THE NEW PASTIME.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR"} SIE,—As the publication of my letter upon the above subject in the Spectator of September 7th has called forth so many inquiries from various quarters respecting the portable ap- paratus used by our Society, and how to apply it, a few observations on the subject may, with your permission, be useful to others. The hall in which practice is desired to be carried on should not be less that 40 ft. in length. It does not matter whether it has a stage or not; but any persons con- templating the introduction of this description of rifle-shooting in their locality should send to me here, or to Mr. C. T. Bruce, of 13 Chapel Street, Belgrave Square (who is taking up the secretarial work in London), a rough sketch of the plan of the hall with dimensions, stating whether it has a stage at one end, and if so, what height the floor of the stage is above the floor of the room. We can then direct our manufacturer to have the legs of the standards made in each case the appro- priate length, so that the overhead travellers run at a fairly uniform level, after allowing for the sagging of the con- necting cord. Illustrations of the apparatus, descriptions for fixing it, hints for the use of committees and members of clubs who wish to adopt this kind of rifle.shooting, and rules suggested for such clubs, similar to those which have been found to work satisfactorily elsewhere, will be forwarded to any one sending for them. The applications recently made have come from such diverse sources as Liver- pool, Chester, Ripon, Birmingham, and Belfast, from the London Diocesan Church Lads' Brigade, from the Jewish Lads' Brigade, from Bilton School, from the 2nd V.B. Royal Fusiliers for their drill hall, and from the Admiral- Superintendent at Chatham. The point is this, and it has been pretty pithily expressed by Admiral Holland when he says ; "I am anxious to help our local Volunteers and out young naval men to take a keen interest in becoming good shots, to make a pastime and a pleasure of it, and not a tire- some lesson, which some seem to suppose it must be." Are not the recreations of a people a matter of public concern? And more especially so their evening recreations, particularly in the towns and cities. It has never yet been realised how much good can be effected by occasionally spending an evening in rifle-shooting, for the means have not been forth- coming for utilising many places which may be available for the purpose. How many suitable places are only partially used for other purposes which on winter evenings could be temporarily used as rifle galleries at no great cost. If it is necessary to inspire confidence in your readers by mentioning those who are on the Committee of the Society, I merely wish to say that in addition to Mr. Coles Child and Mr. Archibald C. Norman, of Bromley, General Lance, of Wandsworth, and myself, representing those who have contributed funds towards the foundation of the Society, the officers and governing body of the Federation of Working Men's Social Clubs, whose head- quarters are at Oxford House, Bethnal Green, are represented by Mr. Ranking, the hon. secretary of that Federation, and Mr. F. H. Williams, the secretary of the Social Institutes Union; the officers and governing body of the Federation of London Working Boys' Clubs are represented by Mr. Douglas Eyre; the officers and governing body of the Association of Conservative Clubs are represented by Colonel Alt, C.B., Mr. James Wigan, and Mr. Hugh Bryan, the secre- tary of the Association; whilst the rifle clubs that are being formed amongst the clubs of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union are represented by Mr. B. T. Hall, the secretary of the Union, and Mr. G. Shore. Our Committee would naturally be strengthened by an augmentation of repre- sentatives from other important bodies having to do with working men and working boys. You were good enough, Sir, in your editorial note attached to my last letter, to invite people to contribute to the funds of our Society. I hope, Sir, that you may similarly endorse this appeal, so that disappoint- ment may not be the measure dealt out to that great soldier and noble patriot who presides over this Society. For a sum which represents the cost of a decent bicycle a small rifle club of the description indicated can be fairly started, and the cost of maintenance can nearly be covered by the profit on the ammunition, even after paying a price for shooting well within the compass of everybody. You will allow me, therefore, to conclude by saying that our hon.
treasurer is Mr. Mackworth B. Praed, the manager of the Law Courts Branch of Lloyds Bank, 222 Strand, W.C., who will be pleased to receive and credit the Founder's Fund of the Society of Working Men's Rifle Clubs with anything that
may be sent to him.—I am, Sir, &c., C. E. LITARD. Ightham Knoll, Sevenoaks.
P.8.—By appointment with Mr. John Bruce, the caretaker of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall, S.W., an example of our portable apparatus for rifle-shooting with miniature ammunition can (by permission of the Council) be seen there for a short time, and everything in connection with its working explained by him.
[Of course, we most heartily endorse General Luard's appeal, and wish him every success. But though we strongly approve of the recreation side of his scheme, we hope that it will be made clear to the men and boys who shoot that they are not merely amusing themselves, but also training the eye for what must always remain a man's first duty,—the defence of his awn country.—En. Spectator.]
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