Year: 1874

| x0O v1ot0xy OF the American RIM
| Team.


Spirit Of the Times.


The International Rifle mattel


which took place at Croedmoor las


Saturday was deprived of some o


that intense feeling of rivalry which
generally attends such contests, by
the enthusiasm with which the Irisl
team was welcomed by the American
people. That nearly everybody cx
pected these practiccd Irish gentle
men, who had beaten the best Eng
lish shots at Wimbledon, to easily
defeat our comparatively unknown
riflemen-who were not even looked
on as champions-made no difference
in the warmth with which they were
received. TO show to the Irish team
and their distinguished companion,
that we were rejoiced to have then
visit us, to give them every possible
mark of hospitality, to prove to then
that in the matter of rife shooting
as well as many others, "America is
with Ireland" was the universal eff
fort. That they appreciated the sin
cerity Of--these demonstrations We
have no reason to doubt; on the con
trary, they seemed to have enjoyed
the visit as much as their hosts could
have wished. AS for the American
team, all that was asked of them was
to make a hard struggle and show a
creditable score. There was nothing
strange to these anticipations. The
Irish team was celebrated in both
countries, while our Amateur Rifle
Club were utterly unknown to the
majority of their own countrymen,
They owe it only to their own skill
and nerve that they are famous to.
day on both sides of the ocean.


The Spirit, however, did not share
these fears, but declared last week its
belief that the American team would
win. We based our opinion upon a
knowledge of the facts. Our men
had made no remarkably brilliant
public display of skill, but their pri.
yate practice had been superb. On
Thursday last this was crowned by
the practice score Of Lieutenant Full
ton, who then made a higher score
than had been registered by any rifle
man at Wimbledon. We were, there
fore, not surprised at the result, though
we admit that his total of III in the
match for the championship was un-
expected. This altogether unrivalled
accuracy in shooting at long ranges
probably won the match for the
Americans, for in the last two ranges
the Irish made marked improvement
over their average at eight hundred
yards. But the splendid character
of the entire shooting at Creedmoor
is shown by the fact that the Irish
surpassed any score that had ever
been made in Great Britain, thus
beating their own brilliant record,
and that the Americans surpassed
the Irish. The closeness of the con-
test makes it all the more memora-
BILE, and it will probably be a long
while before another equally exciting
occurs. That the Americans won by
a total score of 934 points against 93l
makes their victory all the more glor-
ious, for it shows against what mag
nlficently steady shooting they had
to contend.


There are some points connected
with this international match of
which we are obliged to record our
disapproval. One of these is the
argument that the Irish team virtually
did the best shooting in the number
of points scored, and that they would
have gained the prize had not Mr..
Miner hit the bull's-eye on the wrong
target. BY this error Mr. Miner
lost four points, which the Irish would
have gained had he hit the bull's-cye
on the right target. This is to be
admitted; but when people assume
that if he had at that time aimed at
the right target his shot would have
been Il bulPs-eye, they assume entirely
too much. They depart from fact
and enter the useless realms of spec
ulation. In the nine hundred yards
range, Mr.. Miner made this terrible
mistake, he made eight bull's-eyes,
five centres, and one outer, and no
one can pretend that it would have
been certain that he would have
made nine bull's-eyes had he aimed
at the right target in beginning his
score. Those who argue that but for
his mistake the Irish team would
have won the match by one point
argue upon hypothetical premises
and base their logic upon conjcc-
ture. No one can tell what Mr..
Miner might have done had his first
shot been delivered on the proper
target, 1t would really be just as
logical to say that the Irish team
would have won had not Captain
Walker missed his target twice at
eight hundred yards. We cannot
tell what might have been done had
no errors been committed. An analy-
sis Of the score we publish will show
some singular and interesting tea-
lures. Thus DIR. Hamilton and Lieut..
Fulton were tied at So at eight hun
dred yards, each making the BULLS
eyes thirteen times out Of possible
fifteen. Mr.. Miner made the splen-
did score of three centres and twelve
bull's-eyes at eight hundred yards,
eleven of the latter being consecutive
shots. Mr.. Wilson, of the Irish team
with a total score of 16O, did not
miss at any Of the ranges, nor even
make an outer, all his shots being
bulls eyes or centres. Lieutenant
Fulton, whose total of III, out of a
possible 1SO stands alone and SUI
preme in the annals of rifle shooting,
lost a point on each increased dis
tancc, making So at eight hundred,
81 at nine hundred, and SO at one
thousand.


Another tact we regret is the reply
of Colonel Wingate to the challenge
of Major Lccch, inviting the Ameri-
cans to shoot return match at Dub
lin, in June, 1875, upon the same
conditions as that at Creedmoor.-
Everybody expected, as a matter OF
course, that second international
contest would take place, no matter