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Show PiACHING AMERICAN SCHOOLBOYS TO SHOOT STRAIGHT -- -- BY REGINALD POSTER. ' I iff should establish shooting gal- I 'm in all the large public and mili-jyschools; mili-jyschools; wo should maintain na-wl na-wl target ranges in different parts (lie countr.r, and we should in every .encourage tho formation of rifle W-everywhere in the laud.'' So wrote President Roosevelt in his iteagc to Congress a . year ago. To-jfkis To-jfkis recommendations are bearing lit. The school boys of tho country fif really learning how to use a. litary "rifle some 100,000 of Miom daily practicing how to shoot to B'ot to kill, t is no air rifle or shotgun practice, ier. Tho boys are being taught to S'jthc Krag-Jorgensen and the new riiiEfield, the arm of the regular idiers in battle. Experienced shots eTthoir instructors, and all the theory (practice of mnrkmanship is taught, tjonly in at the targets in the field, trwith bookH and machines which acb tho novice his errors in wind, mration and holding. All Sorts of Contests, ffliool bo3's all over the country. have tn shooting in New York city roughout the holidays in all sorts of wests for bronze trophies, cups, reivers, re-ivers, nflcs and other things dear Ktuc yonthfnl heart. Young mon om- Yale, Harvard, Columbia, the Hsachusotts Institute of Teehnology 4- George Washington university ive been shooting for a shield of onzo and oak. following tho Prosi- I t's recommendations. They came m many of tho big cities, from pile schools and private schools and htary academies everywhere. A presentativc of the War department encd the match, and officers of the regular army and tho National Guard acted as scores and referees. Buslncss-Liko Proposition. It is a Very business-like proposition this teaching i lie American boy to shoot straight. Tho National Rifle Association of America, a patriotic organization, first took up tho President's Presi-dent's proposition, and has now put it into practical operation. Anns have been obtained from the Government, ranges havo been built, medals and cups have been arranged for, and tho by-laws of the association have been amended so that college and school boy clubs may become members. These young marksmen aro divided into two classes those who are attending at-tending universities and colleges which givo degrees, and those who aro in schools. A code has been drawn up which lias the approval of the National Na-tional Board for the Promotion of Ilillo Practice and tho .Secretary of War, The plan now is to give. medals to such clubs, to be competed for by their members. A course of rillc shooting, both indoor and outdoor, lias been arranged. Students who shoot through these courses receive a "Junior Marksman's" decoration, and their names aro enrolled at Washington for use in timo of war.' First Indoor Tourney. Tli is school, boy shooting movement has boon inaugurated in New urk. I There the Grst indoor tournament was I held at the Grand Central Palace, from December 28 to January I. It had the sanction and tho approval of President Roosevelt, who at. once joined the association as-sociation as a life member. The inn-I inn-I jority of his Cabinet followed suit. Others who havo joinot? and contributed con-tributed to tho' movement are Judge (Jury, vicc-prcsidcul of tho United States Steel corporation; Sel.li Low,, former Mayor of New York; Gon. j Charles P. Roe, commanding the Na- , lional Guard of tho Empire State; ; f'larenco II. Maekay. president of the j Postal Tc)egra)h coinpan-; iSrortimer L. Sell ill", tho Wall street banker, and j many o;her men of prominence. The buys who came to shoot were from pretty much all the Atlantic suction of ' the country. Now President Koosc-veil Koosc-veil has accepted tin honorary vice-presidency vice-presidency of the association. He has announced his intent inn of writing a le-tlur to the boy who attains the greatest great-est skill in 1 lie matches during the roar. What American boy wouldn't lite at such a bail a letter from, the President Ambrose Scharfeubeig of the -manual training high school. Brooklyn, won the President 's first letter. 'Ho made a perfect score with tho sub-target sub-target machine gun, OS out of a possible pos-sible 70 in the individual match on I lie Ci ecdnioor range, and points out of f0 in the team match. His aggregate ag-gregate score was loS for tho three competitions. And this is the letter I lie lucky boy received from President liooscvelt: Roosevelt's Letter. AJy Ucar Vounj: Friend : I hearltly roiiKnitulme yon upon being declared by Hie Public .SHinol Athletic league io tanl first In rli'.e shooting' among all tliu boys of the lilKb action! of New York City, who have tried during the last year. Any grown mnn who regards hlmnelf as a enick rlllf idiot would be proud of such a heore. Your Iclll is a credit to you, and also to your principal, your