490 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
iJuini ir, 1904. 
§ifl^ §dng$ Httd §dtt$t^ 
Fixtures. 
June 12-20.— Union Hill Schuetzen Park, N. J.— National Schuet- 
zenbund Festival. 
June 26.— Zeltner's Morrisania Park.- German-American Shooting 
Society's shoot. _____________ 
The Palma Trophy. 
The Evening Post, of June 2, contains the following: 
Referring to the cables to the press from London in relation 
to the Palma trophy match, shot last year at Bisley, England, 
and won by America. Gen. Bird W. Spencer, president of the 
National Rifle Association of America, said to-day to a reporter 
of the Evening Post: 
"Gen. Spencer was not the captain of the American team, Col. 
Leslie C. Bruce, of New York, having filled that position. Gen. 
Spencer did not accompany the American team to England. A 
rifleman by the name of Milton' Farrow, Washington, D. C., 
sent an article to the Washington Evening Star, which was 
published on July 29, 1903, in which it was stated that the 
American riflemen used non-regulation arms, and that foul 
play was charged against the American team. 
"After the publication of this article, the secretary of the 
National Rifle Association of Great Britain, Col. C. R. Crosse, 
addressed a communication to the National Rifle Association 
of America, asking for an explanation as to the article and for 
categorical answers to certain questions, giving description of 
the rifle used in the contest, and particularly stating: 'In asking 
you to lay this letter before the Mational Rifle Association of 
America for their consideration and reply, I have to say that 
my council have no other object in view than to dispel the 
doubts which have arisen in connection with this match.' 
"The letter from the National Rifle Association of Great Britain 
was submitted to the Board of Directors of the National Rifle 
Association of America at a meeting held in Washington, D. C, 
January 19. 1904, and the president (Gen. Spencer) was instructed 
to reply thereto, which he did. 
"In the first place, by authority of Major James E. Bell, who 
was quoted in the article referred to in the Star, he denies that 
Major Bell had made any such statement. The statement at- 
tributed to Major Bell, being that he took the view that the 
rifles in question could not properly be used. 
"Gen. Spencer's communication further stated that the team 
was equipped with two rifles, both of Government standard, 
mode! of 1892, but that to one of the rifles was attached a barrel, 
which barrel conformed in rifling, this being the only difl'erence 
between it and the 1892 model, to the new army rifle which was 
not yet obtainable. Instructions were given to Col. Bruce, the 
captain of the team, at the last moment before sailing that if 
there was the slighest objection to the use of the rifles to which 
were attached the special barrels, his team was to' immediately 
discard them and shoot with the old-model rifles taken with 
them. 
"At a meeting of the directors of . the National Rifle Associa- 
tion of America, January 19, 1904, Col. Bruce distinctly stated 
that the character of the rifles which were used was thoroughly 
understood by every team captain, and no objection whatever 
was raised; further, that it was known by everybody that these 
rifles were to be used by the American team; also, that the 
rifles referred to were freely passed over to officers and mem- 
bers of other teams, to the officers of the competition, and others 
for exammation and trial if desired; he also stated that the rifles 
with the special barrels attached were fully and publicly sanc- 
tioned by the National Rifle Association of America. He then 
proceeded to give a description of the rifles as requested, which 
agreed with the pitch of the spiral and the grooving of the new 
army rifle. 
"In the article published by Mr. Farrow in the Star the state- 
ment was made that an enlarged barrel was used, caliber .303. 
This Gen. Spencer distinctly denied and stated that the barrels 
were the regulation 30 caliber rifle. Gen. Spencer further quoted 
from articles published in the Shooting Times, of London, and 
the Volunteer Service Gazette, which articles gave description 
of the rifles used by the American team and stated that the 
whole matter had been carefully gone into by a selected com- 
mittee of the National Rifle Association of Great Britain, and 
that the rifles were unanimously permitted to be used." 
Dr. W. B. Short, a corporal in the Seventh Regiment of the 
State militia, and one of the members of the American team 
which won the Palma trophy at Bisley in 1903, said to-day that 
the conditions under which the match was shot had been the 
same for the English as for the Americans. He said also that 
the Englishmen were thoroughly aware of the fact that the 
American team was using rifles with special barrels and specially 
made ammunition. He said: 
"Fully two weeks before the shoot, Mr. Crosse, secretary of 
the National Rifle Association, asked me if our rifles and am- 
munition were the same as we would receive were we sent out on 
service. I told him that our rifle barrels had been made by the 
Stevens Arms Company after the specifications governing the 
rifle which had been adopted by the War Department for use in 
our army. Also I told him that our ammunition, while being 
specially made for the match, had been made by the company 
furnishing ammunition to the Government and identical with it. 
