The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-13
A LITTLE NATION
 OF SHARPSH0OTERS The Shooting Societies of the Peaceful
 Swiss. EVERY MAN A SOLDIER Their Service Faithful and EUthusiastic-Careful
 Practice.
EVERY MAN A SOLDIER

itary training for civilians is beinig de- bated in England a short account of the Swiss system may be of interest. Every man in this peaceful and Dem- ocratic country is a soldier-not to such an extent as in other continental nations, where military service claims some of the best years of a mans life, but in modest way beftting a small country
 The able-bodied Swiss enters the army at twenty years of age, and serves sixty-five days in his first year; for the next twelve years he trains for three weeks every alternate year; at thirty-two he enters the Landwehr and has eight to ten days only under arms every fourth year until, at the age of forty-four, he retires to the Landstrum and is required no further except in case of war. The soldier is paid only during the periods of training or man. euvers, the rate being about Cd per day travelling expenses, rations, uni form, and rifle being provided.
 
 trast with those of France and Ger many, and did they form the whole of his preparation for war the Swiss mili- tiaman would be a negligible quantity in European politics. What he may lack in military orthodoxy, however. he far more than makes up for by prof. ciency with the rife, and it is not too much to call the Swiss-like our friends the Boers-a nation of marhsmen. The training periods are occupied only with drill and tactics, and every fourth year with maneuvers. The all-important matter of shooting is left to the indi- vidual soldier to carry out at other times, and he does it under the aus pices of the shooting societies which are such a marked feature of Swiss life.
 These societies (Schutzengesellschaf- ten in the German, societes de Tir in the French cantons) are voluntary as- Isociations, varying in size and import ance with the town or village they serve. Those in the larger town possess completely fitted ranges, clubhouses, telephones and so forth; small towns and large villages are not So elaborate ly furnished, while the smaller villages do their shooting in any fields backed by a suitable hill. Every peasant and every townsman has a range or facili- ties of some kind for shooting within easy reach. and every man has his eer- NtH al sta hty. 1.a societies are largely under government control, work in conjunction with the military authorities, arc bound to pro- videNacilities for soldiers shooting, and receive grants according to the number of members firing, either as soldiers or civilians, prescribed numbers of rounds. Every man during his period of mili- tary service--that is, between the ages of twenty and thirty -two-must fire at least twenty or at most thirty-two shots in four compulsory or military exercises every year, and the societies receive a grant of two francs for every soldier shooting this compulsory course on their ranges Such grants form but a small part of the societies incomes, as in addition to the Compulsory there are many voluntary exercises by which subsidies are earned. Very few Swiss are content with thirty-two rounds year, even though they have to pay 1-2d apiece for cartridges, and all through the early summer the ranges are busy, to the benefit of the national craftsmanship and the f. nances of the societies.
 It Is needless to describe these vol untary, grant earning exercises, which comprise team shooting, magazine fir | ing, shooting at targets representing
 bodies of men at unknown distances, revolver shooting and so forth The four compulsory military exercises
 may be taken as typical of the rest and are as follows CD 39O metres range kneeling, CD 300 metres range lstanding; (3) 400 metres range lying down Gall these at target about five l feet square with fifteen inches bulO, and (4) 300 metres range lying down at target representing a mans head | and shoulders. Forty to fifty per cent of the highest possible scores and SO to 30 per cent of hits must be made in each exercise to qualify as a marks man, and the points and hits must be made in each exercise in five consecu- tive shots. The soldier fires five, six, seven or at most eight shots in each exercise. and a very good man may thus complete his course of four ex ercise in twenty shots; in any case he l is not allowed more than thirty-two, and should he fail to make his points or hits in five consecutive shots in any one exercise he must wait until next year that his failure is recorded in his book being the only penalties. The soldiers shooting book in which every shot is recorded, is marked and its correctness guaranteed by the off, ficials of the society, and is forwarded by them to the military authorities. The society obtains the two francs grant for every man shooting the four compulsory exercises even though he may fail to qualify in any or all of themi it is assumed that he has done his best, and his failure, moreover, is no fault of the society. The income derived from the grants earned by the compulsory and voluntary shooting of the members generally suffices for the l current expenses of the society-supply of targets, pay of marker, and so forth, There!is no entrance fee nor subscrfp- tion, as rule, and heavy expenditure lsuch as that incurred by the construc- tion of, newSranges Is met by a special grant from the government The will lage.' townsor canton will also generally help by the loan or gift of land.
 Targets are printed on strong mount ed paper, andsbeino stretched on wood