Arizona republican., 1898-08-04
WE SHOOT STRAIGHT.

 States was due to t1a power of our fathers to ::'shoot to e hairs breadth and not miss,'' as King James yer sion elnphatically expresses it. Ex- amples are not wanting, for the ar rows of the Persian and Parthian con- quered the east and held it till they neglected their practice, and then found the sword the deadlier weapon. In Europe England became free and strong only because her people could shoot, and she remained safe and whole tila she preferred gun powder in it's infancy and forgot that accuracy was essential, or in despair of secur- ing it with the new weapon put her faith in the bayonet.
 But America was coloniZed when the bow was passing away and the musaet was necessary to assert the superiority of the few over the many; it was struggle for existence in a new land, and craftsmanship was needed to secure food in peace as well as safety in war. Moreover, powder and lead were scarce, and out of these conditions arose the requirement that every bullet have it's billet, so tha, Ce who could not shoot died soon, anL asually died hard
 The marksman grew in America, therefore, as naturally as Indian corn and independence. It was strange that the people who had won Crecy and Agincourt did not sooner realize the importance of the new principle, but even after Braddock's defeat, while full recognition was accorded to the provincial" speciality, the fact that it might win in Europe never dawned on the English mind. The British captains were as certain of their own ground as Sampson was of the uselessness of smokeless powder till confronted by that experience to which even the most conservative must bow.
 The battle of Kings Mountain, where untrained riflemen defeated superior number of British regulars at trifling cost, awakened some discus sion, but gave no warning of what was to follow, though it contributed largely to the fate which overlook Cornwallis at Yorktown. But when the same power to Init what you shoot at" was demonstrated on the sea, the British thought took hold of it, and in October, 1913, the London Times said: ''The fact seems to be but too clearly established that the Ameri cans have some superior mode of fir ing, and we cannot be too anxiously employed in discovering to what cir Icunnstances that superiority is owing"
 Then came the battle of New Or leans, where the American fire was declared "the most terrible ever seen, y and Napoleon asked for some speci- mems of the guns employed and a careful account of the measures adopted.
 Out of her self-complaisant calm Europe was again startled by Dewey's victory, and the government organ at St. Petersburg charged that we were using "some new and terrible explo- sive which demanded the attention of the powers, since it is yet doubtful whether such weapons can be sane toned by the laws of war"
 But England is beginning to realize what has struck the newest note in the concert of destruction as nation of hunters should do, and her conclu- sion is voiced by the London Satur- day Review, which said last week: ''The lesson of all our conflicts with America was that the American sol diers and sailors shot markedly bet ter than our own, and won astonish- ing victories. It looks as if the old lesson holds good today"
 True, dear cousin. But the lesson is
 older than you have acknowledged
 and goes deeper than you dream.
 Craftsmanship makes nationas as tru- ] ly as it wins victories. When the Per
 sian was taught to Tell the truth,
 ride well and s1oot straight" he thought straight, and he conaIered | the world of his time, except Greece,
 which had no bow, but thought
 straighter. The Parthian repeated the
 story exactly, except that he met the
 Roman thought and sword instead of 1 the Grecian. The craftsmanship of a
 free people laid the foundation of
 modern England, and Robin Hood was one of the builders of English empire as certainly as Elizabeth or
 Burleigh, or Raleigh, or Drake. We are teaching no new lesson tc | the nations. Let them heed or it will
 be the worse for them.