The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1908-02-19
NATIONAL GUARD.
craftsmanship Will BE Feature to
Prepare for Fighting.


of greater interest than ever before
in the National Guard during the
coming season, chiefly because of the
issuance of a new and modern rifle.
the 1906 model Springfield. The
first shipment of these guns will be
ready for distribution to the Wash
ington Guard within the next few
days. word having been received
during the week that the guns are
en- route from Washington, d. C.
The new rifles are by no means an
experiment. The army has been us
ing them two seasons and have foun1
them superior to the Krag. Velocity
is intensified and erosion is reduced
to a minimum verging on elimination
of that principle.
To the guard, of course. the guns
will be altogether new, and even the
most expert rifemen will find need
for weeks of experiment. Those who
have had close and Trustworthy
friends in their old Krags will have
to make the acquaintance of the new
arm, trying it out for days on all
ranges to find out where the zero i
and what the minute peculiarities of
individual guns may be. 1t IS said
of the new gun, however, that there
is more precise uniformity of me-
chanism than in the Krag, but the
fact remains that it is as much the
difference in individual marksmen as
in the arms they use that make fam
iliarity with a weapon a necessity.
Camp Perry, on the south shore
Of Lake Erie. is again to be the scene
of the national rifle competitions.
this year. Definite announcement Of
that fact has been made by the wa
department. 1t is also REASONABLY
certain that Washington will send !
team and that the competition TO-.
places on this team will BE- keener
than ever before. With the chang
in rifles, new marksmen may stand
better show of qualifying during
the state match. At least the old in
vincible group of experts will be pur
to the slight disadvantage of learnin.
the new gun.
An interesting table showing the
gain which Washington and other
competing states and teams mad
last summer in the national match,
over the year preceding. is shown in
the report of Colonel II. X. Evans
I. S. A., issued last week. The
table of points gained is as follows:
navy team, 290; Massachusetts, 242;
Ohio, 364; L. S. cavalry team. IT'S.
Washington state. 337; Pennsy-
vania. S72; I. S. infantry. IS: New
York, 1874; New Jersey, 2S4: Mime
sofa, 225; Illinois, 204; Wisconsin.
lS6; marine corps. II; District Of
Columbia, $50; Michigan, 262; Ore
gon, 80; Maryland, $50; Georgia,
$40; Iowa, 21S; Connecticut, 1876
Colorado, 237: California, SIC; In
diana, $50; Texas. 32S; Missouri.
563; Oklahoma, S1o West Virginia,
S9S. Nebraska and Vermont were
the only states making less points,
the first named losing AZ and the
last &c.
Col. Evans. who acted as executive
officer of the matches, makes one
recommendation in his report which
the average marksman will har lly
be able to accept He terms the
practice of firing pieces to foul them
as unnecessary and more a matter
of superstitution than of demon
strated good. He recommends that
this practice be forbidden under
penalty of disbarment from the
match. The cNonel's suggestion may
apply to the new Springfield, but the
utility of fouling the Krag is inds
putable Doing away with that
would make it necessary for marks
men to make new calculations in
firing the preliminary two shots.