The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-11 00:00:00

The interest of the Wimbledon display reached

its culminating point yesterday. While the people's
Representatives in Parliament assembled were
slaving drearily through bill and estimate, the
people themselves flocked to the wide, sunny heath
of Wimbledon. What could be more appro-
priate on the Queen's birthday than that marks-
men of her dominions should hold their final
contest for the proud distinction of the Queen's
Prize ? The competition was open in the
wisest sense to all comers. No one could allege that
in this instance civil service examiners barred the
way to honour or advantage ; the only qualification
insisted upon was that the candidate should have
shown his patriotism by connecting himself with the
national force. Nay, if anything, the terms of invi-
tation seemed rather too universal, for the well-
drilled Volunteer, who had possibly never handled
a rifle till he joined his regiment, might and, no
doubt, would be called upon to test his skill against
a practised deer-stalker. It was not the steadiest
shot at a particular range, nor the man who, consi-
dering his regimental opportunities, had used them
to greatest effect ; it was emphatically the " best
man" whom the Council of the National Rifle Asso-
ciation sought to discover and reward. The events
of the preceding days, however interesting in
themselves, were consequently but a pre-
lude to the crowning contest, in which, the
less efficient marksmen being gradually dis-
tanced, the more fortunate competitors assumed
positions of greater prominence. The order of yes-
terday's proceedings, as has been already stated,
was as follows :—Each of the 40 competitors for the
Queen's prize shot finally with Whitworth rifles at
800, 900, and 1,000 yards' range. The Whitworth
rifle was adopted at these long ranges partly be-
cause it is more reliable than the Enfield in all
distances above 600 yards, and partly because,
being a weapon new to most Volunteers, the prac-
tice they were enabled to make with it would be an
additional test of their skill and judgment. One of
the competitors being absent, the remaining 39
were formed into two squads and fired at different
targets. Five of the candidates retired during the
contest, and the interest of the match lay practically
with the following gentlemen, who all made excel-
lent scores :—Mr. Jopling (2d South Middlesex),
Mr. Bingham (Bristol), Lord Bury (Civil Service),
Mr. Brooks (12th Middlesex), and Mr. Rowe (Ist
Devon). Mr. Duggan and Mr. Moir, who at
shorter ranges were the favourites in public esti-
mation, fell completely behind ; but it is right
to state that Mr Duggan had never previously fired
at a range exceeding 600 yards. In the last round
the interest was keenly excited to discover whether

the five leaders would retain their foremost places.
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Rowe each lost a point, and
were thereby reduced to the second rank ; but time
after time the signal flags responded to the shots of
Mr. Jopling, Mr. Bingham, and Lord Bury, and at
the close of the match their scores exhibited a triple
" tie" of 18. The total score made by the 40 can-
dates was as follows :

BCO. 900. 1,000 Total.

South Middlesex 6 .. 6 6 ..
Mr. Bingham, Bristol .. 11 .. 4 3 ..
Lord Bury, Civil Service .. 7 .. 6 5
Mr. Brooks, 12th Middlesex .. 8 5 4 ..
Mr. Rowe, Ist Devon .. .. 8 7 .. 2 ..
Mr. Jenkins, 2d Glamorgan .. 8 .. 5 .. 4 ..
Mr. Dickens, Ist Middlesex
(Victoria Rifles) .. .. 7 5 4 ..
Mr. Woodford, 2d Isle of Wight 8 .. 6 2 ..
Mr. Lawson, 32d Middlesex .. 7 .. 7 .. 2 ..
Mr. Moody, 3d Lanark .. 8 .. 2 .. 6 ..
Mr. Miller, Bristol .. 7 .. 5 .. 3 ..
Mr. Murdoch, 10th Edinburgh 9 .. 4 2 ..
Mr. Booth, 14th North Riding,
York

