The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-06-21


hi, blood hecanse his father and grandfather be
fore him won the wilderness with the old 1nuZzi,
loader Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett ane
Kit Carson are all old friends OF MS. Inc wiz
West is familiar territory, even though ne nIas
never have crossed the Mississippi For ne has
read the tales Of trappers and hunters ana prae
,ced them on a small scale in the woods out
side his village.
The American is marksman by trainlhs
What boy has not spent long days IN the "oou
with gun in his hands? What youth, eAeepuns
only some born and reared In the largest cl.ies'
has not come home night In triumph with
bag Of cottontails7
The third reason why Sammy sticks to his fine
In the trenches is that 1t is the best mii'ars arm
In the world. -,
For these three reasons, then-because the r1ne
is his weapon by tradition and by training, ana
because the he carries is the best Inahuiac'
tured-our infantryman backs the rifle against the
hand grenade and the bayonet. He can use any
of the three but for choice give him clean wv
ward shot at moving spot of gray outlined
against the dun Flanders background Of scar
torn hill.
IT has been acknowledged for years that the
American regular army small though II was PRIOR
to 1917, is the finest body of marksmen IN any
army Our teams competing at Camp Perry ana
at Risey against the best shots OF Europe ana
the western hemisphere, proved conclusiveiy tnat
the superiority still rests with US.
The United States government has made for Its
duced These are the Springfield model OF 1eo3
and the 1917 model both Of which are beyond
question better guns than those used by any other
army In the world. The cartridges for these
weapons are the best now in use. Orders nave
been placed for 1920 600 rifles. The production
now averages $4,000 week, sufficient to equip
three divisions One billion cartridges have been
ordered for practice In the training camps. Our
manufacture of rifle cartridges excels In amount
that Of any other country. One firm alone turned
out 125,0o00 900 during one month.
The policy of the government has been to ap-
propriate about sl3 q year for the rife practice
of each soldier In the army. Target ranges have
been built in all parts Of the country. These
were available not only for the use OF the army
and the National Guard but also for rifle associ-
atoms.
Germany has not been able to do this. with
a standing army so great as the one maintained
by the kaiser In peace times, such an approprla-
ton would have lnterfered with other plans. II
s19 year had been spent on ammunition tor the
rifle practice of each man in the German standlng
army and reserve, the Teutons would be far bet
ter shots than they are today. But this gain
would be at the expense of the funds necessary
for the supply of munitions the general stan was
accommodating against the day of need Prior to
the the German soldier fired only about IL
ball cartridges a year on the range.
The rifle ranges in Europe are few and inferior
Land Is far too valuable to permit OF much be-
ing used for such purpose. Scarcely any OF these
over 400 yards An appropriation of $18 to the
man for ammunition would not have made Eu
ropean soldiers anything like as expert as ours
The lack of opportunity to shoot under the neio
conditions which are the foundation OF a good
rifemans work in actual battle stress. would
necessarily have debarred this.
The American is a hunter He used to be
rifeman from necessity, since his safety and his
food depended on his skill. He is now one from
choice There are few Of our yungsters who do
not own or have access to % rife. and but rev
who do not get an occasional chance to use
shotgun. The hunting instinct is still strong In
u.s. 1t is estimated that about S,6OOOOO sports
men in this country hunt every year with a rife
a shotgun.
Even in thickly settled districts game is still
plentiful enough to offer enticing sport. The H.
cense fee is small, amounting usually to only II.
Ammunition Is cheaper here than elsewhere. The
finest and least costly machine-made guns are
produced in this country. Most important. we
have established aristocracy which controls the
shooting preserves, to the exclusion of the gen
enl public,