The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1918-07-19

The conditions In Europe are totally different
Land Il owned by the aristocracy. and since
feudal times hunting has been a privilege peculiar
to that class. Unless he secures employment ~
a gumckeepcr. he poor man has no chance 10
learn TO shoot. Nor have the middle classes any
better opportunity. Ammunition IL expensive.
The license fee Il excessive. running as high as
$50. The only good guns are handmade, for the
reason that gunsmiths look only 90 the upper
class as purchasers. Hence no good, cheap, ma
chine-made rifles are manufactured. Lastly, there
IL no open land upon which 10 shoot.
For all these reasons. the wOrkingmnn OF Eu'
rope knows very little about firearms.
Man for man, the total number Of troops In
the field taken into consideration. our Civil war
was the bloodiest ever seen. The operations In
Europe during the present struggle have always
been over a wide front. The numbers engaged
have been enormous and the total losses stagger-
Ing. Yet the wastage Of human life has been rel
atvely small compared with that OF thu Union
and Confederate armies. There has been no Get
tysburg, no Bloody Angle In the present conflict
whyi Neither the forces under Grant or Lee
attained the perfection OF training acquired by
the armies Of today. with the exception OF n few
star corps composed OF picked regiments. The
heavy casualties were due to the individual night
ing ability Of the troops, to their expert use OF
the rifle.
From the days OF the minute men OF the Revo-
luton. the superiority Of the American rneman
has been conceded by ALL Morgnn's backwoods-
men proved their efficiency ns marksmen In the
War for Independence. The raw frontiersman
demonstrated n agnln at New Orleans under
Jackson against Pakenham's trained regulars. Al
the Alamo, Crockett and Bowie. with a little
handful Of rihemen. held the hordes OF Santa Ana
NJ bay. Our history II full Of incidents In which
a little band of grim men, their backs to the wall,
have held on many times their number by sheer
tenacity and deadly rifle execution.
The raneon Tor thfa IA moi far IN aeak In enrIy
days America was a virgin land peopled by no
madic tribes with an amazing skill at woOdcraft.
These natives had 10 be outwitted and outfought,
No country In the world. with the possible ex'
ception Of British Southeast Africa, ever had such
a wealth OF game as this. The first settlers were
Anglo-snxons. the greatest sportloying people on
earth. with them they brought little but FIRE
arms and stout hearts. They had 10 defend them.
selveS against the Indians and 20 live by the
chase. Gradually they learned TO raise grain,
fruit and vegetables native 10 the land Of their
adoption. But for a long time their main source
Of supply was Wild game.
II resulted that every boy grew up with a rife
in his hands. Inevitably these frontierSmen,
faced with an opportunity based upon necessity,
developed the keen eye, the steady nerve and the
workmanship that made them the best shots ever
known.
with the growth OF the country the tide Of
civilization rolled westward. Clark opened the
great Northwest. Pike led the way to the Rock.
les. Always the adventurous sou pushed to the
more remote frontier. The greatest trek In the
history OF the western hemisphere was on. For
80 years II continued. Almost every foot OF the
West was won by toll and hardship, at the cost
OF sacrifice from which men and women emerged
strong and self.reliant.
The tradition OF the hunt persists with Us. The
man used 20 trnmping the hills for big gnme en-.
dures hardship and privatiOn for the sake OF the
sport. He learns 70 shoot at fast-moying game