written to sent up its
contingent, and there were not less than one thou-
sand candidates who answered to their names. The
arrangements comprised thirty-six targets against
twenty last year, and included twelve " Pools," a
most attractive branch of the firing, all electric
according to Chevalier's patent, and acting as their
own indicators. The firing commenced at about
half past twelve o'clock, and continued without in-
termission until nightfall. The crack of the rifle
was incessant, showing that no matter what might
be the weather, the volunteers were not to be de-
terred from their brave contention. The object of
yesterday's shooting was to ascertain the men who
were worthy of being allowed, to-day, to contend
for the Queen's prize, and the emulation was very
great amongst the gallant riflemen. The weather,
however, marred all their efforts, and the firing was,
in consequence, anything but first-rate. A minimum
of six points was necessary to " get" a man " out,"
that is to say to entitle him to direct candidature
to-day, and we believe that nearly two thirds
failed in obtaining the minimum. Some blamed
the rifles, and others the screens behind which
they stood, and which they alleged deceived
them as to the force of the wind—ever one
blamed the weather, and nobody himself; but the
result was, as we have stated, to reduce the num-
bers who will shoot to-day to a very select band.
tTiohne,mthe enfrom Oxford all "got out," some of them
making
eight points, and altogether carrying away
t
the palm in
successh e day'sef
the firing
candidates; bu t , with
wasverythis m
e x c
id-
g, five, four, and even three points being com-
mon scores, and one ambitious marksman having
failed in hitting the target at all. This gentleman,
whose name we were not fortunate
Queen's Pi
uPgrhi
zteo, obtaini;
considers that he has
lost
he wouldw e
a t h haveer.m
beenr. sure to to-day, entirely
through the screens and th unfortunateo
amongst
astte t
ho
ef
the
Ross the elder (father of the
Champion) was, we were infocandidates, and did not succeed in making the
propitious to-day much
n e ces
Shouldsa y number
te of po
weather ints.
e
creambetter
sopfo rtth ise previous
expected.
day's The candidateseententien
andthe
prize l be the
prize being actually in sieve will no doubt greatly
stimulate their efforts. It is a pity, however, that
the royal patronage of last year could not have
been repeated, and it was with much regret that on
arriving at the South Western platform we saw the
state carriages drawn up for a trip to Osborne,
whilst the brave volunteers might be seen on the
other side of the line crowding all sail for Wim-
bledon. The Queen's presence would have been
like her Majesty's name—a tower of strengh—and
the Rifle Association, which is yet in its infancy,
wants all the strength that can be given to it from
influential quarters. For the convenience of the
volunteers and others who may be going to Wim-
bledon to-day, we have to state that at each en-
trance large entrance boards are erected contain-
ing all necessary information as to the situation of
the targets and the order of the shooting, so that it