Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-04-17

c0untereu q Zoe superior 10 HIS own ""J III
the minutiae of purely technical discipline
and drill. But French can and EARNS OF pre-
cision," achieved for him those fresh laS1l
of Magenta and Sollerino TO add To-
chaplet of the BonapaEz !.
The American people SsA
an interpescIhe contest, whereof llIcAl
y - visible to all, but Of which no child NC
living may witness the end We have boast
ed oil our numerical preponderance as though
a popular census could falsify Holy Writ, and
give the battle to the strong" The writer
erc"'iy fears tiatii t saptsa-I
eiiFalry may break in va;,.-pon tile serted
'front.' nfT'1 enth regiment, there will yet
be wailing in New York when the flower of
her sons are exposed to the unerring aim of
secession marksmen. Men, whose lives are daily
risked in the chase Of the bear and panther,
are not likely to prove contemplate adverse
ries, and must not be moderated
In former times, our own fathers were ex-
pert in the. use Of the smooth-bore and the
rifle. Bat, with the disappearance of interna-
tional enmity, and in the absence Of beasts
of the chase their children have sadly degen.
Grated. And it is to be apprehended that per
haps as safe position, i'll which to meet the
fire of our enrolled riflemen, as could well be
found, would be tie very location of their tar
get. Yet this is wholly the result OF the mod
ern disuse OF arms and the consequent lack
of practice.
Now it is too late to remedy the deficiencies
of this nature, if such exist, in the detach.
ments already summoned into service. But
care can certainly be taken to instruct the re-
serves-the body of the people-so that they
may take the field, if required, upon terms of
greater equality with their enemy. And the
writer would suggest the following plan, found
ed upon the principle of competitive emula-
ton, as possibly not wholly useless.
The annual convocation of all the rifemen
OIL switzerland is as famous as their confeder.
acy' Now it is well known that we, in Mas.
sachusetts at least, do not know how to spend
.ne Fourth OF July. Would il be impractica-
o.e' OF OF no advantage, for the municipality OF
worcester through its government or its citi
Zehs' 10 offer handsome rewards or nr;yas Co.,
the PAIN OF excellence in marksmanshin non,
with the rifle and riaed-pistol, the trial holm,
open TO all I? Our new common would annoor
ito offer an eligible location. The butts or tor
gets could be erected so that the hill to the
westward would avert all danger from an ex
IRENE range or bad aim. And the selection O
the national anniversary would not only dc
appropriate honor TO that day, but it woulc
also assign time, near enough, and still suffi
GENTLY remote, to enable every one who desir
ed to perfect himself as far as possible in the
acquisition Of that skill upon which our very
existence as nation may sooner or later turn
The proposition may be rejected as worth
less. The writer is not so ambitious of il,
adoption, as of inpIessing his fellow-citizen.
with his own views of one essential elemen
in which the American forces are now abso
lutely inferior to their enemies Fas est al
hoste docei if the constant employment O.
the rifle has made the inhabitants of the south
west expert, why should not similar amour
of practice be of equal benefit to the people O
Massachusetts? The citizens of Worceste
have heretofore evinced great interest in thei
annual regatta. Might not the proposed com
petition in Workmanship prove of like attrac
ton, more economy. and incalculable publ,
advantage? A UNION DEMOCRAT.