El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-24
ENCOURAGING
MARKSMANSHIP


CONTINUED from previous page1
so satisfactory that the English have
been led to adopt the clay target, and
the sport is growing as popular on the
other side as it is in the United
States.
Awarding Prizes
In the United States there are two
systems of awarding prizes in target
shooting. One system is known as the
Jack Rabbit and the other as the Money
Back. Under the former entrants are
paid according to the scores they
make. Under the latter the entrance
fee is returned to those. who do not
win enough prize money to pay for the
fee. The experts do not like the Jack
Rabbit system, contending that it
does not pay them well enough for
their skill. But in spite of some dissat-
isfaction with the prize alloting sys-
TENS in vogue, there never have been
so many trap shooters as there are to-
day, nor have the records of the rank
and file, as well as those of the prize
winners. been so high as they now are.
This shows conclusively that expert
craftsmanship is answering to the
methods Of stimulation adopted by the
various organizations.
The object of the National Rifle as
SOSIobAOAA VI Tic OA1llcQ 10 par
ticularly to encourage craftsmanship
among individuals who would be need
ed as sharp shooters in case of war.
The association advocates a program
which includes the furnishing, by the
government, of standard army rifles to
those who will use them under proper
auspices. 1t would have the govern
ment issue a million of such rifles to
individual marksmen and thus offer
better support to the cause of marks
manship than it does. 1t is pointed
out that there are at present about
100 universities, colleges and schools
in the United States where army Off
GERS are detailed and that these insti-
tutions have an enrolment in their
military departments of about $4,000
students. OF these only 3,239 receive
outdoor shooting practice and 9,72S
gallery practice. In addition TO these
public institutions there are twenty
eight private military schools with an
enrolment Of $500. 1t is the aim of
the rifle association to furnish each of
these students with gun and make
him as efficient in handling 1t as a
sharp shooter would need to be in case
Of war
Much Depends on Sharpsho oters.
The officials of the rifle association
well may strive to promote efficiency
in the handling of small arms, for often
the result Of a battle, if indeed not the
outcome of a war; depends upon the
efficiency Of the sharp shooter. In the
Boer war the highly trained troops of
the English government could not
meet, on equal terms the South African
farmers who had shouldered their guns
in defense of their homes. 1t was the
ability Of the Beers as sharp shooters
that the EtnO1iCh RI
disadvantage, and forced the mother
country to use such vast armies in
conQuering them. In the battle of Get
tysburg the Confederate sharp shoot
ers nearly succeeded in turning the tide
Of battle on the afternoon of the second
day Safely ensconsed behind the huge
boulders of Devils Den, they picked
off the gunners of the Federal forces
on the rocky northern slope of Little
Round Top as fast as they sought to
man the guns. Thus the northern ar
tillery was rendered almost useless,
and it was only by pitting their sharp
shooters against those of the Confed
eracy that the Federals were able to
use their artillery effectively on Lit
tie Round Top. If this had not been
done, the night of the second day GER
tainly would have found Longstreet's
men in possession of Little Round Top,
the key to the Federal position. Had
this stronghold been taken, the story
of the victory would in all probable
ity have been a different one.
1t has been calculated by army sta
tisticians that for every man hit in
battle from small arm fire, there are
5000 to 5000 shots fired. 1t is said that
with the increasing distance at which
troops engage in battle. due to more
efficient equipment being used, the
proportion of misses to hits is becom-
ing even greater. In such a situation
it becomes all the more necessary that
there shall be thorough training of the
citizens who are to make up our army
in case Of future war. Not long ago
the Austrian School of Musketry de-
termined to make an exhaustive expe-
riment with view to ascertaining the
influence of fatigue on craftsmanship.
squad of men on bicycles rode sixty
five miles in eight hours, after having
shot several rounds at the targets.
When they returned they were a weary
looking bunch of soldiers, but in the
shooting that followed it was dis
closed that the strenuous march had
affected the accuracy of their aim bat
little. In the case of raw recruits il