the team meu leaping from the paddle-box of the steamboat to the 
bulwark of the tteainer, and the reverse, at the imminent r sk of 
jumping instead into the waters of the bay; but all we»*e linally cor- 
lecily exchanged, the domestic sheep were separated from the 
foreign goats, and then began the noisy shoutings, each side being 
determined to have the last trump; the whistles screeched, the band 
played, the cannon roared, everybody clieered, shook their hats and 
handkerchiefs, as long as faces and forms could be distinguished, 
and then the vessels separated, one put on all steam for Europe, the 
other made its way slowly back to the city, with their companies, 
there to await the receipt of the news of tne safe passage over and 
the exploits m Great Britain of the chosen reprcsentalives. 
There was a remarkable condensation in the American teatn party 
proper. For some weeks before tha departure it was impo sible to 
t«n who were and who were not of the party, and the steamship 
men were almost besiiie themselves to know who were and who 
were not American riflemen; but at last it was possible to state posi- 
tively and surely who were of ih-i party. In all the party proper 
numbers about thirty ladies and gentlemen, including the team 
and the captain, the business manager, ihe press representatives, 
the releree, the members of the National Guard and of tlie Associ- 
ation, and Amateur K fle Club; the Alderman representative of the 
Gity of New York, and the genial American citizen, this latter being 
very sparsely present ; in fact, too much so lor such an occasion and 
its demands. 
Besides the team, consisting of Col. H. A. Gildersleeve, Col. John 
Bodine, Major Henry Fulton, Capt. R. C Coleman, Cupt. Leslie C. 
Brace, Jlajor-Geii T. S. Dakin, (L \V. Vale, A. V. Canfield, Jr., L. 
M. Ballard, the party on board who will form part of the American 
pjrty are Col. A. B. Mitchell, releree for the American team: Mr J. 
IJ. Bird, called its businc.ss manager, though exactly what duties 
that ofllce entail upon him it is somewhat difliculc to say lie was 
the leading spirit in the entertainment given for the benefit of the 
American team, and the present po.st offered him is doubtless a 
complimentary return for his efforts on that occasion; Mr, Joseph 
Holland and Mr. Wra. B. Coughiry are. here on behalf of the 
Amateur Rifle Club and tlie Rifle Association generally; Mr. W. L. 
Cole, an Alderman of the City of New York, represents that muni- 
cipality. He IS accompanied by his two daughters. Mrs. Gen. 
Dakin also travels iu com])any with her hushtthd. Major Arthur of 
Gen. Dakin’s stuff, and Mrs. Arthur, Mr. H. 1). Kerr, ('ol. t.’arr and 
hi.s daughter Miss Lottie Carr and Miss Sadie Wise. Hon. Judge 
Mullin of Watertown, N. Y., and Miss .Mullin, make up the whole 
list with the exception of the newspaper men, of whom there are 
three. .Mr. C. A. O’Rourke of the .\ssociated Bicss. T. W. Knox, 
who will be remembered as the applicant for the secietaryship of the 
team, and our own coi respondent. Tlie team proper are located in 
Ihe deck rooms aft, two small apartments more airy than elegant, 
where the full benefit of the cook's operations may at all times be 
had . In the saloon, that iniporiam centre of attraction as all know 
who have traversed the ocean in a large steamer, the team are lo- 
cated together at one central table, where Col. Gildersleeve, flanked 
on either side by Col. Bodine and Gen. Dakin, makes a very impos* 
ij)g head of the table. 
