Year: 1876




trymen. There arc only two places in
America which are reserved exclusively for
Americans-the Presidency and place Il
the rifle team in international matches We
sometimes differ among ourselves as to the
merits Of our Presidents, but there can be
no two opinions as to the skill of our rifle
men. But even in our triumph we desire to
bear ourselves modestly, rs men worthy OF
victory. Our antagonists were in every way
worthy Of our skill. No match was ever bet
ter contested, and the final triumph was
doubtful until the last. At the outset the
Australians led, but before the first days
work was finished the Scotch team had the
second place, leaving the Americans nine
| points behind the Scotch and the leaders of
the morning in the dim distance. This was
oil reversed, however, and now the Irish
come second, with the Scotch in the third
| place and the Australians in the fourth. A
| glance at the grand totals will show that in
| the end the figures were decisive, though
: only sufficiently so to mark the fortune of
the winners while exhibiting the skill Of
+, oil We rejoice in this result, but should
have been equally rejoced had fortune con-
ferred her favors upon others


| Now that the match is over, that there is
no longer any anxiety about the result, we
can turn to the social duties which hospi-
tality requires ut our hands and let the toast
pass while we find in the skill of all
o sufficient excuse for the glass. But,
while recognizing these duties for ourselves
We must be excused, even in the flush of
victory, if we insist that others have duties
as well as we which they are bound to per-
form. The English rihemen held aloof from
this match, and as the Americans had only
beaten the Irish teams in the previous inter
national matches, we could not demand
their presence as q necessity imposed upon
them. Now we havo beaten the Scotch, the
Australians and the Canadians, rs we'll as
the Irish, and no excuse will avail to pre-
vent match between the English and the
Americans. AS we are. the champions the
challenge must come from the other side,
and we can promise in advance that no OBJ
stacle shall be thrown in their way to pre-
vent their complete success at Creedmoor.
AS such an event is q necessity of yester-
days shooting we trust there will be no de-
lay in coming to an understanding in the
matter


There are two aspects in which the influ
ence OF these modern Olympic festivals is to
be regarded-their power to promote the
kinship of nations and the encouragement
they bestow upon the healthy and invigor-
ating sports of the age. 1t will be difficult
for kings or ministries or policies to pit ma
ton against nation SO long as the people
who compose them find pleasure in meeting
each other in friendly rivalry. The tie of
sympathy which matches like that at Creed
moor yesterday and on Wednesday are GER
tain to create will be found as close as those
between the Scotch and the Irish and the
Irish and the Australians on tho first days
shooting, and between the Scotch and the
Americans at the eight hundred yards range
in the finnl struggle. Then, again, one in
ternational contest not only gives rise to an
other, but festival like that at Creedmoor
gives wonderful impetus to athletic exer-
cises and trials of skill in oil the countries
participating in the international match
Before many years we shall be compelled to
send rifle team to Australia, and q polo
match on the Bosphorus will almost inevita-
bly, follow the settlement of the Eastern aues-
ton. Indeed, if things go on as they have
been going for the last ten years it will not
be long until people forget that there is an
Eastern question at all, and Olympia may
again become the friendly battle ground of
the world as it once was the chief theatre
of the manly contests not only of all Greece,
but of everything that was Grecian.


In respect to the first Of the PROPOSE
ticns we have laid down many deductions
might be drawn. An international contest
like that at Creedmoor. or like the one which
preceded it on the Schuylkill, is great
peace congress of the nations Those who
have watched the political events of the last
quarter of q century are aware that diplo-
macy has taken n new phase and that men of
science and learning, men skilled in the
arts in manufactures and in commerce, have
practically assumed the direction of affairs
in all civilized lands. Fish and Beaconsfield,
Bismarck and Gortschakoff can no longer, or
not much longer, dictate the terms Of the
treaties between friendly States Every in
terest has its congress, and these congresses
represent the united States of the world.
Victor Hugo was not so far wrong in his
dream after all, though his wish is being re-
allied, perhaps, in a very different way from
what he expected. At Vienna, in 1873
every branch Of science, of art and of manu-
features assembled its delegates from all
terchange opinions At Philadelphia this
example has been followed with the very
best results. The statisticians, the geogra-
pliers, tho scientists and the scholars from