The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-09-16
The Rifle Match.


,,vr xIT10Ns CoNTESTING-THE FIRST DAYS
SHOOTING DESCRlBEp--A Rad BBGINNISG-
rooE SHOTS FROM FuLToN-FIrTEEN BULLS
yygS MADE BY AN FRESHMAN.
The New York Sua furnishes the follow
in. description OF the first days shooting In
tie International rifle contest, at Crccdmoor.
IN which the American, Scotch, Irish, Cana
disp. and Australian teams participated:
4, five minutes past II the whistle blew,
and William Cruit, OF the Canadians, lying
,ronc on shc ground, sent bullet scream
inc down the range plumb into the bulls
eve II TARGET y. Mr. Alexander Ward, in
brown blouse and knickerbockers OF Irish
tweed. which displayed his broad shoul-
dr-s and shapcly calves to good advantage,
nulled the trigger OF bis "Rigby" as he lay
H., on his stomach. and opened the ball for
Tho Irish with an "outer "A bad begin
nlng.
whom Lieutenant II. J. King, OF the Aus
,-aians. living on his back, gave courage to
- Australians by getting bulFs-eye, and
., thc same time quiet Martin Boyd, in gray
hlnuSe and knickerbockerS, and Scotch bon
net. sprawlins fatty on the ground, got n
huIl's-cve for the first Scotch shot. BY this
lime there had been dozen shots fired by
the foreigners, and the Americans had not
discharged a gun. They waited some
lime. and then Major Henry Fulton,
al Il squad, lay down on his back,
rcsted his gun barrel between his
rrossedlegS. -raspcd the stock with his left
band from behind his head, and his shot
wnistlcd down to the target, but not into
,hc bull'S-eye, contrary to the expectation
q, a great crowd OF admirers who stood be-
hind. He only got centre. General Da-
kin followed with bulfs-eEe, and the
crowd checrcd. Colonel BOdiue followed
him with centre. Farwell was fourth with
= bullS-eyc. Weber came next with Bulls
exc, Colonel Gildersleeye followed with an
"inncr," Allen was next with "bull,'
and Rathbone. the eighth, made centre.
Then Fulton lay down to fire his second
shot: he lav long time, arose. readiusted
his sights, took another long aim, and at
last fired. The anxious friends waited long
10 see the markers disk on the target. 1t
did not appear. 1t was miss.
The Canadians in the mean time were
pc..ing away rapidly, making twoS and
ihrccs and MANY fours, and not so many
tiycs. They shot in buSineSs-like man.
ncr and seemed anxious to get through as
quickly a> possible.
The Irish were doing far better. johnson
and Highly We're making buil's-eyes at every
shot and the others were making the " in
ncr>" and centres. Bulf-eyes were numer-
olls Oh the targets OF the Australians and
Scotch. and, TO person looking at the mark
cr>' disks is they appeared on the ten tar
gets. there was not much else but BULBS
eye, being made on any target. 1t
was fine shooting without doubt, and it
was rs certain that it would be q close
match. Ii was O'Clock when the firing on
the Sp0-yard range ceased. The Australians,
Il has been their custom on practice-dayS,
finished first. The Irish We're next, the
Canadians followed, and the Scotch and
Americans were last to finish. The shots
were ali huletined, and then the good
shooting became apparent. Edmond john
son. OF the Irish team, made perfect score,
fifteen consecutive bulPs-eyes, making a
score OF -. Captain 3. j. Wardill, OF the
Australians, had 4 score of eleven BULBS
eyes and four centres, II. Peter Rae and
K. McVittie, OF the Scots, had the same
each. Major Gildersleeve had twelve BULBS
eyes, one centre, and two inners, 20. r.
i.athbonc had the same total, with eleven
bulfs-eyes, three centres, and an inner.
The team totals showed that the Americans
I'D dwith $50 out Of 600 possible. The Scotch
and Irish tied at 535, the Australians We're
fourth at SOL, and the Canadians We're at
the foot with 521. There was great cheer
in. before the american bulletin when this
announcement was made. With the Ameri-
cans Is points ahead on the first range vic
Tory seemed certain.
At , o'clock the firing on the 900-yard
range began
The wind increased Z little, and was puffy
and battling. The Americans opened their
scores badly, Fulton, Bodine, and Allen
making cutters among their first shots, and
uAe others not getting many bulFs-eyes.
lAe Australians shot fairly, Wardill miss
ny On his twelfth shot. Gibson, Murison,
Cruit, and Disher, OF the Canadians, each
missed the target at this range, as did Mitch
q! and Fraser, Of the Scotch, and Dyas and
Miner, OF the Irish. The 900-yard-range
'cores were completed before O'Clock by
'oIone! Bodine making bulPs-eve on the
wrong target, which counts as a miss, thus
'polling full score. The team scores
showed that the Scotch had made 528, the
Hish and Australians 524 each, the Amerl-
cans 1lS, and the Canadians 476. This was
=, great falling of for the Americans, but
u1ey were yet at the front, with a whole
tVla lot the Two ranges OF LOGS to the Scots
i,V,5, The Irish l,059, the Australians 1,055,
Anu lAc Canadians 997.
Inc Scotch began now to look more
checriul, the Irish were sure OF beating at
I 'ne l,0W-yard range, the Australians were
slau 10 show what they could do at long
range, and the Americans knew they would
gain on the last range.
~. a little after the firing began. The wind
u'ea away; gray clouds hid the sun; it was
perfect day for shooting. So said some OF
1's II iiiemen; others, whose scores shoWed q
-eh 3i Duifs-eyes, found fault. The Scotch
~" puchled down to their work with grim
su''elhination st in each face. Lying prone,
Ie gray-coated rifemen made bulFs-eye
Mter bulPs-eye. The Irish were also doing
IIelI pest, and very good best, too. The
ntus'ialians na and Canadians lost ground, and
misses. Wv
,o- nehihc each team, seated within the outer
PC ana crowding against them from
t.%aout, or mounted on wagons, were the
nus oi The rifemen, thousands In num-
u,.. u 4 Dlnd man passing through the
gpins could tell which team was in front
gOYd. '"'A''"i p'ouiiai i'Aoe " 'Ae
,n,,, course the Americans We're i'm the
and utay' ay They came with score-books
dow eeaSsses, and their line stretched half
TLe, Ae range to the left OF the rifIemen.
tere:. Hatched each shot with breathless in.
,be w. When the white disk came up on
a. h.rget there was invariably chorus of
Tho osn deep and earnest, rolling through
BehH;aay"d. AT miss each man looked sad.
al aino ,ue Inc Irish were many ladies as well
'nahy enth usiastic men. IT was an ex.