Uncle Sam Has Made MarKsmen in Peace Times < Special Correspondence WASHINGTON, D. C.. ' , 1917. WHEN, during a "piping time of peace" the United States Is sued to civilians the Krag rifle, retired as obsolete by the advent of tho Springfield, the seed of a practical preparedness, which Is now being harvested a thousand fold, was sown. At the time the Issuance of the rifles was sanctioned by Congress, which placed within reach of every able-bod ied citizen a service rifle and 120 car tridges for practico every year, many cynics asked; "What good will it do? What will the government receive In return?" America has been a participant In the world war only three months. Yet al ready Is the answer apparent In these facts. * * * Through the Issuance of the obsolete Krag, there are now in the United States more than 100,000 men, many of military age, who are more proficient with the service arm than is the average recruit at the end of six months' training. Many of them are not only marksmen, but quali fied sharpshooters and expert riflemen, fully equipped to step out as practical lighting men, learned in the art of straight shooting, or, what Is far more Important from a military standpoint, equipped to become Instructors in any schools of musketry the War Department may establish. A similar situation existed In England In August, 1914. A few months after the war practically every civilian rifleman in the empire was "doing a bit" of far more valuable service than what he could have accomplished as a private In the ranks, for England Immediately availed herself of the many civilian ranges, installed thereon corps of Instructors drawn from civilian ranks and with this machinery be gan at once to graduate trained marks men Into her foreign trenches. But while this fact alone is of the ut most importance, the rifllo club members of the country, while waiting for the gov ernment to outline the part they ul timately play in the great conflict, have not been Idle. "Homo guards" have sprung Into being over night as a result of the ef forts of rifle clubs. Corps of experi enced marksmen have volunteered as guards to public buildings throughout the country, notably at tho United States Department of the Interior at Washington. Recruiting drives and patriotic ral lies have been engineered, and ranges * ; V WfSffiM: THOMAS K. LEE, A crack marksnian. Congressmen Who Have Sent Their Sons Into the Army and Navy Special Correspondence WASHINGTON, D. C„" , 1917. SLACKER fathers are unknown In the House of Representatives. Men who first voted for war on Germany are backing up their votes with sacrifices of their own flesh and blood. Sacrificing It will ingly. too, though It breaks their hearts, because they feel there Is noth ing else for them to do In this, the country's gravest hour of peril. Almost a score of reprasentatlves already have given their sons to the service of tha army or the navy. Many •more have boys who are planning to go to the front or on the seas with the fleet. Of the total number who have given their boys to the colors not one today sayß he is sorry. Without exception, of couf.se; they dislike to see them go, but when the crucial moijient came when tha son asked for his parents' final word, none of the representatives failed his country's flag. The test to which these representa tives have been put is one which will be repeated In many American homes ■ HI HHH mm i n? j*. REPRESENTATIVE CLAUDE KITCHIN OF NORTH CAROLINA. (Pboto by Harris & Ewlng.) • I ON THE WAT TO TIIK RANGE. and clubhouses have been offered to the army to be used not <nly for the training of potential soldiers, but for recruiting purposes as well. • In other localities, as soon as war was declared, rifle clubs have under taken to train not only In shooting, but in military tactics all citizens liable to conscription and all who would come under home guard requirements, or those of a line of last defense. The activities of rifle clubs have been many and varied, and each possesses to a greater or less extent national mili tary value. Yet all this Is aside from the thousands of experienced riflemen who either' have actually enlisted in one of the regular establishments or who have offered their services as in structors. For many years rifle shooting has ranked as one of the prominent sports of the country, but within the past decade It has flourished at Its height. The National Rifle Association of Amer ica, an affiliation of the 3,000 and more civilian rifle clubs and) the medium through which the national hoard for the promotion of rifle practice of the War Department works. rop- 'pits the shooting game In so far :<•• - c'.vlllan and much of the match '■" v of the military are concerned. Th( X. IX. A," as it Is known In rifleman's parlance, has for Its one aim the encouragement of rifle practice. The membership of the clubs composing the association now totals more than 100,000. It la through this organization alone that the government sanctions the use of Its old rifles. Since 1914 the gov ernment has Issued thousand# of Krags to rifle clubs affiliated with the N. R. A., under certain prescribed rules, to gether with an annual allotment of 120 rounds of ammunition for each club member. In explaining this phase of the work, Brig. Oen. Fred H. Phillips, secretary of the National Rifle Asso ciation, says: "Placing service rifles in the hands of civilians was the greatest Impetus