The party have been very abstemious as respects liquors, wine and 
anything tending to break up their steadiness, and all the indul- 
gences of that sort on what had come to be looked «pon as the 
American table was confined to the accessories of the party, the al- 
dermen, referee, business manager, etc. This took some pickings 
ami percentages from the pocket of the attending steward, and as a 
consequence the attendance upon the American party proper was 
not of the best. For the first day everything went on well, the 
novelty of the voyage kept the attention fixed, and the arrangement 
of the little details connected with their bunks occupied all, and ere 
dinner was over the land had been left in the rear and all around 
was water. The motion ol the vessel was gentle and easy. A wind 
blowing in some degrees favorulile, a large portion of the sail was set, 
and the City of Chester sped on her way right swiftly, justifying her 
reputation as a swnfi steamer. On Sunday morning everything had 
been shaken down in ship-shape order. Voyage acquaintances had 
been formed, and all w ere congratulating each other on the prospect 
of an easy, rapid voyage. Divine Service bv the Captain was at- 
tended by all hanrts. Chafliing each other on sea-sicknees was a 
favorite mode of siluiation, but the first victim of mal de iner \\k\^ 
K. C. Coleman, He had not been in the best of health in coining on 
board, and the motion of the ship though very slight, and the 
change and the knocking about, was sufticient to bring on a 
severe head ache. The final crisis w'as brought on at the dinner 
table Monday, when, thinking he could manage a bit of veal, he 
asked for some, when those wicked wags, Bird and Fulton, who 
were eating away with appetites of farm hands, loaded a plate 
with the greasiest chunks from the fattest corner of a mass of 
obesity in the shape of-a piece of salt pork, (’olemau gave one 
looli. took ui Ihe terrible spectacle, and wilted. He thought he 
should like to lie down, and crawled off to his berth. He rallied 
somew hat the following day, hut the heavy dull headache held on to 
him. and during the whole trip he was not himself at all. 
The Ollier members of the team held on very well, and indeed, ex- 
cept the strangcnes.s, there was nothing to induce sickness in a 
healthy person. The motion was really very slight, a mere ferrv 
boat motion. Th« closeness of the dining saloon very nearly 
proved the turning |K)inl with one or two more. Ca[>t. Bruce was 
forced to keep the deck pretty steady for a <lay and a half to avoid an 
oncoming feeling of nausea, and Mr. Canfield reluctantly got no 
nearer the dining table for one day than a look down the sky-light 
but he weathered it all right, and punished the Steamsiiip Cempnny 
most severely In the way of entahles. WirUthe.se exceptions the 
gt-ncral hcaltli W'as good, and until Wedm-sday all wa nt wa ll, then 
the fogs of the southern point of the Newfoundland banks was 
entered, and a most disagreeable racket kept up for a day and nigh t 
with the fog-whistle, but beyond this there w as no inconvenience. 
The younger members of the team, Mr. Ballard particularly, made 
themselves especially favorable to the ladies on board, and the re- 
putation of the team for gatlantry was well sustained by them. The 
more mature and less frivolous members of the team, Messrs. Yale, 
Bruce and Bodine for instance, gave their attention to more improv- 
ing themes than female twaddle and practice frlniflle board on the 
deck, getting up tome very exciting little games. The slight 
motion of the vessel coming in for a display of t-kill, even a t thi s 
■imple.little[gftme. Others of the party uied their skill at poker» 
and staked shillings and half crowois until steady losing made this 
rather pall upon them; betting on the ship's progress, from looking 
over the side, relieved all hands of a few’ more shillings, and so the 
time sp*‘d <.*n. 
Mr. Bird, wjio descri bes hi mself as a ** ham-chew’cr " actor deter- 
mined to give vent to his hobby, and on Wednesday night the pas- 
sengers filled the saloon to li.-^ten to the following programme: 
STEAMER CITY OF CHESTEU-WEDNESDAY EVENING, 
JUNE 9, 187.5. 
DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT BY SIE.MUEKS OF THE AMERICAN RIFLl 
TEAM P.ARTY. 
PreHrlent, Hot. Judge )iTullxn. 
