The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-06-21

The conditions in Europe are totally different.
Land is owned by the aristocracy, and since
feudal times hunting has been privilege peculiar
to that class Unless he secures employment as
a gamekeeper, the poor has chance TO
aearn to shoot Nor have the middle classes any
better opportunity. Ammunition is expensive
The license fee is excessive running as high as
$50. The only good guns are handmade, for the
reason that gunsmiths look only to the upper
class purchasers. Hence good, cheap, ma
chine lnade rifles manufactured. Lastly, there
is no open land upon which to shoot
For all these reasons, the workingman 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
the bloodiest ever seen. The operations in
Europe during the present struggle have always
been over wide front. The numbers engaged
have been enormous and the total losses stagger-
ing. Yet the wastage of human life has been rel
atively small compared with that of the Union
and Confederate armies. There has been no Get
tysburg, Bloody Angle in the present conflict
Why? Neither the forces under Grant or Lee
attained the perfection of training acquired by
the armies of today, with the exception of few
star corps composed of picked regiments. The
heavy casualties were due to the individual fight
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 rifeman
has been conceded by all. Morgan's backwoods-
men proved their efficiency as marksmen in the
War for Independence. The raw frontersman
demonstrated it again at New Orleans under
Jackson. against Pakenham's trained regulars At
the Alamo Crockett and Bowie, with little
handful of ri1e1nen, held the hordes of Santa Ana
at bay Our history is full of incidents in which
a little band of grim men, their backs to the wall,
have held off many times their number by sheer
tenacity and deadly rifle execution.
The reason for this is not far to seek. In early
days America was virgin land peopled by no.
madic tribes with an amazing skill at woodcraft.
These natives had to be Outwitted and outfought
No country in the world, with the possible ex-
ception of British Southeast Africa, had such
wealth of game this. The first settlers were
AngloSslxons, the greatest sport-loving people on
earth With them they brought little but fire.
arms and stout hearts They had to defend them
selves against the Indians and to live by the
chase Gradually they learned to raise grain,
fruit and vegetables native to the land of their
adoption But for long time their main source
of supply was wild game.
1t resulted that every boy grew up with rifle
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
ies Always the adventurous son pushed to the
more remote frontier. The greatest trek in the
history of the western hemisphere was on. For
SO years it continued. Almost every foot of the
West was by toll and hardship, at the cost
of sacrifice from which men and women emerged
strong and self-reant.
The tradition of the hunt persists with us. The
man used to tramping the hills for big game en-
dures hardship and prvation for the sake of the
sport He learns to shoot at fast-moving game
under difficulties of distance and visibility. 1t
follows that when he is taken out to the rifle
range and instructed he learns in a few lessons
the proper sighting and method of using the mill
tary rifle
These once acquired, he is in class by himself
for he is used to shooting under the same cond
tons, though with less danger to himself that OBJ
tain at the front. No amount Of practice at the
rife range can as fit substitute for his ex
perience.
1t is this fundamental training which lies back
of target practice that is responsible for the
craftsmanship of the American army. The ma
rine corps holds the finest record in the service
Fully one-third of this organization wears the
craftsmanship emblem. At least one-half of the
marines are frst-class rifemen.
To win the expert emblem a marksman must
shoot over the qualifying course at all ranges from