ever given the shooting game in this country. As far back as 1905 Congress had provided for the purchase of gov ernment arms, but not until this later legislation did rifle shooting take the hold upon the men of this country which it now has. "When the United States retired the Krag rifle and armed its forces with the Springfield, 800,000 and 10,000,000 rounds of ammunition were In reserve in the various arsenals of the country. It was the Issue of these guns and this ammunition which Con gress sanctioned. "Prior to the passage of that act. In 1914, 173 clubs were affiliated with this organization, most of which used the small-bore rifle and shot on indoor ranges. Today practically every one of our clubs shoots the service arm in addition to the ,22-callber, the former being the "more important weapon in their club work." What of the result of all this? Let ters, telegrams, verbal messages, all give proof that what Uncle Sam gave Is being returned a hundredfold. Per haps a single letter can best speak of the spirit of the rifle clubs throughout the country. Coming from but a single organization, it yet bespeaks tho ardor manifested by all. It was sent to Sec retory of War Baker from the Mound City Rifle Club of St. Louis, and was, In part: Tile Mound City Rifle Club, composed of 120 members !h willing and anxious to do something for tho country at this time. Those of our members who are eligible will enlist. Many are heads of families and other- within the next year. What they have felt, other fathers and mothers will feel. And on whether they face it as bravely as have these men, who have given their sons, and sacrifice with the same willingness largely depends the success of the war. For, even though the draft take a son regardless of his parents' wishes, his parents' attitude will mean much to his fighting spirit, to his bravery and his power to endure hardships when he goes away to battle for the land of his birth. With this fact In mind, several repre sentatives whose sops already are In the army or the navy or are preparing for one branch of the service have told something of their boys, the circum stances surrounding their proffer of services and the. parental emotions they experienced when Johnnie went march ing away. * * * When a man gives his only two sons to his country he certainly should have first place in any story regarding a sac rifice for war. And that is why Repre sentative Mark R. Bacon of Wyandotte, Mich., takes first place here. His two boys, Milton E., twenty-one years oid, and John B. F., twenty-flve years old, have signified their willingness to fight, and now are training for entrance into Uncle Sam's service. If ever two boys had cause for not entering the service, they did. Their father Is a wealthy manufacturer, and they might have remained behind, en joyed the luxuries of life, and, possibly, escaped the draft. They chose the oppo site course shortly after It became ap parent that there was tb be war. John, who is In training for the Officers' Re serve Corps, was employed as a chemist in a plant near Pittsburgh, and was ad vancing rapidly. He had gone there de liberately to learn if there was "any thing to him." Then he decided to try for entrance to the army. Throwing up his place, he hied for a training camp. Milton wants to be an aviator. Ever since he saw an aeroplane at San Diego several- years ago, his father said, he has wanted to fly. And now he is flying In a school preparatory to entering the army flying corps. Ho was a sopho more at Yale, of which school his brother is a graduate, when the war broke out. "Of course, I didn't want them to go," Mr. Bacon remarked briefly. In discuss ing their departure, "but they were anx ious to enlist, and, naturally, I made no objection." "Speaker Clark, whose son, Bennett. Is in training at Fort Myer, expressed my sentiments here on the floor," Rep- wine undesirable. Bach one, howeTer, U capable of doing something. If it 1B deslrea we can furnish twenty or more expert riflemen who can be used to train recruits in the nse of the army rifle. If you can use any of our men please feel free to command. Yours truly, C. C. CROSSMAN, President. To quote other letters would bo to repeat same spirit, almost the same words. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Maine to Florida, has come word that the men to whom Uncle Sam has loaned rifles want to "do something for the country," and that the President is to "feel free to com mand." * * * But the methods taken by many of the clubs differ. From the Greater Omaha Rifle and Revolver Club word was sent to President Wilson that they were organizing a complete regiment of volunteers for foreign service, to be at his disposal. From Detroit, Mich., came word, through Dr. S. E. Sanderson, president of the Michigan State RHle Association, that all ranges and equip ment controlled by that association, to gether with the services of many ex pert riflemen, were at the command of the government. At a meeting of the Marion, Ohio, Rifle Club, that body was tendered to the President, "to be used Iti any way the President sees flt." The Harrlsburg. Pa., Rifle Club, among the largest In the country, also tendered Its services. Word has been received from the - • ?'' •>, \ . .• . * . ' * ■ .\ + • v • • ■ • ; ". ' . s ; .. ' • , v . ■ ' •. : t .' ; . " / • ■ • ' v ' . ■? v : ~v : :> . 