,1. Music— “ Last Rose of Summer” Mrs. Gen. Dakin 
2. Trial Scene from •* Merchant of Venice Mr. J. II. Bird 
3. Music— Waltz Mrs. Gen. Dakin 
4. Recitation— “ The Smack in School” Col. Gildersleeve 
5. Music— (ialop Mrs. Gen. Dakin 
fl. Song — “ Old Simon Allan” Col. A. B. Mitchell 
7. Se lection from ”The Veiled Biophel” Mr L. M. Ballard 
8. (Quarrel Scene from *• Juliu^ Cie ar '..Col Gildersleeve *fc Mr Bird 
9. Music — I iano Mrs. Gen. Dakin 
10. Song— “ The Jolly Oy.^tennan” Col. Gildersleeve 
11. The Duel Mr. J. U. Bird 
The entertainment whs voted a success, and it was resolved to 
throw it open to all. The next evening another programme was 
given and w’ell attended. Several of the young ladies on board came 
Toward as performers on the p ano, singing and recitation. 
The days dragged wearily on, bow'ever, and waiting for passing 
ships, talk, play, etc., became dull and tiresome The only really 
attractive feature was the gastronomic endeavors at which each 
and every one with very few exceptions w’ere ready and eager to 
participate at each and every one of the five daily meals. On Fri- 
day a cross wind stirred up the sea w ith a long swell and a lively 
roll during that night gave the riflemen m their high sleeping apart- 
ment an exp« rience in biing rocked in the cradle of the deep rather 
more persistent than pleasant. However, on the next day it sub- 
sided in great measure, irtid left a dull sky with a slight fall of rain, 
making the deck have a vacant look. 
The enti^iainments which had been so auspiciously begun on 
Wednesday evening by the members of the American team were 
continued nightly on Tluirsday, Friday and Saturday with volun- 
teer talent drawn from the cabin passengers. At the last meeting, 
the captain, Robert Leitch, jnesided, aud received from the passen- 
gers a set of resolutions numerou^ly signed, expressive of their sat- 
isfictiou at the happy and quick voyage made and the general good 
feeling which had been manifested all around, the whole being 
brought to a do <e by the singing of the Btitish national anthem 
‘'God save the Queen.” On Sunday, the last lull day at sea, there 
were the usual religious exercises, the deck sauntering being rather 
broken up by the falling of a disagreeable rain, but ah were content 
in the prospect of a near approach to their journey’s end. The 
team proper in w’liom the readers of the R )i> and Gun are more 
especially interested, have been very lucky in meeting with such a 
smooth trip over. They go ashore at Queenstown in good shooting 
trim, aud with the exception of Coleman who has beeu very much 
w'cakened by his several days’ headache, all are in good appetite, 
with ruddy faces, aud with a couple of days on shore to get steady, 
and leel once more solid, they will be able to do their best. The 
guns are all in good order, aud the ammunition, which had been 
stored in the aft wheel-house on deck for safely is as dry as can be, 
the w hole 15,000 rounds, which are being conveyed along, although 
that quantity will not be entirely used. Col. Gildersleeve has been 
filling out time iu posting up his score books, detailing in order all 
the shooting done by the team, in the jiractice of this spring, with 
point of windage, elevators, powder, etc., very fully recorded. This 
it is thought, will materially assist the maik.sman when they open 
practice on the Irish range, Whit. 
Steamship “City of Chester,” 
Off (Bieenslown, Ireland, June U. 
••Xick” oil Ainoricaii Rilloiiieii. 
An Irish paper hi speaking recently of the preparations for the 
organization of the Irish team, remarked: “Ireland enters tjlie list 
against America under manifest disadvantages. Il is scarcely an 
e.xaggeraiiou to say that there are in the United States millions of 
persons habituated to the constant use of the rifle, and there are 
whole classes of the population to whom proficiency as marksmen 
is a necessity of existence. Our visitors need only issue an appeal 
to have the list of their champions promptly filled up with the best 
men of the country.” Now, how far does this statement of the case 
correspond with the fact. If tliese millions have beeu busy so long 
at rifle shooting, why did they not come forward in response to the 
cull on the liflemen of America issued by the Amateur Rifle club in 
the Spring of 1874, w hen any and all talent and skill with the rifle 
would have been gladly availed of in anticipation of the rcncouiitre 
with ihe experts from Ireland. Not even a shadow of a reply, or 
iniimatiou of any interest by the millions was heard, and the club 
was left to go il alone. They did so, andwitii the renewed chal- 
lenge, under the same coudit]on^, for the present year, and to shoot 
while the tclected team have left our shores, the same apathy was 
displayed by the public at large and live of the men of last year’s 
team arc perforce members of this. We say perforce, since if they 
liad not been taken, no team could have been summoned. In place 
of the crowds w hich should have been in attendance, ready to con- 
test for places, on the tea of IS7.5, in answer to the announced 
programme of coinpetitiuin but fifteen men appeared and of them, 
three-fourths were tyros nieielyout for a little sport on the range 
and with no serious intciUiuiis of working for a place on the team. 
