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Show Birds Eye View of Zampperry, Ohio . A Modem "Annie OaKley" Mffl e. -sIPff jgsfe&tfii TMMPa - r- ; 5 ' fflfrA'rrJf 'ir-- f' 15 Birds Eye View of MM$fi 'hI V7)lrh' ! Maj-ine Corps VfrS VV fScrP'i ' of the National Matches, 1927 ,:ii I Junior S-'" J ? - Champions, 1927 S'" which demand the utmost in steadiness of nerre I SN2i4fj H shT concentration on the part of the contestant. i 51 vjfc -1 1 i Stand back of the firing line with them and watch i jfj I i . a typical scene. Over on the right Is a young j r 1T-T,, r .1 r,i, f ijlr 1 n;arksman. He looks sixteen and Is actually on the h Or the Marksmen Of the Country , - Junior side of twenty. It Is his first match. Is he Are Gathering at Camp Perry, . : nervous? Not so yon could notice It! Nervous ' iJ ff 4lfik men or lo.vsdon't last long on rifle ranges. But Ohio, for the National Itfii&HrPZ&'lZy f f 'hf'VC there Is a ripple of comment as h? -dioots a "pos- . .... 4wJPihf ' V.'VJ sil,Ie." ,n otner words, he has placed every shot Rifle Matches. (Uf JA 2V$ w'tbln the edges of the bull (outsiders call it . -V 4f'V v bull's-eye) that looks like a pin point from the Ev ELMO SCOTT WATSON -V , - t Cuing line. No one cheers. There Is not even the Jty watson , , 1ifX J fe polite hnnd-clapping that greets a tennis chnmplon IME was when a gun was the com- A . - c' ? if on the courts. The boy grins as lie gathers up his niniiPKt wpnnon. utensil, tool, or . : - m ... i.n Marine Cw i iiTujil"''''"'"' J":.;: tllffi II of the National Matches, 1927 Jj which demand the utmost in steadiness of nerve and concentration on the part of the contestant. Stand back of the firing line with them and watch a typical scene. Over on the right is a young marksman. He looks sixteen and Is actually on the junior side of twenty. It is his first match. Is he nervous? Not so yon could notice It! Nervous men or boys don't last long on rifle ranges. But there Is a ripple of comment as h? shoots a "possible," "pos-sible," in other words, he has placed every shot within the edges of the bull (outsiders call it bull's-eye) that looks like a pin point from the fluing line. No one cheers. There Is not even the polite hnnd-clapplng that greets a tennis chnmplon on the courts. The boy grins as lie gathers up bis "brass" (the empty shells that the ejector of his ride has sent spinning to the ground). The young marksman walks slowly to the nct range to fire his final string. However, he avoids the spectators. There Is a reason for this. Even the youngest rifleman Is prey to the superstition of the range, and it Is bad luck to receive congratulations con-gratulations until the last shot Is fired. And, bj the way, don't ever try to tuke a snapshot of a shooter until he has finished his match. If his warning does not stop you and he cannot run away, he and his buddies may wreck your camera. Black cats may cross his path, mirrors may smash to bits in his hands, and he will saunter unconcernedly uncon-cernedly under a leaning ladder; but If he Is photographed during a match, that match Is lost and be knows it. The riflemen are ready to fire the last string nt rapid fire. Several of the young marksman's rivals are crowding him, and he is doing some rapid figuring. He knows, with the lend he has secured in the earlier matches, that if he makes 48 out of a possible 50 he Is safe. Even If his nearebt rival should make a "possible." the young marksman cannot be defeated unless he falls below 48. Any score below that figure will make defeat possible, and even probable. In rapid fire a shooter must get o.T hln ten shots within a limited number of seconds. The flrers take their plaees on the firing line, loading and I Junior SsSv;i I A Champions, 1927 ' For the Marksmen of the Country Are Gathering at Camp Perry, Ohio, for the National Rifle Matches. i 't By ELMO SCOTT WATSON J-Sl IME was when a gun was the conv s&Srl L3 m(l,iest weapon, utensil, tool, or ffJl whatever you choose to call it, to ""f j be found In the hands of an Amer- f mk ,oun titizen-Timt was in tne avs I JUsU when there was a frontier, when the West was still to be won, when jSfSfsg wild game still formed a part of ap oin. (luiy fare w.)ierj tl,ere wag 0gs law but more Justice, fewer courts but fewer criminals because men carried In their -y hands a thing of wood nnd Iron which could, when the occcsion den.anded. act as judge, jury and court from which there was no appeal. And of all the types of weapon which the generic term "gun" covers, t he one which was preeminently pre-eminently American was the rifle. 'Witness this 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 the timbered Appalachians, down the watershed to the Mississippi, up the long and winding streams of the westrn lands, over the Rockies, and down the slopes of the Slerrus to the farther sea." But with the passing of the frontier and frontier conditions, the A merlon n "laid aside the rifle for the sickle tr.id the plow," and tests of marksmanship marksman-ship fathered by necessity which hnd become ono of the leading sports for a large proportion of our population became almost s lost art. The Fport Interests of the average American today are of a far different type. He plays golf or tennis and he watches others box or play football, baseball basket hall. But of inurksmnnshlp he knows little or nothing. Unless he Is one of the comparatively small number of sportsmen who find recreation In trap or target shooting, he gets' no thrill from a sports page announcement that a new record In shooting has been established. However, there are signs that a renaissance of Interest In this form of sport Is under w:iy. The World war. which put rifles Into the hunds of. millions of young Americans and taught them the thrill of puncturing the bull's-eye, bad something to do with it. But more Important In crystallizing the Intel est In the revival of this "lost art" are the annual National Rifle association matches which for the Inst 20 years have brought to Camp Terry, Ohio, in Increasing numbers the crack