'i r J \ ' >: k'v- CIVILIAN MARKSMEN ON A RIFLE RANGE. PpPMHF REPRESENTATIVE PI|II,IP P. CAMP BELL OF KANSAS. resentatlve Oordon of Ohio, whose son, Walter Scott, is In training for the Officers' Reserve Corps, said. "He said that his son wanted to enlist and that he agreed and that he would not have it any other way. "My boy went to Johns Hopkins Uni versity for four years. After that he entered Kenyon College. Ho had been there two years when the war broke out. Then he wanted to enlist and I helped him all I could. "This was my view of the situation. I did not want him to go to war, of course. No man wants to see his son in danger. But we are a? war with a great power. We need to combat that power our best-trained men. If my boy is trained—as ho is, in mili tary tactics—lt Is his duty to go and do his best, and it certainly Is not my duty to try to discourage him. "Thht is why my boy Is trying out for the army. He talked some of go ing on a submarine chaser, but I dis suaded him from that. He knows mili tary tactics and he should give the best he has to his country." Representative Oordon, by the way. Is one of the real fighters of the House himself. A member of the military af fairs committee, he is eagerly, earnest ly working on military problems at all times. In a self-deprecating way he Olympic Rifle and Revolver Club of San Francisco, one of the largest shoot ing organizations on the Pacific coast, that many of the members, including some of the best shots in the west, have enlisted in the army and navy. Down in Texas the Pecos City Rifle Club, a few days after the declaration of war, held a mass meeting. The city was divided into wards and every able bodied man In the city wtus enrolled for military drill work, the club equip ping a drillground and acting as in structor. At about the same time the Pecos City Club was thus employed the men of the Lamar (Col.) Rifle Club were asking themselves what they could do to help their country. They found their answer In the holding of a patri otic rally, aided by city ofllcials. Start ing with a parade, the rally ended with a huge mass meeting, at which the purposes of the army and navy and the duty of the citizen to his cpuntry were set forth. The club members fol lowed this up by taking a military cen sus of the town, listing both those who were willing to enlist at once, with their previous military experience, and also those ready to serve at such time as their services were vitally needed. And then the Rifle Club boys under took the task of teaching all those po tential recruits tho use of the rifle. The result of this was that In the eight days which followed fifty-seven of the recruits out of the many who enlisted were accepted and sworn into the says he does not know why ha ever was placed on the committee, but he works, and works hard, and that might bo one explanation. One of 243 members of a certain sec tion of the Pennsylvania National Guard selected for training for the Officers' Corps is John Temple, a son of Representative Temple of Pennsyl vania. He had four years' service in the guard and recently was on the Mexican border. "I am not particular to see the boy exposed to danger." his father said, "but I didn't want to see him be a slacker. Hence, when the time caihe for him to go, I couldn't object." * * * Rome day, over In Prance, when Gen. Pershing gots homesick and wants to talk with some pf tlfe boys about the yesteryear, the chances are he will summon Capt. M. C. Shallenberger, son of "Representative Shallenberger of Ne braska. and gas a while with him. For, be It known. Shallenberger the younger Is one of the original members of Per shing's Rifles, a former organization of the University of Nebraska, where Pershing was military instructor and young Shallenberger was a student. After graduation from college, Shal lenberger joined the National Guard, arid frequently went about the country shooting at prize events. He was a crack shot, and stands high In National Guard circles. He also Is a famous polo player. Latterly he was in Mexico, and of recent date sailed for somewhere In tho war zone. Representative Shallenberger Is rath er glad, he says, inasmuch as the boy had to go to war, that he went among the first. "I didn't want my boy to be a sol dier," Shallenberger said, "but I wasn't the kind that would declare I didn't raise him to be one. I wanted him to be a lawyer, there being none In the family. But when he drifted Into army life I certainly put no stone In his way. - "Now that he Is going to see service abroad—and I presume he Is. because I heard from him recently that ho would leave soon—l am glad ho Is going across early. The first troops abroad, in my opinion, will get the best possi ble training, while later It may be nec essary to throw the boys into the fight ing without such thorough prepara tion." Representative Shallenberger was greatly opposed to the selective draft bill In the Housn. Ho made a stirring speech against It and part of the time conducted the flght for the Dent volun teer bill. Somewhere on the high seas Is Colin millions OF MOUND CITY RIFLE CLUB OF ST. LOUIS, WHO HAVE OFFERED THEIR SERVICES TO THE PRESIDENT. service, of their country. Lamar num bers about 3,000 inhabitants. A rifle club of men just past military age is being organized at Vandergrift, Pa., with the object of educating in marlcsmansiilp p.ll men who can be in duced to join, and the performance of duties as a home guard. The term "home