New-York tribune., 1908-03-29
THAT RIFLE PRACTICE
General Wingate Ans7cers Women
Critics of SchooIboy Shots.

..7b. eoldiers Of this country are pretty sore
shou, the woman's Christian temperance CioN
and other womens clubs and women So'le,,e tl :,
,ba, oppose rife practice in the public schoois'
lis General George w wingate. president OF lhe
New York Public Schools Athletic League 10 d
Tribune reporter yesterday IhoSe "oiheH "ei0
,be very people who wanted this country to go 10
MAR over the Armenian question 1T was ile Sent
..n,sIis+e of that type that hurried US into the
uar with Spain when every military man IN the
United States knew that we were not reaov lol H.
.eyye are as far as possible from being ready Tor
"a war now and war will come I've seen four
wars in this country in my brief span OF me- anu
another is bound come, sooner or later Inc
way to be prepared for war is TO nave plenty Oh
citizens who can shoot straight Few AIne1lcahs
know how TO handle a rife We have plenty of
athletes the country is full OF hne, young, wen
developed fellows but they can't shoot
But won't il make boys bloodthirsty TO teach
knem how shoot?'
THAT notion OF the crbwo1nen pure fallacy."
said General Hingate. It's absurd to say that be-
cause q hoy or a man knows how to shoot he s
xcing to go out the street and shoot losks
Might as well say that learning how to box Will
make a man go about knocking people down .Ihe
snan who knows how use his fists is always slow
70 use them, and the man who knows how to shoot,
rs rule doesn't shoot unless he has good reason.
He knows how serious il is
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and
the womens Peace Circle and all those organiza-
tions ought to be heartily in favor of rifle practice
IN the schools added the president of the Public
Schools Athletic League why? Because they
stand for Temperance. DON'T they? and because
re practice the greatest factor for sobriety that
EXISTS I've known thousands OF rifemen, and 1
never saw one drunk Yet. Shooting requires a
STEADY hand, steady nerve and cool Judgment.
WHY take a man who wants TO compete IN one OF
the international rife matches. Hes got 10 DE abie
10 hold his rifle steady within the one-hundredth
part of an inch, which is the thickness OF a not
very coarse needle. A can't do that and be a
garinker
Bows are learning TO shoot with great success IN
eleven of the high schools of New YORK CITY.
rwe don't try to teach the boys in the elementary
schools" said General Wingate- Boys under
fourteen are young We take the hlsh schooi
,,ovs and give them in the first place instruction
with sub-target gun machine Ihls machihe
consists upright standard with hor1zontai
roc AT top: in front of the rod is target like a
-,;sting card A rife is attached to the macfnne
and SO adjusted that. while it can be moved freely
,.-ber the nupil takes aim at target across the
t-ooro and pulls the trigger the rod punches hole
On the miniature in the precise relative place
.rhere the target would have been MI hao e riiie
iSeen loaded. -
When the bows have had practice with
tsbese machines in the school gymnasium we take
those who show aptitude for shootlhg ana an
snterest in it-take them TO one OF tle alilioiie
and a-in them with rifles. loaded with small bul-
lets -he pick of these boys is taken TO creed
moro and taught to shoot in the open field
some Of these young marksnen are dspiavihs
-, rtfu T challenged the colonel of one of oul
state regiments-one famed for It's crack shootels =
10 bring of his men against a team vi ii'ei
.c,,oai shooters the match take place in shoot
sne gallery for of course, our boys haven't mac
.,oreh outdoor shooting 10 compete with oiC
x-apers Al CreeCinnoor. and the colonel declined the
challenge He said that the boys could beat his
men in an indoor match and that he dldt care &c
have the regiment disgraced in that way
I'm in favor of teaching cur schoolpoys now
to shoot finished General Wingate, because il
the best way, the only feasible way, Tor thls coui
try IN keep prepared TO defend itself in case o:
war To quote President Roosevelt IN ms letter to
xbe New York boy who stood first in high schoo
rife nrar4ice last year: The United States has Z
very small standing army. In time of war il
must depend for defence upon hasty levies of vol
unteers. and il is a prime necessity that the vol
,,n,eer shs,uld already know s1'oot if he Il
TO be OF value soldier In no modern wal
would il be possible effectively TO train men II
shoot during the brief period of preparation before
she army takes the field
I'm in favor of teaching boys to shoot BECAUSE
the exercise Of the best disciplnes for hand
and eve and mind. and because il tends 10 keep Z
e,oy straight If ne wants TO be a good marksnaT
&c isn't going to spoil his aim, for instance. bl
cigarette smoking. And boys who can handle
rife are no more bloodthirsy than those who can
As / said before that notion is bosh-
..Grls ought TO learn TO shoot, too, added Gen
..,sl yinsate Now my wife a fine shot, and
NOT long ago she found the accomplishment yer!
fusetuI A rowdy got into the house when sh'
HAS there alone and made disturbance. Sh'
tsput nv revolver his head, and marched him ou
fs neatly you please
n