"In turn I asked him the question he had asked me, and his 
reply was that the rifle barrels of the English team had been made 
by a private firm and afterward sent to the Government arsenal 
for inspection, approval, and stamping with the Government 
mark. Mr. Crosse told me that the ammunition also had been 
especially made, so it is clear from his answer that while the 
rifles and ammunition used by the British team were not literally 
of service character, they were practically so; and this may also 
be said, with equal veracity, of the pieces and cartridges used 
by the American team. 
"The advantage we derived from having the barrels made in 
private works was a more careful workmanship, but in every 
way these barrels were constructed to conform to the Govern- 
ment pattern. The reason we had them liiade was that we knew 
that the English team would do the , selfsame thing. To sum 
matters up, it is a fact that not a man who shot on the English 
team used a rifle made in the Government works. 
"Further than m.y talk with Mr. Crosse, let nic say that the 
captain of the -two teams had a conference a week before the 
day of the match and this matter of rifle barrels was taken up 
and thoroughly discussed, and there was never the vaguest 
thought of a protest on the part of the Englishmen." 
At the office of the Winchester Arms Company it was said to- 
day that on July 11, 1903, the date of the Palma trophy shoot, 
there were two rifles in service used in the United States a,rmy, 
the Krag-Jorgensen and the Springfield tiiodel, 
The new rifle of the army, which has supplanted the Krag 
piece, is made at Springfleld, and the members of the American 
team claim that the special barrels they used at Bisley were 
manufactured in entire accordance with the specifications govern- 
ing the , construction of the new Springfield piece. 
The Evening Post, of June 3, adds the following information 
on this subject: 
It was stated to-day by H. M. Pope, designer of the rifle bar- 
rel which was used by the victorious American -team which won 
the Palma trophy at Bisley, England, last July, that there was 
"somewhat of a difference" between the interior dimensions 
of the Stevens-Pope barrel and that of the Krag-Jorgensen rifle, 
the service arm of the United States army. The Evening Post 
telegraphed to Mr. Pope for information upon the now much- 
mooted question of the correct winning of the Palma trophy by 
the American team, in view of its use of special rifle barrels, 
and Mr. Pope replied: 
"Chicopee Falls, Mass., June 3.— Stevens-Pope barrels were 
used by the American team in the PaLma match. In outside 
dimensions, sights, caliber, and ammunition they conformed to 
the Government barrel, but inside were of superior shape and 
flnish. The writer was not present at the match, but, from con- 
versation with . members of the American team, feels perfectly 
confident that all concerned knew exactly what rifles were to be 
used before a shot was fired. He also understands that the 
British team used rifles with barrels constructed by private 
makers, these, however, with Government view marks, a system 
which our Government does not possess. Still, these barrels 
were not made by the British Government. 
"At Ottawa, in 1902, the American team used two experimental 
rifles previously known to all as not standard, to which no 
objection was made whatever, possibly because the British team 
won. "H. M. Pope." 
It should be stated here, regarding the last part of Mr. Pope's 
telegram, that • the present objection of the British riflemen 
against what they pronounce as a contravention by the American 
team of the rules governing the match is generally understood 
to have come first from the Canadian team. 
In order to supplement Mr. Pope's telegram, the Evening 
Post telephoned to him this afternoon and received from him these 
additional facts: 
"The rifle used by the American team at Bisley was of special 
character. There was somewhat of a difference as to inside di- 
mensions, between it and the United States army service rifle. 
This dift'erence rested upon three points, as follows: There were 
eight grooves of rifling instead of four, the depth of the groove 
was two and three-quarter thousandths of an inch, against four 
one-thousandths of an inch in the Krag; and, thirdly, the twist 
of the rifling was such as to give it one complete turn in 
eight inches, instead of in ten inches, in the service arm. 
"There was another feature in the Stevens-Pope rifling which 
must be taken into consideration, and this was the rounding of 
the corners of the grooves instead of making them angular. In 
the Krag piece these corners are somewhat rounded, but this is 
due mainly to the dulling of the cutting tools. 
"As to the advantage resulting from the use of a barrel of 
this character, it afforded a velocity thirty feet per second 
greater than the actual service piece, and consequently, a slightly 
flatter trajectory. The reason for this is that with the shallower 
rifling in the Stevens-Pope barrel the jacket of the bullet much 
more readily reaches all parts of the grooves, fills them better, 
and, therefore, makes a gas-tight contact. 
"The rounded edges of the grooves also keep the barrel from 
fouling. 
"The rifle used by the American team was not, therefore, 
strictly the service rifle, although it differed from it very slightly. 
But neither were the British guns service pieces. They had 
barrels made by private makers and taken to the proving house 
and stamped with Government marks. The caliber of the 
Stevens-Pope was that of the service rifle, .30. This is the caliber 
of the new Springfield rifle for the army. I believe it has four 
grooves. 