3 .. 5
Mr. Stewart, 11th Middlesex.. S .. 3 3 ..
Mr. Clark, 27th West Riding,
York 3 .. 2 ..
Mr. Adams, Ist Surrey .. 7 .. 4 .. 2 ..
Mr. Duggan, 26th Lancashire.. 9 .. 3 .. 0 ..
Mr. Smith, Ist Middlesex Ar-
tillery •..7 ..2 .. 3
Mr. Beasley, Ist Warwick .. 7 .. 3 .. 2 ..
Mr. Davidson, 11th Norfolk .. 7 .. 3 .. 2 ..
Mr. Moir, Stirling .. .. 4 .. 3 .. 4 ..
Mr. Plaskett, Civil Service .. 9 .. 2 .. 0 ..
Mr. Hitchcock, 7th Wilts .. 3 .. 4 .. 4
Mr, Goodliffe, 11th Herts .. 1 .. 4
Mr. Milner, 2d South Middlesex 8 .. 2 1
Mr. Kirkwood, 3d Renfrew .. 5 .. 2 .. 3 ..
Mr. Rushton, 11th Monmouth 4 .. 2 .. 4 _
Mr. Greig, 27th Cheshire .. 7 .. 2 .. 1 ..
Mr. Hendrie, 7th Ayrshire .. 6 .. 3 .. 0
Mr. Parr, 47th Lancashire .. 5 .. 1•
Mr. Russell, 29th Kent 5 3 retired
Mr. Gortage, Ist Berks .. 3 3.. 2
Mr. West, 9th Essex .. .. 3 .. 2 2 ..
Mr. Marryatt, 4thN. Rdng, Yk. 3 .. 3 .. 0 ..
Mr. Green, 3d Somerset 4 1 .. 0 ..
Mr. Ingledew, Bth N. Rdng, Yk. 2 .. 2 retired
Mr. Davis, 2d Glocester 4 0 retired
Mr. Robinson, 16th Middlesex 2 retired • •
Mr. Morrison, 2d Renfrew 1 1 retired
Mr. Scutt, 9th Wilts .. .. absent.
The appreciation evinced by the spectators of the
skill of the competitors was such that during the
closing rounds their anxiety became almost feverish.
The suspense, apparently interminable, which
stretches on " Derby day" between the rush of
horses and the winning post, affords the only simile
at all comparable to the excitement prevailing.
Ultimately, when General Hay came forward and
declared that, according to the rules of the Associa-
tion, Mr. Jopling, having distanced his present
compeers at the previous ranges, was entitled to the
coveted distinction, popular enthusiasm broke all
bounds, and not satisfied with an outburst of cheer-
ing, for which even Wimbledon-common seemed to
confined an area, his friends, relatives, and admirers
swept down on the successful candidate, and bore
him off in triumph.
The following comparative statement of the
shooting made by the four competitors whose
names head the list puts the superiority of Mr.
Sopling in a very clear light, and exhibits the
grounds on which the award of the Council was
made. At the long ranges, as already stated, the
total score of three of these gentlemen amounted to
[B. In the earlier stages the points obtained by
hem had been :

200 500 600
Yds. Yds. Yds. Total,
Jopling ll 5 4 20
Bingham 7 5 7 19
Bury (Lord)

Rowe

6 8 4 18

Adding those 20 points to the 18 obtained yester-
day Mr: Jopling's score mounts up to 38—a number
of which Mr. Bingham's score, the next highest,
falls short by one point.
Mr. Jopling, who, in gaining the Queen's Prize,
receives with it the Gold Medal of the association,
thus taking his " double-first," and becoming the
champion shot of England, unlike his predecessor,
Mr. Ross, is one who owes his inspiration and train-
ing entirely to the Volunteer movement. His in-
structor, in common with Lord Bury, who so nearly
obtained the first place, was Sergeant Potter, at-
tached to the Hythe School of Musketry. Mr.
Jopling, it may be interesting to add, holds office in
the Adjutant-General's department, and belongs to
the 10th (War-office) Company of the 2d South
Middlesex. His successes, it would appear, are not
confined to the rifle range ; for the picture which,
as an amateur artist, he contributed to this year's
exhibition was criticised in a favourable spirit.

Looking at the results of the shooting as a whole,
the Metropolitan corps, especially the South Mid-
dlesex and Civil Service, must be admitted to have
upheld most creditably the fame of the capital, and to
have done something towards solving the debated
queption of " the defence of London." Three corps
had each two members in the 40—viz., the South
Middlesex, Civil Service, and Bristol ; but three of
the best men at yesterday's long ranges all belonged
to metropolitan regiments. Among those who figure
in the selected list we find that 10, or one-fourth of
the entire class, belong to Middlesex corps ; in ad-
dition to whom a representative is contributed by
the let Surrey, who cannot, perhaps, be strictly re.