The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-06


marksman guessing. Moreover, the guess
/ ing had TO be done in a hurry. Four hours
| and half were the total time allowance
I for the match, and every team was away
| behind time when the 200 yards stage was
/ done. The District team lost twenty eight
minutes because its members would not
pull the trigger unless they were at least
sure of hitting some part of the target.
| Therefore twenty-eight minutes had to be
saved at the mid-ranges.
The District boys responded nobly to the
call for speed. They shot as If their lives
depended upon the gait, and when the
weather conditions are considered they
shot amazingly well. By pairs they came
TO the firing points with admirable prompt
itude, they took their positions SO that as
result the team caught up twenty-five
minutes at the second stage.
Georgia was iubilant and confident when
the third stage opened. The southrons' to-
tai for the two stages was 6S6 while the
champions, for whose laurels SO much
fighting was being done, had but CT. To
those who knew little or nothing about the
staying qualities of the District team, the
match appeared to be over; they figured 1t
out that Georgia would at least hold the
District even, and must surely win. But II
could not be that the team that last year
put up 1865 al 800 yards would this time fall
short of points enough to clinch its grip
A more intensely interested crowd than
that which INDUCED in nervousness in
rear of the firing would be hard to find.
In the matter of numbers 1t was greater
than any yet seen at Sea Grit. Fully half
of the multitude had paper and pencils.
and had resolved into a corps of disa-
greeting statistical officers Now the
rumor was abroad that Georgia was too
far ahead to be caught. A minute later
II was generally understood that the Dis
trict was on even terms and seemed to
be getting there Arithmetic ran wild. A
dozen times minute proof could be
found favorable 10 contention that fig
ures. will occasionally lie
Gen. Wingate, president Of the practi-
cally defunct ~ r. A., was much con-
cerned, but his faith In the ability OF the
Districts representatives did not WAIVER.
Col. Mosher. the Districts adjutant gen.
eral, was roofing and figuring and hop
ing and praying, until he really did not
know which he was doing. There was
look of anxiety on every face except the
faces of those team men, whose captains
discouraged anything that tended toward
excitement. Everybody was a partisan,
the women moro so than the sterner sex.
Five minutes ahead of time Lieut.. Ora
ham fired the last SHOT for Washington.
AS he and Mai. Harries arose from their
places, the Districts team captain said:
We have been beaten" He knew that
the local score was low as compared with
the scores of other years, and he rea-
sonably supposed that Georgia had main
tanned it's lead. He notified Adjutant Vale
to assemble the Districts detachment In
rear of Georgla's firing point so that
when the winning team was announced
there would be cheers for the victors.
Then Georgia rooters said that Georgia
had two shots to fire, and that II they
were both fours, the Hilton trophy would
go Way Down South in Dixie
Bang went Austins last cartridge.
and up bobbed the three disk; that meant
that DR.. Wilson must make a bull'e eye
to win. The doctor did his best. while
the crowd RETAINED from breathing.
"Bangp went his last shot.
The excitement of a lifetime seemed to
be crowded into the two or three seconds
consumed in changing the targets. Then
the yells of exultant Washingtonians min
gled with the groans of disappointed
Georgians as the four disk marked the
spot hit. A Georgia lady burst into tears,
and would not be comforted. Men Rugged
each other or looked their disappointment,
just as the case might be.
Maj. Harries called upon his team and
their adherents for a cheer for the com
petitors who put up such gallant fight.
Georgia did not propose to be outdone,
so its team got in its cheer first, after
which the local crowd got in its deadly
work with great effectiveness Congrat-
ulations and considerations were freely
exchanged, and in a little while there was
no evidence of the tension that had for
several hours been clearly apparent. The
Hilton match was over, and the brigade
team of the District National Guard re-
tains the worlds championship.