"In the Canadian match in 1902, two of the rifles used by the 
American team were of special pattern, one with two grooves, 
one with four. The pitch was one turn in eight inches. They 
were not protested." 
London, June 3.— With reference to the statement made yester- 
day by Gen. Bird W. Spencer, president of the National Rifle 
Association of America, that t^ e Committee of' the National Rifle 
Association of Great Britain had carefully considered the matter 
of the Am.erican special rifles, and had agreed to their use, it 
is pointed out here that the reply of Col. C. R. Crosse, secretary 
of the National Rifle Association of Great Britain, April 13, 
to Gen. Spencer's letter containing similar statements, abso- 
lutely denied that the question of the American barrels was ever 
brought before the council or committee of his association at 
or before the Bisley meeting. 
This cablegram from London to-day, claiming that in his reply 
to Col. Crosse, Gen. Spencer had stated that the American 
special rifles used at Bisley had been approved by the com- 
mittee of the National Rifle Association of Great Britain, and 
adding that, such a statement was not based on fact, was re- 
ferred to-day to Gen. Spencer for reply. He said: 
"The statement in the cablegram from London is erroneous. 
I never made such a statement. I have no knowledge whatever 
that the special rifle barrels were referred to the committee of 
the British association. So far as statements are concerned, what 
I did was to quote from certain London sporting papers, the 
Shooting Times and the Volunteer Service Gazette, which stated 
very clearly that the entire matter of the American barrels had 
been gone into by a select committee of the British organization, 
and that by unanimous consent the American team had been 
permitted to use them. 
"The members of the British team knew before the Bisley 
match that the Americans had these rifles, and, furthermore, the 
character of the rifles. There is not the slightest doubt about 
that. But I want to reiterate that I have never made a state- 
ment tliat the American rifles had been inspected and approved 
by a committee of the British association; I merely quoted two 
■ Fnglish periodicals which stated this to be a fact." 
The New York Corps. 
Ninety-two members of the New York Corps turned out to at- 
tend the last practice shoot at Union Hill Park, May 27. 
Ring target, 10 shots, 200yds: O. Schwanemann 211, B.. Zettler 
189, J. H. Klee 188, G. Ludwig 186, P. Heidelberger 186, F. Busch 
182, J. Schmidt 174, H. Winter 174, H. Mesloh 172, A. W. Lemcke 
171, J. H. Hainhorst 170, H. Gibber 167, A. F. Stolzenberger 165, 
G. Ofi^ermann 165, H. B. Michaelsen 164, J. G. Tholke 163, Ch. 
Plump 163, N. C. L. Beversten 158, J. D. Wilkens 158, II. 
Haase 158, Ch. Quadt 157, H. Beckmann 156, J, H. Kroger 153, 
W. H. Kuhlken 153, F. Von Deesten 150, H. Lohden 148, J. N. 
Hermann 147, G. VV. Meyer 146, J. Facklamm 145, G. Hans 145, 
H. Bruning 145, J. Paradies 144, Dr. Ch. Grosch 144, J. C. Brinck- 
mann 142, J. Moje 142, A. Sibberns 141, W. Wessels, Sr., 141, 
H. D. Meyer 140. 
Man target, 3 shots, possible 60: O. Schwanemann 55, J. H. 
Hainhorst 54, G. Ludwig 53, J. Schmidt 53, H. Lohden 52, J. 
Paradies 51, D. H. Brinckmann 49, J. Facklamm 48, P. Heidel- 
berger 48, A. W. Lemcke 48, H. Decker 46, H. Mesloh 44. 
Bullseye target: F. Busch 2, D. von der Lieth 2, A. Brunke 2, 
Ch. Wahmann 2, M. Detjen 1, G. Ludwig 1, F. Feldhasen 1, J. 
Paradies 1, B. Zettler 1, H. Hainhorst 1, J. Moje 1, H. Heinecke 
I, C. Mann 1, J. W. Tonjers 1, G. W. Meyer 1, Ch. Degenhardt 
1, H. Quadt 1, H. Lohden 1, H. D. Meyer 1, H. Beckmann 1, 
C. S. Schmitz 1, J. C. Brinckmann 1, H. Mesloh 1, Ch. Plump 1, 
J. Schmidt 1, P. Heidelberger 1. 
Col. John Bodine. 
