Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-11-27
Interest in Rifle Shooting Grows
BY Frederic J. Hsskin.

Washington. Nov 27-The opening |
of the winter program of gallery rifle 4
matches reveals that more people
than over are Interested in marks
manship. II Is estimated that about :
1000, 600 rifles are in use in this coun- 4
try. and more than 100000 persons /
are enrolled with tPe National Rifle
Association.
Rife shooting has been promoted I
by the association ever since 1871 as
a preparedness measure. and now the i
War Department is working through
board. in cooperation with the assoc
citation. 90 stimulate interest In target
practice. National matches fired on
one large range and gallery and out
door small bore matches fired on co.n-
petitors' home ranges are held each
/ year. cups. medals. and other tro-
/ phies are awarded.
But. according 20 thc rife board.
the Government is not advocating
rife shooting entirely in the inter-
I ests of national defense. Whether a
man ever shoulders a gun in the army
or militia. the exercise and personal
development OF target shooting are
worthwhile. and the board wants 10
+ see rifle shooting ev-n more Of a pop
ular sport than 10 has grown 10 be.
Because rifle shooting does not at
tract large public audiences knowl-
edge OF the sport Is confined chiefly
- marksmen. Unlike football. il L.-s
few fans who merely ut on the side
lines and YEN. An audience at match
is made UP mainly Of marilsmcn with
"a sprinklng ot casually interested
friends. When one OF the onlookers
becomes fan he gets "A gun.
This is "a healthy condition. II IS an
ideal of sport 70. Nave a large per-
centage OF the people interested en-
saging in the activity. leaving a
small percentage Of chronic onlookers.
. I;ihs shooting is one of the few sports
. that approXimates this ideal.
j In fact. rifle shooting is an unusual
sport in number of ways. according
; TO the War Departments rifle board.
? In the first place. because OF its rela-
ton to national defense it is hacked
by the Government. "A unique distinc-
ton for popular sport. II requires
more concentration than the eNacting
game Of chess. and il calls for general
physical fitness rather nan the speC-
ialized muscular development demand
ed by most sports.
Many Girls. Interested.
Thc tools OF rifle shooting are inn
plcments of destruction. yet il is a
sport i'm which almost no casualties
occur. As one marksman puts IL
Compared to football. rifle shooting is
ladies game" And. as a matter OF
fact. IL is becoming that. Any mum
her OF schools have girls rifle teams
and the girls are proving To he good
shots. Last year a Washington high
school girls team won the Astor cuI
match which carries the high schoo
championship FOR the country.
High schools and many college;
have come 10 regard shooting as Z
standard sport for which the schoo
letter is To be regularly awarded. The
Naval Academy, the University o
Pennsylvania. Yale. and Princeton arr
al. ng the colleges at which riti'
shooting is rated with other sports.
Police Departments in some cities
have formed rife teams. and ex
soldiers and sportsmen all over th'
country are organized i'm more thar
1000 clubs of the National Rifle As
sociation Rifle shooting is known
as a poor mans game--an afternoonp
practice would cost about "a cents
md because of this large number
/ of working men are enrolled In th'
: n'ns a.e. auntr'a fn scsentisU
!. and technical workers who are az
tracted by the problems OF marksman
hip.
{ one big advantage OF shooting az
y a popular spor, is that anyone car
shoot. according 10 an official of th'