guard" has spread throughout the United States. No com munity too tiny nor city too vast but what there comes word that the men who are too old to "do their bit" at the front are preparing to do the work which will be found for those forced to stay behind. To give a roster of the towns and cities in which a holpc guard had been organized would be to press Into service the postal guide, for legion are their names. In Montana alone every rifle club of tho state has come together, number ing some 2,000 shots, for purposes of home guard work for the men past military age. At their head Is Capt. D. Gay Stivers, president of the Rocky Campbell, an enlisted man, son of Rep resentative Campbell of Kansas, a lad nineteen years old. His father doesn't know just where ho is, but, wherever he is, his father's heart Is with him and he wants him to fight with all his might for the country. "I'm glad that as long as he was de termined to go he went without being drafted." Mr. Campbell said. There isn't much any one can say when his boy wants to go to war. He told his mother and me one night that he was going. So we discussed it pro and con and the next morning wo went to tho train with him and he went away. It's a mighty serious thing, and you feol serious. I tell -you, when your boy goes away." ♦ * * "Stick with the Job, now that you're In It, even if you come out with nothing but a corporal's warrant," Representa tive Greene of Vermont wrote his boy Richard, who Is at Plattsburg training for the Officers' Corps. Fighting comes naturally to young Greene. His father and grandfather be fore him fought for their flag. The boy probably remembers how as a little tad RKPRKSENTATIVK MARK R. BACON OF MICHIGAN. Mountain Rifle Club and father of the riflemen's movement In Montana. Not only is he one of the best target shots in America, but a big game hunter as well. At the opening of the Spanish war he* raised a company of cavalry. * * * Many of the best known rifle shots of the country have offered their services as individuals, not waiting for the or ganizations to which they belong to offer theirs as a whole. From Alabama came an offer fronn T. K. Lee. one of the best known civilian shots in the country today. "Tack-hole" Lee, as he is known among the shooting fraternity, is not only the holder of many world's records for rifle shooting, but recently won the intercluh civilian gallery competition staged by the National Rifle' Assoela- I lion. Mr. Lee made the high individual 'score 1,999 out of a possible,2,ooo, which incidentally is the second time ho has tnade that score, firing ten matches of twenty shots each. The competition con sisted of one match each week for ten weeks. Even more recently Mr. Lee Rcored ninety-eight consecutive bull'j eyes, shooting prone. This feat, which required nearly two hours, was done at a distance of seventy-five feet, tho bull's eye being a one-third of an Inch circle. Mr. Lee is a member of the Birmingham Athletic Rifle Club and Revolver Asso ciation. Capt. Herbert Mcßrlde of Indianapolis, tnd., a member of the N. R. A., is an other of the best known shots In the ITnited States. He was one of tho first 100,000 troops sent across by Canada, having enlisted as a private. He be came known as a machine gun expert, winning two French and one British medals, as well as the rank of captain. He has Just returned to the United States to offer his services to his own country. Let him who doubts the ability of the civilian fifleman to render aid to his gov ernment seek entrance into any of the buildings belonging to the Department of the Interior. Uniformed In khaki, stand ing motionless at the entrance, with rifle at rest, Btands a member of the Home i Club Rifle flUub. Ontf of the first depart ments, after the War, State and Navy, to refuse admittance to all save those on necessary business, the Department of the Interior gave to the members of her civilian rifle club the task of guarding her doors. Similar duty is now being per formed by the rifle club of the Treasury Depart nent. No better example of the spirit of the civilian riflemen of the country is to be found than that set by the Home Club Rifle Club. Weeks before war was de clared all plans had been made and per fected, and simultaneously with the sign ing of the war declaration the guard went on duty. Nor was it merely the enthusi asm of its members which prompted the action, for Secretary Lane stands squarely behind their work. All the men forming the guard are clerks in the department and have been relieved from clerical work to perform guard duty, three shifts guarding the patent office day and night. The patent office was destroyed by fire after the battle of Bladensburg, when the British marched on the capital, and REPRESENTATIVE ASIITON C. BHAL> LENBERGKH OF MIHHASKA. ho saw his father, who was a captain In the Spanish-American war, march away. Being a soldier, the son and the Krandson of a soldier, young Greene Is not long on words about his fighting. "I have gone," was the word he sent home last summer, when, as a member of the Yale artillery, he was sworn Into the fedeial service for duty on the Mexican border. His parents have seen little oT him since then. "I was willing that my boy should go; he would have had to go anyhow," Representative Taylor of Colorado re marked philosophically, in sneaking of his- son, Edward T., jr., going to the Officers' Reserve Corps training