teachers and till eonni.'ct'Nl with tin- Manual Training Train-ing school wbb.'h yon attend, and I con-gn con-gn lulnto tlicin all. I I am .spofliilly gld with what tho Publb" Schools Athletic league baa done ; tn establishing Itir.tructlon In rltle fhoot-! fhoot-! lap. The I'nltod States bns a very Miinll ! Kiiimllng army. In time of war It must i depend for defense upon linsty lovles of vuiuutecrt. and It Is a prime nucoaslty tbiil the volunteer should already know i bow to shoot If In; Is to bo of value as a i KOldior. In no modern wnr would It bo jiosslblo cifoctlvrly to linln men to shoot i ! during the brief ncrlod of preparation ! before the army takes the Held. In con- i i nc'iuenrc. tbo i raining must come In art-' art-' vnnce, and the graduates from our schools and colleges should be thus trained so a3 to be good shots with the military ride. When mo trained they constitute n great addition to our national Htrength and groat npsurance for the ptracB of tho country. Willi all good wishes, believe me, slncerfdy yourH, TI I ISODOUli NOOSE VEiT. First Outdoor Shoot. This was for the first outdoor shoot. With tho impetus of the President's letter boyr. camo from all tho TSnate-rn States to try for a placo in tho winter" Indoor matches. Nearly all tho Eastern East-ern colleges sent a team. Culver Military Mili-tary academy of Culver. Ind., entered, and so did St. Matthews school, from Burlingame, I'al. Thnro were teams from the Pntcrson, N. J-, and Stanford, Conn., high schools. Other entries wero tho Hamilton institute. New York city; St. John's school, Manlius, N. Y.; rtompcr Militnrj' school, Bonn-nllc, Bonn-nllc, Mo.: .Riverside academy, Pough-kcopRto, Pough-kcopRto, N. Y., and tho Kcw York Military academy. Cornwall, X. Y. Other school boys' teams came from New York, Baltimore, Washington and Jersey City. There was a challenge cup for Now York boys alone, and bitter bit-ter was tho contest. Young Scharfeu-bcrg Scharfeu-bcrg won again. Every boy who made 20 out of 25 shots standing, and 22 out of 2i in five shots lying down, received the ''Junior- Marksman's" decoration. Other prizes wero ritlcs presented by wealthy members of the association. Movement Is Extending. But this is only tho beginning. Tho movement is being extended rapidly all over the country. Schools may now borrow tho detith-'dealing Krags" from tho United States Government weapons that are sighted for shooting to hit at MOO yards, and have killing power at two miles. Then there is the new sub-target machine, which teaches boys how to shoot without firing powder or bullet. Those have already beeen installed in many of the public schools in New York and other States. The personal equation, is what the instructor in-structor wishes to sock out. My the aid of this machine he linds it readilv, and can correct errors without difficulty. diffi-culty. Boys who have never tired a gun loaded with powder and ball, after a few weeks' instruction, nan go out into tho Held and hit the target with consummate case. Wbr.t Machine Is Like. The machine consists of an upright standard, having at the top a horizontal hori-zontal rod, in front of which is placed a miniature target about, tho size of a visiting card. To I his is attached the ordinary Krag military rifle, which, while capable of being freely moved, is so adjusted that when aim is taken with the rille at a regulation target down the range or across Die room, and the trigger is pulled, the rod punches a hole in tho niinialuro target in tho exact relative place whore the target aimed at would nave been hit if the ffiin had been loaded. Furthermore, tho instructor is able to see jiot how the bov holds the ritle whether he pulls, it off tho target, when lie snaps the trigger or whether he is unable to sight directly into the bullsoye. Standing alongside tho boy. he is "able to follow the movement of tho rod on the miniature target to see the manlier in which he is aiming, and to correct Ins defects in holding ' his' rifle, which it is impossible to do when a loaded gun is being used. Meots Approval of All. Gradually it is planned to oxtond this new idea of teaching boys how to shoot to hit all over the country. President Presi-dent Roosevelt is heart and soul in it, and so are many prominent men of all parties. S. K. "Guggenheim, the New York millionaire, lias presented six schools of New York alone with complete com-plete shooting outfits, and orhcr New Yorkers, Col. Leslie C. Bruco. Warreu ( 'ruikshank, Col. Robert B. Woodward, Borough President Bird S. Color and Horace J. .Morse have lifted out others. Henry l'.'