Soldiers & Civilians

Last week 3,000 armed men were massed on a plain near Port Clinton, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. All were picked shots. Over their shoulders were slung rifles with well-oiled firing chambers, speckless bores. The walnut stocks were worn, rubbed to an oily, deep brown. Across their backs were stretched bandoleers full of sharp-nosed cartridges. Thousands of rounds of ammunition lay in neat cases around them. To bivouac the force, peaked, tan canvas service tents were thrown up along orderly streets. To many of the riflemen tenting was new. No novelty was it for 1,000 of the force, members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, who had come from posts as far as Panama, China, the Philippines.

The marksmen were assembled to shoot in the annual National Rifle and Pistol Matches. With prizes worth $40,000 (it is the only sporting event supported by Congress), it is to marksmen what the Kentucky Derby is to turfmen, the Poughkeepsie Regatta to oarsmen.

First fired of the 80 events was the Sobel trophy match, side arm competition for policemen. On one of the ranges that project from the three miles of firing line along the lakefront, was set up a double row of false house fronts. Targets swung in the gaping windows and doors, popped up and down in the street. Five keen-eyed Portland, Ore., constables shot them down like fugitives, scored 41 points out of a possible 50, won the match. A four-man team match of the slow and rapid pistol firing was won by New York City policemen.

Grinning but disappointed were Serg. Jens B. Jensen, U. S. Cavalry, & Capt. Walter A. Wood Jr., U. S. Engineers, when Serg. Carl J. Cagle, U. S. Marine Corps, snatched from them the Leech Cup. All three had scored a perfect 105 but Mariner Cagle's shots had bored closest to the centre of the bull's-eye.

Out of the hands of the military for one year was taken the Marine Corps cup when Civilian Richard W. Ballard outshot 1,385 competitors, scoring 99. Happy and proud was he, knowing that no other civilian had done this since 1913.

Last and greatest event will be the National Rifle Team Match. To win this each branch of U. S. armed forces strives doggedly. Sights are smoked with candle flames so that a finer "bead" may be drawn. Shoulders are padded with sheep hide and rags to fend the recoil. Windage and elevation are shrewdly calculated, lucky pieces rubbed. Classic is the tale of one Infantry marksman who would not change his underclothing during his three weeks at Camp Perry, fearing it would affect his condition in the Team shoot. The great event, shot at 1,000 yards, is usually held early in the morning, before the sun brings heat waves to interfere with vision.

To Ensign Clarence E. Coffin Jr., U. S. N., went the congratulatory letter from President Hoover, the Crescent Cup, the Army Ordnance Trophy (a .30-calibre rifle), the National Rifle Association medal. He had scored 147 out of 150.

Capt. John W. Dillin. of Media, Pa., scorning modern small arms, shot his matches with a flintlock rifle made in 1763, notched for dead Indians.