The fact of the matter is, that tne rifle shooting to which the Irish 
paper refers and tliat at ( 'rc<*dii)oor are entirely diverse inodes of 
burning powder. The mer> fact that in Ireland, every Tom, Dick 
and Harry is not permitted to legally possess a gun, while in our 
land of Freedom, each and e»ery youth able to pull a trigger may 
take as many chances us he will of blowing liis head ofi‘, proves 
nothing, one w'ay or the oilur. The conueclion between shooting 
with a blunderbuss of some sort, at thieving crows, (a stage of marks- 
man^hip which many of -the millions spoken of by the Irish paper 
never get beyond) and the scientific small-bore, shooting at dis- 
tances approximating a mile is very slight. The shooting de- 
manded of those taking part in the Elcho shield competition and iu 
I tUese^lnteniational matches, is peculiar, and a good shot gun expert 
may fail utterlj^t it. It demands certain weapons, iu weight, trig- 
ger polb et€-> very closely limited. The finenegs of the shooting 
makes it imperative that no misses be made, and everything con- 
spires to draw' a strong line of distinction between this and other 
modes of displaying shooting ability. Why is it that we have the 
different classes of shooters? There are Creedmoor men, who have 
di awn their whole experience there, using light rifles, heavy charges, 
heavy ball, strong recoil, open sights and trigger pull of three to six 
lbs. Then there are the string shooters with their heavy weapons, 
small bore, light hall, and recoil almost lost. Tne triggers aoe often 
hair set, and sights of the magnifying variety. Any comparison 
betw’cen these styles of sheoting would be futile. It is rarely that 
we find a man practicing both, and skill at one does not bring suc- 
cess at the other. Of course, a man to gain a place of prominence 
at either, must be possessed of a clear and true eye, and this would 
assist him at the other; but a man might shoot for years at one style 
and his practice would be wasted, so far as helping him on iu the 
other. These are the principal varieties of mere target shooting. 
There are the pigeon shooters, a class of men embraced within the 
millions enuineralcd in the extract given above, but from whom no 
talent can be drawn, and made available in an International rifle 
match. Capt. Bogardus, the champion wing shot of America, who 
by the way goes over with the team, never amounted to much as a 
rifle shot, his skill lying in a different direction. The hunters of 
the w’est arc frequently mentioned as offering the material from 
which to select expert riflemen at will. The fact here again is, that 
the class of arms used by the trappers of the fioiitier and their 
whole manner of shooting is utterly different from anything done at 
Creedmoor, and the distances are petty in comparison. A buffalo 
killed at 400 yards is a feat for camp fire talk for months. It is 
really short range snap-shooting along side of the 1000 yd. range 
firing of match shooting. 
There is another point in the present match between Irish and 
American representatives, of some moment. Our Irish friends go 
into the work with the experience of years. All the w’ork done at 
Wimbledon lies ready at their hands. Their Rigby rifles have been 
tried again and again until all under matters, as ammunition, slope, 
and make of bullets, sights, etc., are no longer matter of experi- 
ment, but of settled experience. Here, the Americans are defi- 
nitely, and it would seem, successfully working another problem of 
using breech-loaders for long range and in accurate shooting. 