shots of the country. Last year 2,5G7 participants stepped op to the Bring line in the various contests con-tests nnd this year the matches which are being held from September 11 'to 10 are expected to draw an even larger number. I For many years the national matches were dominated dom-inated by the military element nnd the winners were largely members of some branch of the national military, or naval establishment' In recent years, however, the matches have attracted more of oDr nonmllltary population and Camp Perry has recently been called "the biggest civilian camp In America. It Is somewhat like a huge automobile auto-mobile tourist camp with between 3,(X0 and 4.000 persons from all parts of the country, most of them, however, from-the smaller towns and cities of the West and Middle West, living under canvas there during the matches. Many of the competitors competi-tors bririt. their families with them and they make it a glorified vacation, which Is satisfactory in more ways than one. They are having part in n great sporting event and one that Is more con- On the zoo yard firing lina structlve than Just a mere test of marksmanship. It may be argued that, in the last analysis, a man leurns to shoot so that he may destroy nnd kill. But you will find, If you investigate among (hose who attend the matches at Camp I'erry, that they are among the most law-abiding persons In the world. And that goes, not only for the civilians, civil-ians, but for members of the regular military or naval establishment as well. Thev are ail proud of their markmnnship nnd enjoy the sporting element ele-ment 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 Is said that whole families come to Camp Perry for the matches, It should not be supposed sup-posed that the feminine members of It are there merely to look on as their fathers and husbands and brothers take their turn on the ranges. For If you walk through the "squaw camp," as they facetiously refer to the camp for women, you will find plenty of "Annie Oakleys," both young and old, who are as enthusiastic addicts of "Oh, shoot!" as the men nnd boys. They speak the argot of the rifle range, a tongue that Is as Creek to the outsider, but perfectly understandable to those who attend the matches this talk of windage, wind-age, mirage, a fish-tail wind, lauds, grooves, dope, swabo and the like. And out on the firing line some of these girls can give Just as good an account ac-count of themselves (and probably even better) with a death-denting Instrument In their hand's against the painted targets as their piooeer grandmothers grand-mothers and great-grandmothers nnd great-great-grandmothere once did, when the occasion arose, against the painted Indians. If you doubt that, ask some of those who attended the national matches last year and watched Miss Louise Thompson, the modern "Annie Oakley," pictured above, do her stuff out on the ranges! As for the boys, take a look at the medals which adorn the three "Davy Crocketts" shown In the picture labeled "Junior Champions, 1027." In the center Is David MacDongal, a sixteen-year-old high school hoy from the District of Columbia, who was the winner of both the natlonnl individual individ-ual championship and the high school Individual championship in last year's matches. On his reft Is another sixteen-year-old, I'hilip Ronfer of Norwood, Nor-wood, Ohio, who was McDongal's close competitor In the national Individual matches and who won the senior classified match. On his right Is Lawrence Law-rence Wilklns, fifteen years old and also haiKn? from Norwood, Ohio, who won the two-position match. Any of these three youngsters enn go out on the range any dny and make a record which older nia.-ksmen of another dny would be proud of. Although the national rifle matches at Camp Perry are the biggest of their kind In this country, they are quite unlike any other great sports event Usually there are no hrjge crowds on the range and no thunderous cheers greet the victor. A few devoted enthusiasts stand back of the firing line, tight-lipped, quiet and Intent But they are appreciative appre-ciative spectators, nevertheless, for they are watching watch-ing tests of skill which are not spectacular, but locking their rifles against accidental firing. The officers, stationed on the firing line, walk to and fro to see that all Is ready. The Geld telephone operator op-erator sends his "stand-by" messages to the rllle butts, where sweating men operate the targets, "Iteady on the right," cries an official. "Beady on the left," echoes another. "Beady on the firing line." calls the operator. A rong sounds. Up ride the white targets from behind an embankment like a company of soldier ghosts attacking from a trench. Then the guns begin to bark. It Is called rapid fire, 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. sec-onds. It seems only an Instant after th? last burst of fl.-ing splits the air that the targets sink slowly from sight Our youn?t marksman has his eyes turned toward the butts. There Is a bable of voices around h:ra, but he boars nothing distinctly. He Is watching with eager interest foe the reappearance of the targc-t. Up It conies slowly too slowly for his wildly beating pulse. Seconds seem like hours. He h;:s set his heart on wlnnlnjz this miitch and Now conies the flash of a wh'te disk. That me::ns "V" five points a bulls eye! It flashes again, and a?ain and again. He counts forty points be-f;re be-f;re the disk drops down for a short Intervul, and aitln (-Moos up white. That last, slow flash of the dbk indicates that one of his shots was Inside the bull by a fraction of an Inch. Down goes the disk again. Kverythlng hinges on j Its next appearance. He knows he hns forty Ave ' poln?s. A "m!.sM means almost certsiln d feiil A ' "tree" or better assures victory. Up hnhs that fatal ! disk again. It Is red this time, indicating a four." j Our young marksman now has a total of forty- I nine nnd b:s won the mutch. And that, as a fit- I inous cartoonist would gay, js certainly "one grand I and glorious feeling.'' j |