Show OUT S AL 74 UN K aw abik d 9 MEW Z ju 5 A annie n 0 vel aw X da bird tye view oi camp parry ohio 7 4 40 I 1 f v WM M I 1 V L 7 q scoring th A or tr 7 X 0 1 1 mw 0 U 1 1 A 1 2 4 ka an barine of the matches junior champi champions orl 1927 F for or the marksmen marksmen Mar kimen of the country are gathering at camp perry ohio for the national rifle matches by ELMO SCOTT WATSON was when a gun was wag the commonest weapon utensil tool too or OP whatever you choose to call it to bw be found in the hands of an american citizen that was in the days daya when there was n frontier when the west was still to be won when wild game still formed a part of our dally daily fare when there was less law but more jO justice stice fewer courts but fewer criminals because men carried in their hands a thing of wood cooil and iron which could when the occasion demanded act as judge jury and court from which there was no appeal and of all the types of weapon which the generic terra gun covers the one which was preeminently american was the rifle witness tills sweet ancient weapon of our fathers the american rifle maker of states empire builder writes emerson hough in the way to the west this engine of civilization served its purpose across tile the timbered appalachians down the watershed to the mississippi up the long and winding streams of the western lands over the hockles and down the slopes of the sierras to the farther sea but with the passing of the frontier and frontier condit conditions lons t the american laid aside the rifle for the sickle und and tile the plow 1 and tests of marksmanship I 1 fath fathered red by necessity which had become one ona of the leading lea ieng apor laporta Ls for a large proportion of oar crr population tiou I 1 became almost a lost art the sport interests of the overage average american today are of a far different type lie ile plays golf or tennis and he watches wat clies others box or play football baseball basket ball but of marksmanship lie he knows little or nothing unless he Is one of the comparatively email num berof sportsmen who ind fand recreation in trap or target shooting he fie gets no thrill from a sports page announcement that a new record la shooting has been established however IIo wever there chefe are signs that a renaissance of interest in tills form of sport Is under way the world war which put rifles into tile the hands of millions of young americans and taught them the thrill of puncturing tho the bullseye bulls eye had something to do with it but more important in crystallizing the interest in tho the revival of this lost art are ara the annual national rifle association matches which for the last 20 29 years have brought to camp perry ohio in increasing numbers the crack shots of the country last year 2007 participants stepped up to the firing line in the various contests and this year the matches which are being held from september 11 to 10 are expected to draw an even larger number for many ye years ars the national matches were dominated by the military element clement and the winners were largely members or of sonic bomb branch of the national military or naval establishment establish mat in recent years however the alie matches matches have attracted more of our norn dutary tary population and camp perry has been called the biggest civilian camp in america it Is somewhat like a huge automobile mo alle tourist camp with between and persons from all parts of elih country most of them however from the smaller towns and cities of tho the west and middle west living under canvas there during tile matches many of the campett com competitors pett bring kheir families with them ana they make it a glorified ra vacation cation which Is satisfactory in more ways than one they are having part in a great sporting event and one that la Is more con e N 6 MS X 17 1 i F 4 1 V N 4 1 41 T I 1 t on the zoo yard siri firing ng lino hirut tive than just a mere test of marksmanship it may liay fie argued that in the last analysis a roan man learns to shoot hoot so that he be may destroy and kill dut but you will find if you investigate among those who attend the matches at camp perry that they are among the most law abiding persons persona in the world and that goes not only for the civilians but for members of the regular military or naval establishment as well they ore are all proud of their and enjoy the sporting element of this test of their skill but they have the satisfaction also of knowing that they are training themselves to be of real service to their country if it should have need of them when it la Is sald said that whole families come to camp perry for the matches it should not be supposed that the feminine members of it are dhere merely to look on as their fathers and husbands and brothers take their turn tarn on the ranges for it if you walk through the squaw camp as they facetiously refer to the camp for women you will find plenty of annie oakless Oak leys both young and old who are as enthusiastic addicts of oh shoot I 1 as the men and boys they speak the argot of the rifle range a tongue that Is as greek to the outsider but perfectly understandable to those who attend the matches this talk of mirage a fishtail fish tail tall wind lands grooves dope and tha like arid and out on the firing line some of these girls can give just as good an account of themselves and probably even better with a death dealing instrument in their hands against the painted targets as their pioneer grandmothers and great grandmothers and great great grandmothers once did when the occa occasion arose against the painted indians if you doubt that ask some of those who attended tile the