Ammon B. Critchfield

“ In a few private military schools situated in the country some target practice is conducted, but the difficulty of carrying on anything of the kind in the public schools has rendered it impracticable. ”

“ But the finances of the league will not permit it to continue to incur the expense of paying the salary of such an instructor. It is believed that if a young and active regular officer could be detailed to act in this capacity he would be of the greatest service, and could, besides helping the shooting, give the boys some idea of military movements and discipline, which would be of great value. In fact an officer in this position would accomplish greater results for the country than is obtained by any of those who are detailed as instructors in many of the small colleges. ”

“ The shooter cocks the rifle and aims at a target a foot high on the other side of the room, and when his aim is satisfactory, pulls the trigger. When this is done an electrical connection is made which shoots forward the rod which is on the standard, so that its point punches a hole in a miniature target like a visiting card, which is placed in front of it, which hole is mathematically on the same relative place on the card target as would have been made in the target at which the shooter was aiming if he had a bullet in his rifle. ”

“ The league is now preparing a manual of instruction to be used in the different schools. In addition to containing instructions for the use of the subtarget gun machine it will give a general idea of what is necessary to know in order to shoot accurately.
Those who have had charge of the instruction of these boys are unanimous in the opinion that they acquire knowledge of rifle shooting in about one-quarter of the time that is found necessary in the case of grown men. ”

“ It is hardly necessary to state that the experience of our recent wars has pointed out that while there is no difficulty in case of war in getting all the volunteers that the country requires and they can be given a reasonable amount of drill in a few weeks, it takes a long time to teach them to shoot, and that unless they can shoot accurately they are of little value as soldiers. ”

“ The league succeeded in interesting a number of prominent gentlemen with the importance of teaching the youth of the country the use of the military rifle, so that they presented a sufficient number of these machines to enable the league to install one of them in each of ten of the high schools at a cost of $265 each. ”

“ The vast territory over which the city has spread, and its congested streets have made it impossible for the children (particularly in the poorer districts) , to get any physical exercise, and the physical condition of many of them has in consequence not only become below normal, but instead of spending their energies in play, as they do in the country, the boys are led to join "gangs" and to become criminals. ”

“ On June 1 and 2 the annual interscholastic competition for the Whitney trophy was held. Instead of having each team shoot in its own school it was decided to have them shoot together at the Seventy-first Regiment Armory as neutral ground, under the supervision of Captain Corwin as range officer. The following were the scores, the conditions being the same as above stated:
The two best scores were not as high as were made in 1905, largely owing to the strain of shooting in actual competition and among strange surroundings. ”

“ Consequently, however desirable it may be that the pupils attending these schools should be taught to shoot, such instruction can only be secured by the voluntary action of the school authorities and with their hearty cooperation. ”

“ The machine possesses the additional advantage that the instructor standing on one side of the shooter can see by the movements of the point of the rod on the miniature target exactly how the aim is being taken on the large target and is able to correct all errors in holding and pulling off as they are made, something which has hitherto been supposed to be impossible. ”

“ There is no danger of its hurting anybody. It can be used very rapidly, and there is no expense involved in its operation. The results obtained from its use are so valuable that several of the New York National Guard regiments consider the machine equal in value to their rifle galleries. ”

“ The high schools which are equipped with this subtarget gun machine have organized rifle clubs, and are holding interscholastic contests in the armories of the different regiments of the National Guard, shooting with .22-caliber ammunition, and are displaying great proficiency. ”

“ At the present time there are over 7,000 young men being instructed in these high schools in shooting with a military rifle, the gun used being the regular Krag army rifle as issued by the War Department. ”