-no Whitney, son of the lato William ". Whitney, formerly Secretary of tho Navy, and a niulti-'miHionairo, has presented the prizes. Capt. G. W. (,'orwin, inspector of a riflo praci ice of tho Seventy -first regiment, N. G. N. Y.. one of the best shots in tho United States, is general instructor for tho school bo3-s. In each school lie solects a teacher who is interested as superintendent superin-tendent of shooting. In each class four boys who show proficiency aro made sergeant-instructors. At first the bo3r who made 40 out of a possible 50 was enrolled as a marksman. .But so fast did the boys improve that it was found necessary to raise tho standard. j It was increased to 1L; later it was 13, j and now it is -1 i. j Mnnual of Inctruction. Today there is boing placed in tho hands "of ovory school boy in New York, and wherever clso the schools are taking ni President Roosevelt's idea, a manual of instruction in shooting. shoot-ing. Windage, elevation, atmosphere, mirage, and a thousand other littlo things, are taught tho boys. Tho mathematics of shooting is explained: a general knowledge of how to shoot to hit and to kill imparled. There are (500.0U0 children in tho schools of Now York alono, practically the population of St. Louis, tho fourth oily in the Union. Of those 300.000 aro boys. It is the aim of the National Kiilo association to teach every ono of them to shoot straight, and uvoutually extend tho system from the East, where it is becoming the recognized thing, to the West and South. Said Liout. A. S. Jones, socretary of tho association: Prepare for War. Thinking men appreclnto the fact that nations insure repcrt and confidence only In proportion to tho ineasuro of tholr ytrenglh. Tho commercial nation, relying on wealth alono nnd tho good will of other powers to preserve It from Intervention Inter-vention in Its affairH, wlillo lacking tho military strength to protect its citizens and to presorvo the honor and dignity j of the commonwealth, falls in Its duty and leaves Itself open as a proy to other luitlonti composed of an ngyroaslvo people, peo-ple, desirous of increasing or of extending ex-tending their powor by not fostering a mlllinry spirit among tho young men ;ind bovfi Conflict and warfare cannot be avoided because all mon and nations aro not peaceful or willing to submit themselves them-selves always the dictates of reason and conscience. It Ib wio nnd necessary, therefore, to follow tho advice of Washington, Wash-ington, "in time- of peace, prepare for war." It may bo assumed that sixty or seventy seven-ty per cent of tho aggregate strength of a largo body of volunteers would bo under the ago of 25; consequently military mili-tary training should begin with the youths. They aro really the backbone of a nation. In cities where boys often commence business careers at tho age of eighteen or twenty, it Is ofttlmes hard for them to get tho time, even If they desired, to practice, with small arms; therefore, If they get any considerable measure of ground work for our schema of riflo practice, we must commence with bos at school, and offer every encouragement encour-agement which will conduce to that end. It Is therefore essential, wnerover possible possi-ble Indoor ranges be provided In public schools and other Institutions and that a special endeavor be made to promoto the U80 of prlvato and other ranges by rchools. In this country, where all military service. ser-vice. Including that in tho regular army, is In Itself voluntary, the military train-It..,' train-It..,' and education of all Its men is more important than in any other country. In other nations, there Is a compulsory military mili-tary sendee for every ablo-bodlod citizen, and in case of conlllct, wo must, by voluntary vol-untary enrollments, meet tho soldiers of those countries trained for service In the Held, with soldleis equally as good or better. bet-ter. We may therefore consider the value of an education and training In tho rifle shooting not only to the citizen himself aa an individual, and its value to the. State, but as to Us actual necessity for the safety and welfare of tho nation. Viow of Military Export. And General George W. Wingate, one of the foremost military experts in the United States, follows this up with: WhJlo there Is no difficulty In case of war In getting all the volunteers tho' country rcrpilrcs and they can bo taught a reasonable amount of drill In a few weeks, it taken a long time to teach them to shoot. Unless thoy can shoot accurately, accur-ately, they arc of llltlo value as soldiers. If, however, the boys who aro graduating graduat-ing from our schools In the different States should be skilled riflemen, tho country can rest content with a small standing army, knowing that In case of war It can put In the Held at short notice an army of volunleors whose skill In riflo shooting will enable tlwsm to be fully tho equal of any army which may bo brought agninst them. Tho system Is. therefore, a great factor for national peace. In the United States todav fchero aro 11.000.000 schoolboys. Work will not stop in teaching them to shoot until every ono can shoot. And there will be another 11.000,000 and more. : |
