Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-15
on THE BULLS EYE.
The New Cre0dmOOr Near Fort
Omaha.
a Visit to the Rife Range lof
the Department Of the
Platte
And n Glance at the Modus Opsr-
andi Of Target Practice.

1uooe Woo reuieunUer tu6 Openl0p
Of the CresGmoor rife range In 1875
will recall the sharp Interest IL
craftsmanship whic h rapidly followed
Its inauguration. This interest wa.
not confined to private marksmen.
The National Guard of the state OF
New York at once began q regular
practice, relieved by individual, com.
pSny and regiment contests, which are
still continued, and other states, not.
ably New Jersey, constructed ranges
and instituted regular target practice
among their militia. The lack
OF skill shown BY the beginners
proved the necessity for the work
If an organised citizen soldlery could
be expected to do eff sctive firing In an
active campaign. Drills and the man.
ual OF arms might serve for a parade,
but 1t was found that nothing but
actual firing at battle distance could
teach the men the use of their pieces
and fit them for doing and economical
service on tho field. The success of
Creedmoor first turned the attention
OF our regular army off ,ers to the de
hciency which existed among the
troops in rife firing, aud q contest for
teams from the military divisions
WAS accordingly instituted at that
range In competition with the
state militia. In April, 1880,
Colonel L,idley Issued his manual of
target practice for army teams. Up
to this time army contests had besn
held 1t Creedmoor, bat in 1881 Gem
eral Sherman issued a general ord 81
mapping out a regular drill Ia target
practice for the entire army, pre.crib-
Ing the conditions under which it
should be exercised and institutinq
competitive contests.
In 1882
II PRESENT SYSTEM
of rife practice wss adopted Under
its provisions regular target practice Ia
enforced on all soldiers during Ger.
tain Eperiod of the year at every
post under the inspection of COM
missioned officers. There are three
grades Of competition, viz Depart.
ment, Division and Army. In all
these competitions the distances sra
200 yards, position, standing; 800
yards, kneeling, and 600 yards, ly-
Ing. Twelve marksnen constitute
the department team. or these, to
that msrksmsn Masking the best
score, . gold medal IL awarded. At
the Division competition the several
department teams of twelve compete
for places on the division team, which
also consists Of twelve men. The 1ss
prise is q gold medal, the next tt Tres
also gold medals, while the
remaining eight are awarded silver
medals. Every alternate year, begin
ming with 1882, twelve of the best
shots from the entire army compete
for the army prizes, which consist Of
three gold and three silver medals.
The competition for the department
team takes place In Omaha In August,
and later in the fall the division match
will come off at Lsavsnwortb.
To carry out this elaborate pro.
gramms, much attention has bsen paid
during the last three years to the
building Of suitable ranges In the
various departments, and a great deal
Of experimenting has been done to Sc.
cure the best results fer the least ex.
penditure OF money. The copstruo.
ton of the new riffs range for the de.
partment of the Platte has been under
charge Of Captain Coolidge, Seventh
infantry, Inspector of rife practice for
the department, and on Wednesday q
representative Of THE BER accepted
An invitation to inspect the completed
work and witness the practice Of the
mon ct the various firing points. The
party which climbed In the government
ambulance at the headquarters consist
cd of the aforesaid BEE man, Captain
Coolidge, Lieut.. Coy Howard, Dr.. J.
II. Lott and Major Dennis, an old
Creedmoor shot and medallist, former.
ly of the Twenty.first New York regi
nent, and now Of Omaha.
Passing up Sixteenth street, over
ruts and holes and narrowly escaping
disaster from collision with the ex-
posed water pipe on Sherman avenue,
We turn int the county road by Sara
toga school house, and after . ride Of
q few minutes due west strike the
new
RLglK RANGE
of the department OF the Platte. The
grounds, which were secured afte,
considerable difficulty, lie due south
of Fort Omaha on the road leading
from the barracks to the CITY. Al
laid out the range is l5O feat
wide and about 900 yards long. II
trends slightly north of west and from
tbs east end to the butts rises some
thirty feet. The grounds are careful
and conveniently laid out. A6join
Ing the road Is q neat stand for the
use of spectators during the rife oou
tests, rooted and provided with sests,
and commanding afull view of the ca.
tire field. To the right and front q
small but convenient range Off earl
house Is in process Of construction
which will be occupied by the official
scorers and connected by telephone
with the markers at the butts. Tne
range looks bright and fresh In itS
dress of green, which contrasts we'll
with the adjoining lands An ambu.
lance stands in the road and groups of
soldiers, with their rifles on their
shoulders are s~auntering towards the
short distance positions.
Major Dennis, with his Remington
rife In hand, puts on his glasses and
uquints along the field, "a pretty
good range" he gays a%pproylpgly, ''if
- E.-zI l. Al AaaEh Than kha