national nat lonal matches marchei last year and watched miss louisa thompson tile the modern modem annie oakley pictured above do her stuff out on the ranges I 1 As for the boys take a look at the medals which adorn the three davy crickets crockets Crock ets shown in the picture labeled junior champions 1027 in the center Is david macdongal a sixteen year old high school boy from the district of columbia who was the winner of both the national individual championship and the high school individual championship in last years matches on his left Is another sixteen year ald philip of norwood ohio who was mcdougals McDon gals close competitor in the national individual matches and who won the senior lor classi classified fled match on his right la Is lawrence wilkins fifteen years old and also balling from norwood ohio who won the two position match any of these three youngsters can go out on the range imy day and make a record which older marksmen of another day would be proud of although the national rifle matches at camp perry are uie the biggest bIgge of their kind kina la in they are quite unlike any other great sports event usually there are no huge crowds on the range and no thunderous cheers greet the victor A few devoted enthusiasts stand back of tle firing line tight lipped quiet and intent but they are appreciative spectators nevertheless for they are watch loir las tests of skill which watch are not spectacular but which demand the utmost in steadiness of nervo and concentration ou on the part of the contestant stand back of the firing line with them and watch a typical scene over on the right la Is a young marksman ile he looks sixteen and Is 13 actually on the junior side glde of twenty it Is his first match to ig he nervous not so BO you could notice it I 1 nervous men or boys dont last long on rifle ranges but there Is 13 a ripple or of comment as as he h shoots hoots a possible in other words he has placed every shot within the edges of the bull outsiders call it bullseye bulls eye that looks like a pin point from the firing line no one cheers there Is not even the polite hand clapping that greets a tennis champion on the courts the boy grins as lie gathers up his brass the empty shells that the ejector of hla his rifle has sent spinning to the ground the young marksman walks slowly to the next range to fire his final string however he avoids the spectators there Is a reason tor for this even evan the youngest rifleman Is prey to the superstition of tile the range and it Is bad luck to receive congratulations until the last shot Is fired and lis by the way dont ever try to take a snapshot of a shooter until he hns finished his match it if his warning does docs not stop you and lie ho cannot run away lie he and ills his buddies may wreck your camera black cats may inay cross his path mirrors may smash to bits in his hands and lie he will saunter unconcernedly cern edly under a leaning ladder hut but if I 1 he IL Is photographed during a match that match la Is lost and be knows it the riflemen are ready to fire the last string nt at rapid fire several of the young markitans marks marki mana mans rivals are crowding him and lie he Is doing some rapid figuring he knows with the lead he be has secured in the earlier matches that if he makes 48 out of a possible 50 he Is sate safe even if his nearest rival should make a pos possible elble the young marksman cannot be defeated unless lie ho tails falls below 48 any score below that figure fiaui e will make defeat possible and even probable in rapid fire a shooter must get olt off his ten shots within a limited number of seconds the fliers take their places on the firing line loading and locking their rifles against accidental firing the off officers leers stationed on the firing line walk to and fro to see that all Is ready the field telephone 0 n a operator sends his standby stand by messages to t the he rifle butts where sweating men operate the targets ready on the right cries an off official lelal ready on the left echoes another heady on the firing line calls the operator A gong sounds up ride the white targets from behind an embankment like a company of soldier ghosts attacking from it a trench then the guns begin to bark it Is called rapid fire are but to the novice the riflemen seem very slow how can they ever get in ten shots with such unhurried ease but these men are able to judge time in split seconds it seems only an instant after the last burst barj of firing splits the air that the targets sink slowly from sight our young marksman has his eyes turned toward the buus butts there Is a bable of voices around him but lie he hears nothing distinctly ile he Is watch watching log with eager interest for the reappearance of the target up it comes slowly too slowly for hs wildly beating pulse seconds seem like hours he fie has set bs heart on oa winning tills this match and now comes the flash of a white disk that means IV alve points a bulls eyel it flashes again and again agnin and agala ile he counts forty points before the disk drops down for a short Inter interval valand and again comes up white that last slow flash flail of the disk indicates that one of his shots was inside the bull by a fraction of an inch down goes the disk again everything hinges on its next tippen appearance rance ile he knows lie fie has forty five points A miss ruea means ns almost certain defeat A tree or better assures victory up bobs that fatal disk again it Is red tills time indicating a four our young marksman now has a total of forty nine and has won woh the match and that aa is a famous cartoonist would say Is certainly one grand and glor glorious lous feeling |