camp. Mr. Taylor had an opportunity to send his son to West Point, but. not desiring him to follow a military ca reer, ho did not accept It. The day war was declared, however, the boy began making arrangements to go, and his father did not object. Early In life the representative had a desire himself to go to West Point. He tried in competitive examination with fifty six other boys at Leavenworth, Kan., and Brig. Gen. Joseph E. KVilm, then "Joe" Kuhn, beat him out. If you want to make Democratic Loader Kitchln fighting mad Just call records lost at that time have never been replaced. So when war was declared Secretary Lane was quick to realize the importance of safeguarding his buildings and was more than ready to rely upon the members of the Home Club Rifle Club to do the work. Of greatest Importance In connection with the action being taken by the clvll ion riflemen of the country is the fact that they all know how to shoot; every member affiliated with the N. R. A.. Is said to be as good" a shot as the average private In the army or navy. * * * Rifle shooting Is not a "pastime" which appeals to those not having a serious In tention. For the most part its devotees are business men who from sheer love of rifle shooting are willing to travel several miles from town to tho range, men, who, for the sake of the smell of the powder, are willing to overcome the obstacles surrounding the establishment of a full charge range, free from any chance of do ing damage to property or persons by bullet. Not only can every man who has taken the trouble to Join a rifle club, or the N. R. A., as an Individual member, shoot as well as the average private, but at least 60 per cent are marksmen or bet ter. AR a spur to better shooting- the Na tional Rifle Association awards lapel buttons to those qualifying as marks men, sharpshooters or experts. Two courses of fire may bo shot in winning these decorations—one a modified army course, the other a modification of the course used in the navy. That mean.-) that men who have won honors as N. R. A. members can enter tho army or navy as experienced shots and not have to "unlearn all they ever know." Twenty shots slow fire and the same number rapid fire, with a total possible score of 200, is called for in the modi fied navy course. In both slow and rapid fire five shots each are fired prone, kneeling, squatting and standing. To gain tho marksman standing a score of 150 Is necessary, with seventy-five points won in rapid fire. To become a sharpshooter a similar score only la necessary, the difference being in the distance at which slow flre is shot, as well as the requirements as regards position. For rapid fire a skirmish run Is substituted, also consisting of twenty shots. Instead of firing at 200 yards, as Is dono in tho marksman course, he who would win distinction as an expert rifle man must shoot from 500 yards in both slow and rapid flre. In rapid flre the shooter has to change position with each shot. Forty shots comprise the entire course for experts, with a score of 140 necessary out of a possible 200. In the modified army course tho same course of flre is used for all classes, the scoro determining the qualification to which the shooter is entitled. Thirty shots aro tired, ten at 300 yards, ton at 500 and ten at 600 yards; all shots slow fire, prone position. Twenty shots are required In rapid fire at 200 and 300 yards. For qualification as a marksman, out of a possible 250 it Is necessary to score 160; for sharpshooter, 190, and for expert, 210. him a pacifist. A lot of folks do that, at long range, and get away with It. Ho Isn't a pacifist, though he fought the present war, and he wants folks to know It. It was natural, therefore, when his boy, Mills, went to war, that Mr. Kitchln approved the step. "Kick?" he inquired, laughing loudly. "I should say not. That boy comes from fighting stock." Young Kitchln and C. H. England, the representative's clerk, slipped one over on the father when It came to making preparations for the young man to enter the army, even though they knew he would approve. They made all arrangements to get young Kitchln Into the Fort Myer training camp and then apprised the father of their steps. He laughed. Mills Kitchln is twenty-five years old. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina and practiced law and edited a newspaper before he went Into training for the array. Warped Morals. ANEW YORK socialist said the other day: "Those Russian revolutionary social ists who ask for peace with Germany— peace with kaiserlom and autocracy at the allies' expense—have warped mor als. "They're as bad as the husband whose wife said: " 'Cook has burned the bacon, dear. She's so young and inexperienced. Will you be satisfied with a kiss for break fast?" " 'Sure,' said the man. "Call her In."" A Sneer. tvfl ORMAN DE A. WHITEHOUSH. chairman of the New York state suffrage party, said In Newport of the recent Rhode Island victory: "Between all factions a more ami able spirit will now prevail. In the past the spirit one encountered was like that which was shown to the sum mer girl. "This girl, dollghted with the sea shore trip that lay before her, said, with a giggle: "'lf while I'm away I got ten pro posals, that will be a tender, won't It?" "'Yes,' said her disillusioned married sister, 'and If you get one proposal It will be a wonder.' "
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