f 
LATE THE AMEBICAI^ SPOl^TSMA^S. 
Vol, VI.-No. . 20 I 
New Serles—No. 98. f 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 187S. 
EfttahliNlied A. D. 1871. 
84.00 a year, lOr. a ropy. 
THE mriE. 
THE RIFLE TEAM IN EUROPE. 
[bt our own correspondent.] 
London, July 26. 
The Wimbledon meeting is over, and the American 
team have finished their shooting labors on this side the 
Atlantic. They have fully act^omplishcd all they set out 
to do, and more. At Dolly mount, at Clandeboye, at 
Wimbledon, they have defeated Irish, Scotch and Eng- 
lish, and by the victory of the Irish team in the Elcho 
shield competition, they stand to-day the champions of 
the world. The weather, which was none of the best 
during the major part of their stay in Ireland, was worse 
than ever at Wimbledon. The rifle meeting there open- 
ed on the 12th, and continued until the 24th. Of this 
fortnight there were but four fine days, the two opening 
days, tne intermediate Sunday, and the closing Saturday. 
On the remaining days it simply poured, until the turf 
became lost under a sea of ooze. Pathways became 
ditches, and general misery prevailed on all sides. Ac- 
cording to usual custom, these July rifle shooting 
gatherings are seasons of high enjoyment, the camp 
spreading over the spacious common being each even- 
ing the scene of all descriptions of out-door mirth and 
jollity. But 1875 will lie a red-letter j'ear in its excep- 
tionable character. The pretty flower-beds, temporarily 
arranged before the tent entrances, making gay little par- 
terre gems, were there only to make the general dreari- 
ness the more marked, and before the fortnight’s flood had 
ceased, they were lost in the common mud. The rule 
requiring the wearing of uniform by each competitor, so 
strictly adhered to on ordinary occasions, was laid aside 
in this emergency, and it was no uncommon sight to 
see volunteers tramping off to the firing point to meet 
their engagements there, shoeless, with naked feet and 
trousers well rolled up, the only clothing visible being 
an all-embracing waterproof overcoat and rubber hat. 
To fire, it was necessary, when the throng.was great, to 
lie down in some decidedly disagreeable looking spots, 
and the marksmen remifided one of porkers wallowing 
in the mire. 
But with the rain and the wet and all the other thou- 
sand and more discomforts that follow camp-life in un- 
toward weather, the shooting was good. Had such a 
season happened during a Creedmoor meeting, post- 
ponement would have been the only resort left, the tints 
on the target faces blending very soon, under the show- 
ers, to a uniform gray, while the marker’s sight-hole 
glass becomes dimmed by the falling drops; but at Wim- 
bledon, by the use of the canvas targets, not the slight- 
est inconvenience has been felt from the rain in this 
respect. On the rifles themselves and their action, the 
rain and damp weather was, as every marksman knows, 
advantageous, and by overcoming the troubles of damp- 
ened targets, all delay and annoyance was removed. 
The canvas targets were rather brightened by the rain, 
and shone out clear and distinct, e.xcept once or twice 
when fogs obscured everything. The working of the 
targets, too, went on quietly and quickly from be- 
ginning to end. The marker, standing face to face with 
the target disk, every shot striking was seen at once; 
there was no delay, no confusion, no uncertainty, and 
as each day’s practice gave precision and experience, the 
dummy disks rose and fell more and more rapidly. If 
it has done good in no other direction, the long run of 
rain and storm has shown beyond dispute the merits of 
the canvas target as far superior to the iron plate under 
similar conditions, and it would be well for the Creed- 
moor directors to seriously consider the advisability of 
a change — not that it would be wise to shoot in wet 
weather, but that, should rain come, it would not com- 
pel a breaking up of previously laid plans. This will 
be the more important as the prize meetings become 
more important and the number of entries greater. De- 
lays will be impossible. Here at Wimbledon, for in- 
stance, with over fifty prizes, competition extending, in 
many cases, over several ranges, and with competitors 
numbered by the thousand, a delay of an hour would 
unhinge a vast machinery and upset the preliminaries 
of months. So close is the matter of time urged that 
the day from the opening gun fire at nine o’clock, up to 
close of work at 7:15, eve, is divided into fifteen-minute 
portions, and upon each competitor’s entrance ticket is 
specified the hour, half hour or quarter hour at which 
he is to attend at one or the other of the 76 targets on 
the range. If the marksman be late but for a few mo- 
ments he finds himself crowded out, and loses his right 
to shoot. There is no hurry nor yet any delay. The 
markers and scorers are told off in squads each morning, 
and remain at their posts throughout the regular hours. 
Telegraph lines are temporarily run from the firing to 
the target points, and by a simple system of strokes any 
disputed shot can be at once resignalled. The least ir- 
regularity is at once settled and rectified, while the use 
of the regiJhr army officers and soldiers affords a large 
fund of available help. 
