The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-06-20

AuS COuultlOuS IN Europe are tOtdlly
Land Is owned by the aristocracy. and since
feudal times hunting has been q privilege peculiar
to that class Unless he secures employment ~
q gamekeeper. the poor man has no chance to
learn to shoot Nor have the middle classes any
better opportunity. Ammunition Ii expensive
The license fee is excessive, running high as
$25. The only good guns nre handmade, for the
reason that gunsmiths look only to the upper
class MS purchasers Hence no good. cheap. ma
chine-made rifles Are 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
was the bloodiest 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
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
tAe armies of today, with the exception Of 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 rife. -y
From the days Of the minute men Of the Revo-
luton. the superiority Of the American rineman
has been conceded by all. Morgan's backwoods-
men proved their efficiency As marksmen in the
War for Independence. The raw frontiersman
demonstrated It again at New Orleans under
Jackson against Pakenhams trained regulars. AT
the Alamo. Crockett and Bowie. with q little
handful of ridemen. 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 on many times their number by sheer
tenacity and deadly rifle execution.
The reason for this is not far to seek. In early
days America virgin land peopled BY mo-
madic tribes with an amazing skill at woodcraft
These natives had to be outwitted and outfought.
.,lAh 10
ception of British Southeast Africa. ever had such
a wealth of game this The first settlers were
Anglo axons 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 wild game.
1t resulted that every boy grew up with a rife
in his hands. Inevitably these frontiersmen.
faced with 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 son pushed to the
more remote frontier. The greatest trek In the
history of the western hemisphere was For
so years 1t 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 The
man used to tramping the hills for big game
dures hardship and privation for the sake of the
sport. He learns to shoot Mt fastmoving 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 a class by himself.
for he is used to shooting under the same condi-
tions though with less danger to himself that OBJ
tain at the front. No amount OF practice at the
rife range serve At substitute for his
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-thlrd of this organisation wears the
workmanship emblem At least one-haf Of the
marines are nrst-class rinemen.
To win the expert emblem Q marksman must
sAoot over the qualifying course at all ranges from