HOW TO GET IT. 107 



loader is never charged until wanted for use, and that when 

 not actually at the ' ready ' the gun stands at the half- 

 cock notch, which may be as hard as they please to make it. 

 Old men are nearly always opposed to innovation. ' The 

 old way is the best way.' What was best in the active, 

 practical days of a man's life, is very apt to be best to 

 him in his last days. It is extremely rare that a man 

 progresses with the age in which he lives. As he grows 

 old, or drops out of active life, his place is taken by 

 the young and pushing. It is not necessary that a man 

 grows old in years. Any occupation, or lack of it, that 

 takes him out of active life produces the same effect. 



It is not, therefore, at all to be wondered at if some 

 of our staff officers are as complete fossils as can be 

 found in the tertiary deposits of the Bad Lands They 

 are out of life ; their future is assured. Their occupa- 

 tion becomes a matter of routine, in which the correct- 

 ness of a form is of more importance than the establish- 

 ment of a fact. 



The practical men of the line have had a hard fight 

 with the 'inertia' of their masters of the staff, and have 

 no reason to be disheartened at the result. We have an 

 excellent rifle ; we have the bronze barrel, and may hope 

 in time to secure proper sights and triggers. 



The rifle shooting now becoming so fashionable is 

 destined to work great improvement in the use of arms. 

 It is, however, only a step in the right direction. The 

 trials, as at present conducted, are rather tests of the 

 rifles than of the men. When these trials have pro- 

 gressed until men begin to compete at distances un- 

 known to and estimated by themselves, without elevating 

 sights, off-hand arid necessarily with light triggers, then 

 the maximum of efficiency and skill is not far off'. Then 

 must the soldier put in practice such shooting as he 

 must necessarily use against an enemy. 



I have never seen a really ardent sportsman, however 

 experienced, who did not become more or less excited 



