3^2 PHYSICAL CULTURE AND MILITARY DRILL. 



must come to a high perfection in sliooting' must needs begin 

 to learn it in his youth, the omitting of which thing in Eng- 

 land, both maketh fewer shooters and also every man that is a 

 shooter shoot worse than he might if he were taught. And 

 this I dare be bold to say, that any man which will wisely begin 

 and constantly persevere in this trade of learning" to shoot, 

 shall attain to perfection therein." 



Assuming that the desirability of instructing" the elder boys 

 at school in the use of the rifle is generally conceded, there 

 have hitherto been three main obstacles in the way : First, the 

 difficulty in securing" a suitable shooting range within con- 

 Aenient reach of the school; second, the expense of the rifles 

 and the ammunition; and third, the supposed danger of trusting" 

 firearms in the hands of reckless and irresponsible youths. 



Xow. the first two of these obstacles were no doubt very 

 real in former times, but the advance of science in recent years 

 has largely eliminated the difficulties. Miniature rifles, which 

 are exact patterns on a small scale of the ordinary service 

 weapons, can now be obtained at a small cost, and ammuni- 

 tion suitable for them at a price which would form no great 

 tax on the school funds. The ranges usually fired at are less 

 than 100 yards (commonly 25. 50 and 75 yards), though these 

 little w^eapons are capable of shooting with a fair amount of 

 .accuracy up to 200 yards. There should, therefore, be little 

 difficulty in obtaining" suitable ranges, as few schools in this 

 ■country have their playgrounds so restricted that they could 

 not afford a space of at least 50 yards for this purpose. Little 

 would be required in the way of stop-butts, and if a wall were 

 not available a small mound of earth behind the targets would 

 serve the purpose economically and efficiently. The targets 

 themselves would vary in character, in accordance with the 

 htage of advancement of the participants. For beginners they 

 would be stationary, large and easily seen ; but the boys who 

 had made some progress under these conditions would be 

 expected to exercise their skill in hitting" moving objects of 

 different kinds in less conspicuous colouring. 



There would not, of course, be the same element of danger 

 in the handling" of these miniature rifles as in the use of the 

 -customary carbine or the large rifle; but at the same time the 

 supervision would have to be no less strict on that account. 

 Regular hours should be fixed for practices and competitions, 

 and no rifle issued to any pupil until a master or other re- 

 sponsible person had been detailed off as instructor and range 

 superintendent. Under effective control there should be no 

 real danger, and with systematic tuition the boys could thus 

 learn the essential principles of marksmanship. I feel con- 

 vinced that they would thoroughly enjoy the pastime and in- 

 directly derive much benefit from it. 



Now, it will naturally be said that there is nothing new in 

 all this, as the cadet system is already in operation in this and 

 many other countries of the world. The criticism would be a 

 legitimate one to a large extent, although, as I have already 

 mentioned, we have no such system in this Colony and that 

 m itself might be considered a sufficient justification for in- 