Their merits have long been acknowledged as military arms, but for 
use at ranges about 1000 yards, their successful adoption was a mat- 
ter of uncertainty. Even during the present Spring the reports 
show that the majority of the team w’ere still carrying on a series of 
careful experiments. One nllemarvat different times employed as 
many as a dozen diverse makes of cartridge. The present team are 
pioneers in a very different field of small arm practice, and their 
endeavors should receive tlie considetalion due to their untoward 
surroundings. In place of being the selected skill from thousands 
of riflemen they are really as we have shown the advanced guard of 
a vast army of skilled riflemen which may iu time give to America 
that in fact which she has long enjoyed in reputation as a nation of 
rifle-shooters. 
The Team rersonnel. 
( Cvncliiileil .) 
L. M. BALLARD. 
Lewis Jtortiiner Ballard is a New Yorker born, and being an un- 
married man his age is a little uncertain; about 40 years would be a 
full average. Alter his school days he entered the house of E. S. 
Jeffrey &, Co., dry goods merchants, as a clerk. For thirteen years 
past he has been in business under and with his father as publishers 
of a hankers’ and brokers’ guide. In appearance Jlr. Ballard is 
rather small, but is a very agrecat)le companion off the rille held, 
in shooting he is inclined to keep up a constant stream of talk to 
the disadvantage of fellow marksmen. Ilis habit of grumbling at 
any and every tiling, when ill-luck overtakes him, is amusing at 
times. In his shouting history the long-range chapter is of Creed- 
moor origin, hut at short-range shooting Air. iBallard liad done 
some creditable work in former seasons. The records show nothing 
especially brilliant during in 1S7J. In the last slioot for the 2'utf, 
Field and Farm badge of that year, he was the top man witli a 
score of lUin a possible 20, and held the badge during the winter. 
In the opening inatcli of tlie next year he took seventh place with 
15 points. At Ihe spring meeting of 1874 his name first appears as a 
prize man in the military ritlc 500 yards match, where, with a score 
of 24 iu a possible 28, he took fourth prize, cash $10, using a Sharps 
military gun. In the Bennett long range Air. Ballard made a poor 
run, scoring hut 110 jjoinls, and taking 40th place. When the mat- 
ter of the International match was brought to the notice of the rifle- 
men of America, ,’dr. Ballard detenuiued to try ins luck in getting on 
the team to represent this country. In the first six competitions his 
four best scores were in a possible 2t)0 with 15 shots at 800 and OUO 
yards, aud 20shots at 1000 yards. Air. Ballard won nintli place with 
scores of 155, 140, 100 and 110, or a total ol 551 iu a possible 800, 
averaging 2.17 points per shot. On succeeding practice days hu 
made scores of 1S5, 127, 120, 100, 105 and 117, all iu possible 20O.s, 
showing, it will be seen, nothing very remarkable iu the way of 
high scoring. He went iu again for a place on the 1875 team, and 
took more care, managing to lake tenlli place. By the resignation 
of Air. 11. S. Jewell from the te.Hin he was placed upon it as last 
man, although so fur as lighting the experts of tJreut Britain hu 
would stand no show whatever, lie has made seveti complete 
scores, l."> shots each, at 81*1, '.**) aud KX*) yards during tliis s|)ring, 
running up totals of 117, 01, 125, 110, llti, 12S and 117, or an average 
of 115. He helps to make up the rillemanic party, hut in comparison 
with such avail.vhle tried talent as Hawley, Hephnrti, Anderson, 
f’ollins or Conliii, is comparatively useless. He u.ses a; Sharps rifle, 
and owes Ids |)Iaee on Ilie American team of 181.5 more to tlic 
paueity of .Viuerican rill emeu and tlie itlunders of tliose iudow idm 
on the list than to any skid of Itis own. He is a member of no mili- 
tary organization, and lienee liis name does not fiuure in the team 
shooting. 
Salmon measuring six and a half inches long have been captured 
in the Bitslikill river, a tributary of tlie Delaware, where they were 
planted by the I’ennsyivania Fish Commissioners. 
An Iowa letter re|iort» prospects for game poor tills year. Sciisi u 
too wet for chiekeU'batching and large nuurbere of quail w ets killell 
by cold weather last winter. 
