The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-02 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER.

" MATERNAL REGARD."—Emma Goodman, a
middle-aged woman, with an infant in her arms,
was charged with being drunk and incapable of
taking care of herself and child.
Police-constable William Page said he was near
Paulton-square, Chelsea, last night when he heard
a child cry, and a female voice exclaim " Can't I
do as .1 like with my own child"? He went to the
spot, and on a step in the square found the defen-
dant sitting down.

Defendant—Dear me, I was sitting on the pave-
ment giving my dear child the breast.

Police Constable—The people around told me
that the cause of the cry and exclamation I heard
was produced by the defendant throwing her child
upon the ground, and asserting her right to do as
she pleased with it. Finling a large crowd assem-
bled I asked her to move on, but she abused me.
I examined the child, and did not think it was
hurt.

Defendant —Dear infant, I was a-suckling of it.

Policeman—l found, when she at last got up,
that she was drunk and incapable, so I took her
into custody.
Defendant—l should have gone on, but I sat
down to give the dear infant the breast ; that was
all, your worship. I hope you will forgive me.
Mr. Selfe—l never forgive women who get
drunk with infants in their arms. You are fined
55., or seven days.

7IIE BELGIAN NATIONAL RIFLE

ASSOCIATION.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 30.

The general shooting at the Tir altogether closed
last evening, and, with the exception of a special
competition among the best shots of Belgium on
the 11th of October for a challenge cup presented
by the English National Rifle Association, and the
prize presentation on the 19th of the same month,
the proceedings in which so many English Volun-
teers have taken part are finished. There was no
ceremony at the close, but the directors have now
the arduous task of setting out who are the winners
of. about 600 prizes, which are given in different
"series" for different shooting, some for highest
points, and some for the greatest number of bull's-
eyes or bluncs made at certain targets during the
meeting. _ _ _

It is generally believed that two English Volun-
teers will win the prizes given at the short range,
the 250 yards, for the greatest number of bull's-
eyes, Mr. Bird, of the South Middlesex, having
scored upwards of 200, and Mr. Russell, of
the 29th Kent, being a close competitor with
him. Mr. Farquharson, of Inverness, has reached
the highest number of blancs at the long range,
and he has also obtained the highest scores made in
the long range cible fixe, and in the same range
cible a volonte. The cible a volonte is a competition
in which the competitors enter as often as they like,
and when they make a good score they generally
wait until it is beaten, and then enter again with
the purpose of making still more points. For
several days 20 in the cible a volonte stood the
highest, and this was made by Mr. Farquharson and
Mr. Bird with the Henry military breechloader,
but a better 20, which is equal to bull's-eyes in
England, was beaten by another score, which com-
menced with a carton. Mr. Farquharson at length
scored 23 both in the fixe and volonte—namely, two
bull's-eyes and three cartons at the 611 yards (550
metres), and this with the military-sighted weapon
according to English regulations—namely, with
immovable foresight of the knife-edge pattern, and
the plain bar back-sight, while most of the com-
petitors had rifles fitted with military sights accord-
ing to Continental views—with bead fore-sights
and back-sights, which afford a pure aim being
taken without any such "blur" as is seen when the
English notch back-sight is aligned. In the long
range cible fixe, Mr. Duncan, of Cambridge, shoot-
ing with the Whitworth, and mechanically fitting
bullets, scored 22 in the fire, Ensign While, of the
39th Middlesex, scored 20 with the Henry, Captain
Scrivener 19, with the same weapon, and Mr.
Henry, of Edinburgh, the inventor, scored 18, all
of which scores will come in for some of the first
prizes in this competition.
Most of the Englishmen who came over here
brought their Enfields only, but none of them at-
tempted to fire more than a few shots with the
weapon in any competition except those which were
restricted to the service rifle and ammunition, such
as the King's Prize and the Anglo-Belgian compe-
titions. The Volunteers soon found that the late
general weapon of the British service, but now only
in use by the Volunteer service, would do them no
credit against the small-bores used by other com-
petitors, especially as the service ammunition now
served out from the Government stores to the
Volunteer Corps is of the 1862 and 1863 date, and
is not at all trustworthy. The English small-bore
men were besieged with applications for a few shots
out of any small-bore rifle by men who had brought
over Enfields and a good stock of the Government
ammunition, and were desirous of achieving the
honour of taking home some plate stamped with
the King's arms, but saw that it was impossible to
win prizes with the Enfield loaded with the in-
ferior service ammunition, which has in some
instances voyaged round the world before being
issued to the Volunteer service. The brothers in
arms were quite willing to assist each other, and
after the Enfield competitions no service weapons
were to be seen at the firing points in any
active operation, and offers of the Government
ammunition were made to be generally refused.
The ammunition of the small-bores which first be-
came scarce was the costly Whitworth, but Rig-
by's, Henry's, Turner's, and Kerr's rifles were shot
with the hardened cylindrical bullet, a good supply
of which had been brought over ; but towards the
close of the meeting they, too, became very scarce.
The shooting with the " Henry " breechloader, the
only English breechloader fired, was also stopped
for a short time by a scarcity of the " Boxer " car-
tridge, which is used with it, for the success of the
weapon at long and short distances had brought a
good many applicants for its use, and the inconve-
nience likely to result from having weapon and no
ammunition was got over by telegraphing for a
supply, which was brought in by one of the last
comers among the Volunteers.
As several of those whose names were given as
winning prizes in the King's Prize competitio❑ have
won prizes in the other English competitions, there
will be room for some other winners, and Captain
Scrivener, of the Queen's Westminster, and Mr.
Clarke, of the South Middlesex, will come in.
The thanks of the competitors are due to the
committee for the courteous manner in which all
points were considered. The committee, in ar-
ranging for a new competition such as this, had a
most difficult task, and they carried out their work
with ability and =Mom funinoin.