The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-09-25
Late Season On the Stass
Range at Sea art Was
Successful Bat sMore PEaO-l
tice Is Necessary.
STATE MUST BE MORE IaBERAI.
To ENSURE GREATER EEgE-i
CIENCY AMONGST EEs .SHARe-l
SHOOTERS = WANT OF zsE-l
STRUCTION. .,.,........,;..,...l

SHOOTERS - WANT OF x1E-
STRUCTION. ,..ns......,;....s
Under the direction Of Befgsdier Cen
eral Bird w. Spencer, inspector general
of rifle practice, members of the A&4SonaS
Guard of New Jersey, had a saesass9nl
rifle practice season. The State rage
at Sea Girt has just been chased and tbs,
records of the work are being tenulsted
under the direction Of First Izeussnnnks
Albert S. Jones, the post adjusaat- andl
statistical officer. In4due time sthesstgzai
be printed in the annual repATt q tias
adjutant general of the state. Bnigseier
General r. Heber Breintnal.
General Spencer is q firm believer In
the idea that the efficieacy of an OrsGGi-'
zation in the national guard Is largely
determined by the ability Of it's membexBI
to shoot This, of course, implies, the
ability to shoot well. He has. there
fore. always devoted his auergiss to get
ting the best possible resuits.in the work
OF the several organizations in the Ma
tionaI Guard of New Jersey when on
the rifle range That a great improve
ment has been accomplished this year
over previous years is evident. from the
fact that betwcea thirty and forty per
cent have qualified as markbnlen this
year, a much greater percentage than
formerly The exact figures viii be
shown rs soon as the work of compiIa-,
ton is COMPLETED
National guardsmen who. take sufic'eat
pride in their organization TO come 70 Ser
Girt for ri.ie practice do 50 at loss,
They are net paid Tor the day ~.sieisstlszz.
ial.. iii fer rifle practice, and o4e H'eae
oaiy is usually p#9videi and ta.t Is dpAs
il mest instances at the expeuse Of fhs
organization to which they be.ong. Many
gualdsmen feel that if the State expects
its citizen soldiers to come to Sea Girt
for rifle practice it should pay each man
for his days time and provide him with
oae or two meals. As the case might be.
That so many qualify under the pres
ent system is really remarkable. Each
man has two sighting shots at 200 yard
range, on which he begins his shooting
for qualification. Then he must make an
aggregate of twenty in two strings Of
seven shots each in order to go to the
next range If he makes the required
twenty he goes to the 800 yard range andI
then to the 500 yard range. In all he.
must have a total of 9S out of possible
$50 to become a marksman. He is al.
lowed 10 shoot four strings" of seven
shcfs each on each range to do this, if
necessary.
The regular army gives the soldiers an
almost unlimited supply of ammunition
for practice before the shooting for quail
fcaSion S begun.
Many believe that to be practical and
to have the best interests of the nation&l
guard heart the State should make
provision that every man who wanted to
shoot, and who showed sufficient i'm
proyement should have all of the am
munt.on he could use. This in itsef
would be an incentive to many a man
who has the making Of sharpshooter
in him. but who Is deferred from taking
an active interest in workmanship bs
cause the State does moi provide any in-l
cenINe Tor MN to DO his best.
Every year brings our the fact Tint
there is Il woeful lack Of instruction IN
the handling Of the Krag-JOrgenses
rife Men GENE to tue ane range With.
ont knowing how TO handle the weapen
propefy. They are isnoranr Of its me-
chanism, its sight Or wind sauge, and
some Of them Know very little about 7he
proper position in which to mold the riae
for shooting. There is little excuse tor
this. The officers of the various Gems
! panies should have every neN secrnit
properly Instructed about the handling
of the rifle 50 that when he comes to
the rifle range, he knows exactly what
to do.