The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-10

Over S10,o00 apportioned by the Sec rotary of War, out of the appropriation made by Congress, has been available for securing and maintaining rifle ranges in Alabama since the 18th day of July, 1906. Up to this time 1t Is matter of general regret that not a shot has been fired over a range Tn Alabama created under that fund, no. report to the department to that effect having been received.
 At the meeting of the commanding 0fhcers held in this city in February 1t was the opinion to all present that ranges should be established at once al Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery, and $6,000 was asked for that purpose $2,000 for each range. That money Is now available and not one cent of 1t has been spent
 In the 1st Regiment steps have ben taken for a most excellent range en the Bay of Baldwin county across from Mobile and the ground has been sur veyed and cleared, but the papers have not been perfected and at present, as the law requires hence it is not yet a public range.
 A range has been secured at Annis- ton and $500 expended on it, but at last accounts no public money had been expended on it, and it is not yet . state range.
 Nothing has been done in the way
  though General Graves and Colonel Brickin have had the matter under consideration and 1t is hoped a suit k able place can be secured and work be- sun.
 It does not look now very much like any practice can be done this year preparatory to selecting a team to go to Fort Perry, and Alabama will have to do as was done last year-do the best possible under the circumstances, dividing the places on the team among the different organizations, selecting the best shots and not choose them upon merit, as was so much desired. Adjutant-General Graves is very en- thusiastic on the subject and fully rs- alizes the value and importance or making good shots of the men, and ne will do everything in his power to es- tablish ranges in the reach of every company and have the men shooting at the very earliest possible moment
 Alabama is to be represented at Fort Perry, all the preliminary steps neces- sary have been taken, except the se- lection of the team. and that must soon be done. Suficient quantity of spe- cially loaded shell have been en- gaged and the Alabama team will have every facility that is needed. but they will lack the practice that Is abso- lutely necessary for them to hope to make anything like the score that might be wished for There can be much benefit derived from having team in the National match, however, and be- fore another year rolls round. the promise is that the opportunity for practice will be at hand and then the Alabama score will not be so near the tail end as it was last year.
 Rifle Practice Notes.
 Rifle shooting as a mea1s of relaxa- tion does not receive the attention u assistant surgeon of the 2nd Regiment, New York National Guard. 'It trains the eye to see accurately, the mind to judge correctly, and exercises the pow CTS of coordination. while he strict intention 1t requires take the mind clear of business cares and all othsr wor- ries and irritations of modern life It Js the snort par excellence for the neu- rasthenic for he is obliged to forget himself and fntrospection for the time being becomes impossible when every faculty is concentrated on a. targst sOo yards away. Long range shooting es- pecially cultivates the powers O. ob- servation, mathematicaly reasoning and logical deduction to degree rn- known to any other sport. while at the same time it Is free from envy, spite and the littleness of many other forms of personal competition. Many doctors realize this, and very large proportion of expert shots of this coun- try are doctors. notably. pr. w. G. Hudson, to whose work or ncrtectlas inc modern high-power bullet the limited States owes a large debt of gratitude"
 The model of 1906 bullet weighs it0 grains against the 2S0 grain bullet for merly used It wears out the rife bar rel almost twice as rapidly and the ri- ffe may not stand more than 2.000 to 2500 rounds. It has an initial velocity of 22s0 feet against 2.200 feet fer the 1903 model. The great advantage of this bullet is that if the soldiers be not trained in target practice and will point his gun on a level with the height of the eye the bullet will strike an