CoL. John Bodine, whose fame as an expert rifleman was in- 
ternational, died on Monday evening of last week at the home of 
his sister-in-law, in New Paltz, N. Y. He had been suffering 
frcm ill health for more than a year. He participated in many 
national and international matches. He was captain of some 
American teams which competed abroad. One of the most 
famous matches in which he participated was as a member of the 
American team against an Irish team near Dublin, in 1875. -The 
Irish team was defeated. His steady shooting and iron nerve in 
competition were the admiration of his friends, and gained for 
him the soubriquet of "Old Reliable," which was bestowed on 
him after a great match at Creedmoor, in which the last shot 
was fired by him, and on its result his team won or 
lost. It was a particularly trying situation, but he won. VV hen a 
young man, he was employed in the office of the Ramsdell 
Transportation Co., and afterward accepted a position in tlie 
National Bank of Newburg. Afterward he engaged in freighting 
business between Highland and New York city. He was tall and 
straight physically. He was a charter member of Hudson River 
Lodge F. and A. M. After his team returned from a victorious 
trip abroad in 1875, his lodge presented him with a magnificent 
Maltese cross studded with diamonds. 
Moultoa Jr. — Guptil. 
S. Paul, Minn., May 22.— At Inter-City Shooting Park to-day 
there was a very interesting match at 100 targets. The con- 
ditions were $100 and 22yds. rise. Mr. ^Moulton is a beginner. 
His scores improved steadily as the match progressed. Tl;e 
scores: 
E H Moulton, Jr 1111110111010111100101010—17 
111110111 1001110101101101—18 
lOllOlOlllllllllOlllOllll— 20 
llUOHilimill 111111101— 23— 7S 
R T Guptil lUrUiiliOllOOimilOllOl— 19 
11110111 11111111111101111—23 
1111111111111010111111110—22 
1111111010110110111111111— 21— S5 
Swiss Shooting Sociity. 
The annual festival of the Swiss Society, of Hudson county, 
N. J., was held at Union Hill Park on May 30. 
Three-shot scores, 25-ring target, three best to count, possible 
225: M. Dorrier 213, L. P. Hansen 210, Geo. Schlicht 208, W. A. 
Tewes 206, O. Smith 201, Ch. Bischoff 197, N. Steiner 196, L. 
Vogel 194, J. Reich 191, R. Goldthwaite 190, Ch. Colomb 190, M. 
Boehm 185, C. Muhlecstein 184, C. L. Gerken 184, E. Keller 184. 
New York Central Corps. 
The New York Central Corps will hold a practice shoot June 9. 
From Thursday to Sunday, the 12th, the range will be closed 
against all shooting. 
National Bund Note."-. 
There will be a meeting of the executive board of officers of 
the Bund at the Union Hill Park on Saturday afternoon, June 11. 
Rifle Notes. 
At the spring meeting of the National Rifle Association, held 
in London, Sngland, on May 31, the correspondence concern- 
ing the rifles used by the American team when they won the 
Palma trophy was read. The president, Lord Cheylesmore pre- 
sided, and he reiterated that there was no desire to change tlie 
result of the Palma contest or to evoke any bitterness concerning 
it. The correspondence concerned informal objections to the 
American rifles on the ground that they were not service rifles. 
It was made clear that the American riflemen acted in good faith, 
and therefore no formal protest was made. The discussion was 
for the purpose of clearing up the question, as it had been pub- 
licly raised. General B. W. Spencer, of the American Rifle As- 
sociation, held that it was well known to everybody that the 
special rifles were to be used, and no secret was made as to ths 
character of those rifles. 
Union Hill Park, 
The jb-coting house of the Union Hi!! range on Saturday of 
last v.xek was well filled with riflemen who have expectations of 
honor and prizes at the Bundesfest next week. 
Only a few scores were kept for record. They are as follows: 
W. A. Tewes 1107, L. P. Hansen 1190, R. A. Goldthwaite 214, 
211, 208, H. Fenwirth 207, 205, 202, Geo. J. Bernius 20§, ISQ, 184 
Aug. Begerow 211, 204. 
— ^ — 
If you want your shoot to bs aonotiaced here send » 
aotlce like the following t 
June 9.— Westchester, Pa., Gun Club target shoot. F. H. Eachus, 
Sec'y. 
June 9-10. — Peru, Ind., Gun Club eighth annual tournament. Win, 
Daniels, Sec'y. 
Tune 11.— Norwich, Conn., Shooting Club target tournament. I, 
' P. Tafft, Sec'y. 
June 13. — Middleton, Wis., Gun Qub tournament. Frank L. 
PierstorfT. Mgr. 
June 14-15. — Minot, N. D. — North Dakota State tournament. 
June 14-15. — Wilkes Barre, Pa. — Hanover I'ark Shootmg Associa- 
tion target tournament. E. L. Klipple, Sec'y. 
June 14-16. — Akron, O. — Ohio Trapshooters' League target tourna- 
ment. G. E. Wagoner, Sec'y. 
June 14-16. — New London, la., Gun Club midsummer touraamcnt. 
Dr, C. E- Cook, Sec'y. ' " ' ~ " 
