The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-07
More Attenticn Novy.

More Attention Now.
 Much complaint is heard from enthu-
 siastic rifiemen over the fact that the newspapers and the magazines, as a
 rule, pay so little attention 10 rine
 practice. It Is pointed out that while
 nares are given to accounts of races.
 prize fights, football matches, and au-
 tomobiIe topics, the winner of rfhe
 match is fortunate if his name is ever
 mentioned These critics should re-
 member that as a rule, periooicais
 treat of that which they believe will
 most interest their readers, and IT some
 of them do not pay much attentaon 70
 rife practice, 1t is probably because
 their readers are not generally in'e''
 ested in the subject.
 But there are nearly 400 daily news
 napers in different parts of the coun-
 try publishing articles from time to
 tima on this suhpect. And It Is mo-
 ticeable that as they take up rihe prac-
 tice they find their readers are inter
 ested. and a number that few years
 ago never published anything on the subject are now running articles regu-
 larly some of them as often as twlce a week.
 Michigan has its own publicity asso- citation which supplies short articles twice a month to the Michigan press on what is being done in the State for rine nractfce. As a result of the devoted efforts of the Michigan rifiemen, clubs are springing up all over the State, ana the press has been quick to respond. Rifenen have no cause to complain or the general press, for 1t Is largely. que | to the sympathetic interest or some of the leading journals that interest has been Increased within the past Ie" years to the extent 1t has.
 | lac
 rhe suggestion Is often made that to I popularize rifle shooting society must pc l interested. Those advancing this interest | ing idea forget that society h.erss.s . l not take an active part It patroniTes rac- l ing largely because 1t owns the tracks ana | some of the stables. It patronlzes gor De-
 cause it plays the game. The same IS ues 1 of automobiles and with football; it eiIner has friends on the teams or college affilia- | tions. . . | fractions although it Is as good exerclse l as golf and less brutal than football. The l interest of ''society'' as the term Is useo' | in rifle practice, will come when civllian | clubs become popular. when men prhs | their wives and daughters to see them | shoot The presence of the ladies made the | tournaments of the Middle Ages success l full while the vestal virgins occupied the place of honor in the Roman amphitheater- There was a time when the women or Eng l land wanted no better sport than archery. | If the ladies take up rifle shooting that
 snort iwil soon outstrip golf as q popular | pastime. .. | Of course this is more or less testing. | hut speakinR seriously. the American wo- | man rides to hounds, outplays men at golf
 and tennis and has her own pashetoail t, m | teams Many of them hunt ana Iish as | experts Of course not many would care | to shoot with the heavy Krag or Spring field but it is safe to say that if the civ iIian clubs which have shooting galleries
 were to encourage the ladies to shoot with the 22 Winchester or the Krag with S2
 barrel. they would soon find the galleries
 crowded. Both guns are practically with
 out recoil and easy for women end boys to
 handle.
 Indoor Practice.
 , Orders issued by General Perry. adjutan general of Indiana, indicate most active 1 interest in gallery practice The rilie prac tice season in the Indiana National Guart } commenced November 1. 1906, and will close April SO 1907
 Under date of October l. hs directs tha f "every officer and enlisted man in the an :, | fantry organization of the Indiana Nationa Guard will be required to participate fl this practice, and the privilege is als given to the Artillery and Signal corps
 Their practice is carried on with the Win
 chester musket, caliber .22 two Of thes
 weapons being issued to each company
 Targets x, Y, and are used
 ' An especially interesting provision i | General Perry's orders is as follows; Eac t | man will be required to shoot ten round \ | at each target x, Y, z. every week c : the season, and always under direction C A commissioned officer. Those who canne attend on regular nights may shoot an @ other nights of the week arranged for b 0 | The commanding officer, who is hereb l, directed to afford evry man full opportunit
 10 perfect himself in gallery practice an n thereby increase the figure of merit or - company"
 s Politics is removed from the Nations n Guard in many eof the States. In mo l. States the chief source of weakness m IT Il organization arises from snort ana u"ce