The morning times., 1896-05-24

All things are ready now for the open
ing of the rifle season as the ra nge at Ord
way.
The department of rifle pTa ctice expects
it to be the most successful in the history
of the guard. 1t expects that the greatest
interest will be manifested, and il eX-
poets TO have team ready for Sea Girt by
1st of September which will simply wipe
out everything that tries to compete withit
The depa rtment has been led to take this
rosy view OF the situation from the way
matters have gone at the gallery during
the past winter. " nile there have been
many members of the guard who stayed
away, yet u most intense interest was
aroused. 1t was shown in the ma nner in
which the ma rkSmanship climbed up as the
boys became better acquainted with their
duties. 1t was shown in the further I;iVt
that there are good ma rksmen in the guard
outslde tue engineers. Hereafter this lat
ter command Will have to keep an eye
open for It's laurcls. There are other com
panies now which can compete with them
and have chance of winning out
III Is on these grounds tina tthe department
or rifle practice has erected its hopes for
the coming summer. II it is tot the best
season the Guard has ever had on a rifle
range number of officers will be thrown
into the deepest depths of despair They
Will have but little to say in the future So
II behooves every man TO prepare for the
coming ordeal.
FOR RIFLE PRACTICE.
The OFFICERS of the department all held a
meeting Thursday night at the residence OF
Major Harries. The matter OF range prac-
tice for the season was fully discussed
All the arrangements were made and the
season is To open with the matches on next
! Saturday at the range Que of the most
Important changes made and one that VIII
DE most popular Is that on voluntary prac-
tice hereafter ammunition will be furnished
lree Last year guardsmen had to pay
cents round. With this expense re-
moved, there should be little difficulty in
| getting everybody down who has the right
10 go. There Will also be a sufficient
number or markers at the range during the
season To remove any annoyance which
might arise from TINS feature
All the arrangements, u; beforC-Stdtc-l,
| nave been made Tor the matches which are
to open the season These We're due last
fall, but had 10 he postponed The shoot
ing VIII begln at 10 a. m, and all the shoot
ing at known distances finished by 2 p. IN.
AT that hour the skirmish runs will he
fired. These VIII be iinisued Just as soon
as possible. 1t Will ne better for all qua rtis-
men To take the tram leaving the Bait
more Potomac Railroad Company 1t
/ O'Clock. 1t reaches OrIway III fifteen
minutes, and there viii be plenty of time
given for practice at the pool targets
The entire shoot will be under the SUPER
vision of the inspector general of rifle
practice An entrance fec of % cents will
| be charged for range expenses
The first match Will be the one for dis
gulshed marksmen, open only, of course,
| to men OF tins class. Five shots VIII
be fired at each of the targets, at eco,
300, 500 and 500 yards. There Will be
two Xxi rmiSh runs.
The next maucn Will be the Senatorial,
open To all men who have qualified as
sharpshooter Five shots viii be fired at
each of the targets at 200, 300, 500 anC.
| 6O0 yards and there Will be one skirmsh
run.
The third match is open to all members of
the guard who have not qualified as sharp
shooters. Ten shots will be fired at each of
| the targets at goo and 500 yards. The
prizes in this matct WILDE So 50 aud 81.
| ASSIGNING THE SEASON.
The assignment of days feg. shooting g dur
ing the season were also arranged by tA@
members of the department of rifle prac-
| tice at the meeting Thursday night. One
years experience had taught them some
thing, so some changes have been made
Mondays and Thursdays are to be devoted
TO voluntary pFaCUlce. Wednesdays and
! Fridays to team work and Tuesday has
been given over to the meeting OF the Ma
| tional Rifle Association. Saturday will
be entirely devoted to- skrmishiug.
There will be a change made in the rules of
| the National Rifles Associa ton. The
| boys who Were at Savannah got some cX-
! celicnt points down there, beside bringing
| away a lot Of cash. They found that the
! Georgia people had q most excellent plan
! for handling their association. The crowd
! which went TO the range was divided into
/ two parts and contested with each other,
| the losing team paying the expenses OF the
! shoot. As result, every mar shot his best
| The two highest men at the last shoot are
! the team captains. As result of all this.
| the Georgia people have a team which
cannot be beat AT 200 yards The Wash
ington boys could beat them easily at long
distances, but were outclaSsed at 200
! yards.
The association has adopted this plan
! here. and expects to be able to develop a
| team which can give even the Georgia
men pointers at the coming shoot at Sea
! Girt. The association also expects to de
| velop number of the young men of the
! guard. More attention will be paid to them
| than before.
This matter of Sea Girt this year has also
| brought up another feature of these shoots
| The association there has been notified that
| it must do better in the way of prizes or
| the Washington contingent Will not be
| present. The boys figure out that the asSO-
| citation did not pat up a &c Mt over SI5. and
| and that the ma rkSmen We're shooting
| against their OWE purses. The notice has