The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-16
Sunday Shooting.

| ing is being considered. Shooting on | Sunday is prohibited by the State laws. and shooting at ranges on Sum- l day is illegal, unless the lands are
 ceded by the State to the United States | for the express purpose
 This has not been done in Alabama. A
 bill was introduced in the Legislature at it's last session seeking to have this done. but the bill did not pass. It is generally known that a large propor- l tion of the members of the National Guards are engaged in different em- ployments that make 1t impossible for | them to get to the ranges except on Sunday. consequently most of the prac- l tice has been done in the past and is | being done now on that day. Bat 1t l Is unlawful and if complaint is made | to the grand juries in the various cCun- | ties where the shooting is done, those against whom proof Is made vii! be inditced and fined. There $ a strong feeling that the State should permit
 the firing at rife ranges on Sunday. | and if the matter had been presented l earlier and had been properly under stood it is probable that the bill to | that effect would have passed the Leg l islature. An old and experienced of l 1cer in the United States Army writ l ing on the subject, takes strong ground | for Sunday shooting. He says that | the citizens are much interested in rife shooting, Sunday is the only day | upon which they can practice, and 1t l Is generally observed all through con- | tinental Europue. When our troops
 are in camp of instruction, guard | mounting, evening parade and other
 duties are performed on Sunday, why, therefore, should not the troops, while I In camp, practice at the butts, end if
 it is proper for them to do so. why
 should not the civilian rife club be permitted to shoot on Sunday? In ev- cry portion of the globe where shoot ing on Sunday Is permitted a larger
 number are able to practice and be- | come proficient.
 Shooting on Sunday need not neC es- l sarily interfere with the ordinary re- | iigious duties of the citizen. which gre
 usually confined to the morning hours; and it seems to me that a member
 of a rifle club who will go on the
 range on Sunday afternoon is devoting
 his time to much better service, both
 for himself and possibly in the future | for the service of his country, than
 by any sother form of amusement, such
 as golf and other outdoor sports. which
 are indulged in to a greaS extent by even those who profess religious att | tainments.
 We are forbidden to labor on the 1 Sabbath Day, commonly called Sunday,
 but works of necessity, charity and mercy have always been excepted. We | hold that 1t is necessary for the Amer ican citizen to become proficient in
 the use of the rife, and therefore he | is not within the class of those for
 bidden to work.
 It is understood that Lord Roberts
 has given his sanction to British rifle l clubs shooting on Sunday under Cer- | d AI~ GzII | tation from The London Evening News
 shows the advancement that has been
 made in taking a liberal Jew of this
 question:
 There seems to be no doubt that 1 the great majority of the members
 of the volunteer force would welcome
 the ability to practice at the targets
 on Sundays. Field Marshal Earl Rob- erts has publicly denied that lIc is op-
 posed to shooting being carried out
 upon Sundays by those men who find | it impossible to obtain time during i the week, and Major General Lord 1 Sheylesmore. chairman of the council
 of the National Rife Association, has
 stated that if any definite proposal on l the subject were brought before the
 council at the winter or spring general meeting it would be most carefully | and seriously considered.
 others who have expressed an opin- 1 ion in favor of permitting rife shoot
 Ing on Sunday are Sir Arthur Conan
 Doyle, Colonel the Earl of Denby and
 Desmond, commanding Honorable Ar l tillery Company of London, and Lieut..
 Col. Alsager Pollock, editor of the United States Service Magazine
 Tt might be added that in the old 1 days in England practice with the
 bows and arrows was compulsory after | attendance at divine service, and 1,
 might also be added and truthfuIly.
 that in both Switzerland and Norway
 rifle shooting is more extensively car
 ried on on Sunday than on any other
 days. This matter is we'll worthy of | the consideration of those in charge of
 rife shooting in the United States
 Pistol ranges are located with their
 nring lines in extension of inc n,ai1 ] nring line main range, and with in uiVldual butts along the south side of
 the main range. The rifle and nistoi
 ranges may be used simultaneously At present there are thirty-one pistol
 taIsets' or the revolving type on the | pistoI ranges proper. The pistol butts
 are constructed of 5-S-inch steel mates | work is being started on new ntstoi | butts to be constructed of concrate l similar to the rifle butts. the targets | to be of vertical sliding pattern and lHe numDer to be increased to 12O | the targets to be in echelon grouns
 and the firing line an extension of the
 main firing line.
 | All rifle butts are constructed of con | crete. and consist of a front wall. floor | roof, drainage ditch, curb and back | coping or retaining wall. The front walls are protected by an earth em-
 bankment nine feet thick at the ton | of the butt and with a slope of 12 l to l towards the firing lines. The | concrete drains carry all water out of i the butt gutters by means of a cuIvert underneath the butt and thence bv | directing ditches to the sea The butts | are of the following lengths: no
 target butt is 1.l00 feet long; SO target 1 butt is 500 feet 600 yard butt 225 feet | long and l,000-yard butt 100 feet long l All butts are wide and contain ample l working room for an allowance of
 three to four men to each target The
 targets are of the regulation double.
 vertical, sliding target type.
 Each group of ten targets in the
 butts is connected by telephone with | underground cable to its correspondine each target in the butt being number l ed a large number being displayed | also in front of it on the butt embark
 ment. and the corresponding firing | point on the firing lines being marked | by a post with the proper target mum | Der on 1t. The firing line telephones | are mounted on tables in portable 1 shelters, so that when 1t Is desired to l use any of the drop-back firing lines
 for longer ranges, the table, telephone