Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-07-10
ATHLETIC GAMES IN SWITZERLAND.
Shooting Fete In the Cantons.

| that the hrs OF the SWISS were their great
| political gatherings, but this, l imagine, from
what see of this Tir Cantonal, must be only
said of the Tir Federal. The Cantonal societies
have shooting matches SO often, | should sup.
| pose, as to be ofcomparatively little Importance
| This one is a tete for Geneva, but l can see no
| great political value in it. IL is kept much as
Evacuation day in New York, the public
buildings being decorated with fags--Swiss
| (of all cantons and federal) English and Ameri-
! can. / have seen no others, and the French is
so abhorred that it would only he brought out
to be burned or insulted. A huge American
flag hangs, b. chance presume opposite our
window. r. insists that it is intended for me
rs the only American competitor, but | think
it is owing rather TO its being the largest flag,
and so taking the entire of the front of the
hotel where my room happens to be. This
| Ilr is at Carouge, a village just across the
Rhone from Geneva, in which the tete is com.
| plete.
Triumphal arches are built across the road,
| surinounted by flags of the cantons, and deco
rated with their escutcheOns, the bear of
Berne, the keys Of Geneva, and others which
| did not know, and underneath hung notices
-"On pour touS tous pour un, "Liberte ie plus
cher de nos bienS," and many more of like sig
nifcance, with scraps of national songs and
bursts of patriotic sentiment The streets
| leading to the grounds where the shooting is
| to take place are hung with little flags, one
from each window, and the people in all their
| tinery, the members of the society of the Tir
| Cantonal with their badges of ribbon and
cockades, some with the silver cross on their
arms, and all busy and important for nothing,
hustle and stroll through the streets. In the
| grounds is erected a large temporary dining
hall, in which all the public dinners are to
take place; then the shooting ground, most
deliberately arranged. There a ,ong booth
| to load in and fire from at one side, and at the
| other, at the distance of five hundred French
feet, are the targets, about thirty or forty, di-
| vided into free and society targets-at the lat
ter none but the members being permitted to
fire; and as the principal prizes are given by
the shooting at these, it follows that strangers
can only compete for the small priZes-a dis
covery which excited my disgust strongly.
The Tir commenced on Sunday last, and
shortly before the hour of the ceremonies mi
tiative, went to the ground with RS Swiss
guide, Savoyard by birth and residence
There was much walking and talking, pro-
gramme of procession, &C., which did not ap.
pear, and which were not provided, in fact A
brass band marched up and down, and then
into the dining booth and when all the pre-
liminaries Of marching and bringing of guns,
and firing of cannon had been gone through,
and the bringing of meats for the dinner at
P. NJ, had commenced, came away, as l had
an engagement for drive in the afternoon
The next day | was on the ground with Jo-
seph again. and my rifle, when, upon learning
the exact conditions of the competition my
disgust was completed, and my notion of the
common sense of the Swiss much diminished.
The firing was all off-hand at cartons eight
inches in diameter, and only the shots that hit
them were taken notice of, so that to win a
prize 1t was quite necessary to shoot all the
week, since some were to do so, and poor
shot could scarcely fail in that time to make
great many hits, the average going for moth
ing. The arrangement is a good one for the
benefit of the funds Of the society as the shots
are six sous each, and man will easily fire a
hundred a day. The method of marking is
also very bad, the shots being entirely unre-
corded and the markers, generally the most
stupid fellows in the canton, are entrenched
before the targets, and when shot is made
they draw the target down to examine it. AS
it is Of iron the balls only make spot on it,
which are not erased, and consequently anoth-
er ball striking the same place is likely to pass
unnoticed.
l used a pocket spy-glass to examine the
target which made the managers very angry,
and it was in violent manner forbidden l saw
enough, though, to be satisfied that after a
dozen or two bits it would be very difficult to
find IA small ball on the target. The markers
had slaves, with round tin heads, one side
black, the other white, with which they point
ed out, without raising their heads from the
trench where they were hidden where the
shots had hit. The carton had bulls eye two
and half inches in diameter, the touching of
which was indicated by flag raised all shots
outside that, but in the carton, were shown by
numbers indicating the distance from the
centre.
The targets were partly devoted to carabines
or hunting rifles, and partly TO iusils, or rifle
musketS. The hunting rifles aIe much like
ours, small in bore and heavy in metal, and
! very heavily and clumsily stocked and mount.
ed, the bullets being very long and rudely
| shaped, with great bearing surface and the
powder being very bad they put great deal
i'll the gun, the effect OF all which is an enor.
nous reCoil. | fired one of those on the
ground, to compare with my own, and at the
first shot received a blow between my eyes
from the back sight that left its effects for sew
eral days, and shows its mark still 1t fairly
stunned me. Judging from the shooting made,
| should say that the Swiss rifles were not
comparable to the American, though, as there
was no firing from rest, it might have been
simply bad shooting. With one OF their RI
| flies did not, however, make so good sho:s as
with my own.
The scene was very exciting nevertheless,
the continual cracking of the rifles, the hurry
| ing to and fro, the occasional arriving of depu-
| tatons with bands of music, the chattenng of
French, and Cabling OF German Swiss, and
the odd dialects which were the mixture of
the two. Here and there a group discussed
the probabilities Of Napoleon taking Geneva,
and all declared, with patriotic enthusiasm,
| that he never should take his dinner at this
city. NO" said Joseph, who, being already
annexed, begins to grow loyal, "but he'll take
his breakfast there" ''No, no," replied the
Switzers, 1--WE will meet him " it'll our cara.
Dimes, and lac shall never take them from u.s."
"Poh, said Joseph, in return che don't want
your carabnes-he only wants Geneva"
We'll, this shooting goes on all this week,
and next Sunday (tomorrow) the prizes are
awarded; but, rs we shall spend Sunday at
st. Martins, we shall not know what comes of
the Tir. No doubt there will be many patri-
otto speeches made, and much gunpowder
wasted in cannon salutes, for they are to have
grand dinner, at two and a half francs
head. Napoleon will be denounced, and all
that but he will have Geneva and the Pays de
Vaud in spite Of call that, and the Swiss car
ablnes to boot. Ii you will look at map of
Switzerland, you will see that the canton of
Geneva is point of land running down the
RhOne between Chablais and the French de-
partment de Pain. 1t is n broad, level coun-
try, lying between the Jura and the range of
the Laleve and the Vorons, and enclosing the
point Of the lake OF Geneva, the southern
shore Of whicI is now French being the shore
| Of