The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-24

state and National troops. the marine
 corps, the navy. and the Military ana
 Naval Academies are taking part.
 marks new epoch in small arm prac-
 tice ir the United States. Already the
 champions of the world in marksman- ship on land and on sea. with. big guns and with small arms. the defenq- CTS of the American flag are not con- tent with past achievement, but are
 seeking to set new marks and to make new records.
 Although some other Governments
 spend q dozen dollars where the United States spends one in the en- coura cement of rife practice, this country has the satisfaction of know ing that in both team and individual marksnanship it's soldiers and sailors stand at the head of every list. AL
 most every international trophy to be competed for is now In its keeping. 1.-The Palma, trophy, open to the Ameri- fcan. Canadian. British and Australian
 markamen, was won by boys who marched beneath the Stars and Stripes. At the Olympian games, the Americtns
 proved the superiority of their marks manship over the whole world. and
 came back laden with the trophies of | their skin. When 1t goes to hitting | the bulls eye, the American is there l first In spite of the superior adyarit- ages the other nations give their
 marksmen.
 But 1t is to be said that while Con. gress has heretofore been somewhat
 niggardly in its treatment of the or ganized militia and in the encourage ment of craftsmanship. that time IS
 largely past. The passage of the new
 military bill last spring and the re- cent laws for the promotion or rlne l practice have had a very happy effect.
 The organized militia now has no 1 trouble to keep itself recruited up to the full quota, and everywhere rifle 1 practice teams are springing up. Every State In the Union now has its crack | teams, and every military organization | is encouraging good marksmanship among it's men. Congress has become | in earnest about the matter. and has l taken many steps to help along the movement to make good narksmen out of the nations defenders. It has ere ated the national board for the pro-
 motion of rifle practice, has furnished the State troops with money which
 may be spent for the construction of
 rifle ranges. has given the magnifi- cent trophy of Mars holding the dogs of war in leash, and in many other
 ways has shown an awakened interest in developing the fighting qualities of the men who have volunteered to fight
 our battles on land and on sea. The great national matches now be-
 ing shot at Camp Perry are direct
 result of Congressional action. These
 matches are held under the auspices of the National Board for the Promo l tion of Rifle Practice. and are open to every branch of the military and naval service, including the organized miii- l tia. The matches are open to all en- listed men and officers below the rank | of major. The first prize in the rifle 1 team match is the bronze trophy of
 Mars and his dogs of war. The second prize is the famous Henry Hilton tro- 1 phy, and the third Is the Soldier of Marathon trophy. In the individual ri- | file match there are about seven hun dred entries, and thirty-six medals.
 In the pistol match there are fifteen | medals.
 Something of the lack of knowledge
 of rifle practice at the outbreak of the 1 Spanish American war may be gleamed | from the statement made by General | Shafter. He stated that when the 71st New York Regiment reported to him at Tampa, to form a part of his ex- petition to Cuba. he was mortified to 1 find that after having been in camp of instruction for two months. this regiment contained 400 men who had
 never fired shot from their rifles.
  ly all the volunteers, who were care fully instructed in everything but
 craftsmanship. England had the same dihiculty in the Boer War, and Lord
 Roberts was so impressed with the
 mistake that he immediately exerted
 his influence in having the schools teach marksmanshipl Hundreds of
 English schools are forming rifle clubs under his advice. France is doing Ys1. slowly following suit
 A new device has been invented for l teaching schoolboys rnarksmanship without danger themselves. It Is | known as the sub target machine" No ammunition is used with this con
 trivance. The boy simply aims the gun | and pulls the trigger, and needle-like
 rod registers on a miniature target the point where the bullet would have
 struck on a regulation target had the
 gun been loaded. This machine is not | toy, but has been adopted by the
 navy and many militia companies, while
 several thousand are in use in the
 French army. After the schoolboys learn to aim in this way they are put
 to work with twenty-two calibre rifles.
 having the same weight and sight aE | the regular army rifles. After indoor ] practice with these has made them
 proficient in the handling of guns they
 are then taken to the range and started
 into regular rifle practice. An effort
 is being made to induce Congress to
 appropriate $100.000 for the encourage
 ment of rifle practice in the high
 schools of the United States. The War Department has recommended the pas
 sage of such a measure.
 Measured by the standards of other
 nations there is great need for the en-
 couragement of rifle practice in the United States. We have only forty
 seven organized Government clubs.
 with membership of only about 5000
 Switzerland. with a population no . larger than ours at the close of the Revolutionary War. has 3.65s clubs.
 with a Eiembership of 133.000. England
 has 670 clubs with a mmebership of
 nearly 5O,000. Switzerland spends $30O.- 1000 a year on it's clubs, and turns out lover 100000 trained marksmen annual Fly. The only work done to foster rifle
 practice outside of the military and I naval service fT. the United States Is
 that of the National Rifle Association With this association there are af- filiated twenty-one state rifle associa-
 tions. fifty-six regiments, twenty five separate military organizations. sixty civilian rifle clubs. six college and
 university shooting clubs and fifteen
 schoolboy rifle clubs-165 organizations
 in all.
 It may seem strange. but the branch | of the national defence most likely to
 be called Into service at any moment
 the navy and the marine corps-is
 the poorest armed in the service.
 These are always standing a chance | E-k.