It were almost idle to expect such an institution in 
the United States, at least for some time to come, until 
the interest in rifle shooting has grown sufficiently to be 
felt and seen in large and liberal prize lists, sufficient in 
the number and value of the offerings to draw men 
from distant parts of so vast a country. Here, while 
railroad carriage is high comparatively, yet in the mat- 
ter of time, there is not a man who attended the AVim- 
bledon meeting, except the Canadian Team, who is 
more than a few hours from home. But if each state 
of the Union should open the way to a great National 
range by the establishment of State ranges, and the 
gathering there of the marksmen of the several bodies 
of State militia, it would not be long ere America could 
have its AATimbledon on a scale commensurate with the 
importance of the country. Here a prize-list aggregat- 
ing nearly $100,000, serves as a great attraction apart 
from the interest in the sport and the honor of van- 
quishing so many able competitors. America has taken 
a most brilliant opening step in the way of small bore 
exploits, but to be permanent in interest the subject of 
rifle shooting must be taken up by the militia, who, 
with the regulation arm and at slight expense, may 
combine the preparations for war with the sports of 
peace. 
It is fortunate that a majority of the American party 
now here are officers of the American National Rifle 
Association. They cannot but have gathered many 
hints of ways and means for tran-sacting business, which 
should be valuable on their return home. 
But to the shooting proper, and the part our men took 
in it: They had been entered [in some seven matches, 
in fact all it was possible for them to engage in con- 
sidering the weapons used, and their non-connection 
with the military forces here, since by far the great- 
est number of the prizes are offered for competition b}' 
English and Scotch volunteers, using their own arm, the 
three-groove Snider breech-loader, a blunderbuss sort 
of a weapon, calibre .57, but with which by much prac- 
tice and long patience some of the men managed to 
turn out very good scores. Small bore shooting does 
not receive much direct encouragement from the Nation- 
al Rifle Association, though with the Elcho and other 
fixed prizes and the carton and pool shooting, there is 
no lack of sport for this class of experts. 
The camp was declared open on the Saturda}' pre- 
ceding the 12th or the Monday on which the firing was 
lo begin, and at that early date a large number were 
on the ground occupying their quarters under canvas. 
There is but one permanent house on the common, ad- 
jacent to an old windmill, and known as the AV'indmill 
Cottage. This is occupied by the chairman of the coun- 
cil, this year Lord AV'harncliffe filling that post. Be- 
yond this everything is tent life. In a large central 
square are the executive tents, giving ample accommo- 
dation to the secretary and clerks, executive officer of 
statistical department, press quarters, entry tents, and a 
printing office for the speedy preparation of bulletins, 
giving information of squadding or a.ssignments to tar- 
gets, of the shooting off of ties, etc. There is no hitch 
through one official relj’ing on another, but as far as 
possible all preparations are made in advance, and the 
quantity and variety of printed forms used is really 
something surprising. In another part of' the camp a 
street of business has been opened, where gun-repairing 
shops, temporary clothing and book stores, India rub- 
ber goods (these last have done a rushing business) and 
other conveniences are found. The Volunteer Service 
Gazette displa}-s more than usual energy for,an English 
paper, and gets out a daily edition containing the win- 
ning scores of the matches completed the day previous, 
and other new and interesting matter. The camp pro- 
per contains all manner and styles of canvas residences, 
from the petty wall-tent to the large marquee, some 
with board floors bul generally without, with the quar- 
ters for regular soldiers and police. A grand total of 
3,000 is reached as regular residents during the meeting, 
while large numbers come up from London each day by 
the frequent trains, preferring the comforts of a hotel 
or private house to the questionable pleasures of camp 
life. An enormous dining saloon, where very passable 
provender may be secured ; telegraph office and post 
office are also on the ground ; while in one large tent, 
ranged on tables, are the several principal prizes, some 
of the silver trophies being enormous affairs, while 
propped up as a sort of ‘piece de resistance was the much- 
talked-of Elcho shield, for whose possession from year 
to year such strenuous efforts are made, and which may 
fairly be looked upon as the immediate origin of the 
two international matches already fought; and yet all 
these.things are temporary. For eleven months of the 
year AA^imbledon is a broad public common, the earth- 
work butts are there, but beyond these no indication 
shows that it is the great range of the world. Each 
year a line of fencing is thrown up, the hundreds of 
booths and tents are pitched rapidly, and after serving 
their purpose for a fortnight disappear as if by magic, 
the fences demolished, and the common is once more 
the place of sod and furze bushes. Each year this build- 
ing up and taking down is repeated, while in the in- 
tervals the volunteers practice at their home ranges of 
perhaps one or two targets each. 
The opening days of the meeting were devoted to the 
shooting off of the ‘ ‘ Queens ” and St. George’s compe- 
titions, in which volunteers only compete,and these over' 
a good portion of the men leave. In the first-named, 
no less than 2,250 entries were made, each company 
of the volunteer corps of the Kingdom being entitled to 
representatives. In this way the crack military shots 
of the whole land are collected. In the 1st stage, shot 
at 200, 500 and 600 yards, 7 shots each, with Snider 
rifles, all compete, 360 i)rizes being given, aggregating 
in value £1,668. The top man at this stage is known as 
the ■ Silver Aledalisl. The leading 60 shots compete 
again for the final victory at 800, 000 and 1,000 yards, 
using Martini rifles. In this there is but one prize, of 
£250, with the gold medal and gold badge of the 
N. R. A. This is the highest honor in rifle circles a 
British Volunteer can reach, and the striving is earnest 
in the extreme- In the St. George’s, which is some- 
what similar, the range is but 500 yards, 7 shots, the 
