,libraries47       ,a ,,report ,,on     
,,the ,,feasibility ,,and ,,advisability
 ,,of ,,some ,,policy ,,to ,,inaugurate 
,a ,,system ,,of ,,rifle ,,practice     
,,throughout ,,the ,,public ,,schools   
,,of ,,the ,,country    ,by  ,gen4      
,,george ,w4 ,,wingate ,of ,new ,york   
and  ,gen4 ,,ammon ,b4 ,,critchfield ,of
 ,ohio    ,,published ,,in ,,accordance 
,,with ,a ,,resolution ,,of ,,the       
,,national ,,board ,,for ,,the          
,,promotion ,,of ,,rifle ,,practice     
,,washington ,,government ,,printing    
,,office #aijg     ,,notice   ,at the   
annual meeting of the ,national ,board  
for the ,promotion of ,rifle ,practice1 
held at ,washington1 ,d4,c41 ,january   
#bd1 #aijf1 the question of building up 
an interest in target practice          
throughout the schools of the country   
was discussed1 and a special committee  
consisting of ,gen4 ,l4 ,m4             
,oppenheimer1 of ,texas2 ,gen4 ,george  
,w4 ,wingate1 of ,new ,york1 and ,gen4  
,ammon ,b4 ,critchfield1 of ,ohio1 was  

appointed to inquire into and report at 
the next annual meeting of the board    
upon--  ,the feasibility and            
advisability of some policy to          
inaugurate a system of rifle practice   
throughout the public schools of the    
country4  ,at the last meeting of the   
board held at ,washington1 ,d4,c41      
,january #be1 #aijg1 the report of this 
committee was submitted by ,generals    
,wingate and ,critchfield1 and is       
published in accordance with the        
following resolution of the board1 which
 was unanimously adopted3               
,resolved1 ,that the report of the      
committee on rifle practice in          
public schools be approved and the      
thanks of the board be tendered         
,generals ,wingate and ,critchfield for 
their valuable paper2 that the          
,national ,board for the ,promotion of  
,rifle ,practice recommend to the       
various educational authorities the     
desirability of interesting     school  
boys over #ac years of age in the       

subject of rifle practice4     ,it was  
,further resolved1 ,that this report be 
printed separately and     given the    
greatest publicity1 the matter of       
distribution and number     of copies   
required therefor to be submitted to the
 committee on     publicity1 with power4
  ,it is deeply regretted that before   
the completion of the report ,general   
,oppenheimer died1 and his great help in
 assisting to promote interest in rifle 
practice is lost to the country4  ,this 
report is earnestly commended to the    
superintendents of public instruction   
throughout the country4                 
,,robert ,,shaw ,,oliver1               
,assistant ,secretary of ,war1          
,president ,national ,board for the     
,promotion of ,rifle ,practice4         
,,grote ,,hutcheson1                    
,captain1 ,general ,staff1       ,member
 and ,recorder1 ,national ,board for the
 ,promotion of ,rifle                   
,practice4     ,report on the           
,feasibility and ,advisability of some  

,policy to ,inaugurate a ,system of     
,rifle ,practice throughout the ,public 
,schools of the ,country4               
,,new ,,york1 ,january #ba1 #aijg4      
,,national ,,board ,,for ,,the          
,,promotion ,,of ,,rifle ,,practice4    
,,gentlemen3 ,in pursuance of the       
resolution of the board requesting the  
late ,gen4 ,l4 ,m4 ,oppenheimer1 of     
,texas 7who died since the last meeting 
of the board1 and whose death is        
deplored71 and the undersigned to report
 on the feasibility and advisability of 
some policy to inaugurate a system of   
rifle practice throughout the public    
schools of the country1 we respectfully 
report3  ,for many years attempts have  
been made to inaugurate a system of     
military instruction in the public      
schools of the country4 ,as a rule1     
these have not proved successful4 ,in a 
few private military schools situated in
 the country some target practice is    
conducted1 but the difficulty of        
carrying on anything of the kind in the 

public schools has rendered it          
impracticable4  ,the matter1 however1   
has recently been introduced in the     
public schools of the city of ,new      
,york1 and the success which has been   
attained there has demonstrated the     
feasibility and advisability of         
introducing rifle practice in the public
 schools among the boys over the age of 
#ac years4  ,the schools of the         
different ,states are organized upon    
many different methods4 ,the educational
 authorities not unnaturally are jealous
 of their prerogatives4 ,no outside     
organization could well introduce a new 
subject of instruction in the schools   
without seriously interfering with the  
educational routine4 ,consequently1     
however desirable it may be that the    
pupils attending these schools should be
 taught to shoot1 such instruction can  
only be secured by the voluntary action 
of the school authorities and with their
 hearty cooperation4  ,the result which 
has been attained by the ,public        

,schools ,athletic ,league in           
introducing shooting in the high schools
 of the city of ,new ,york has been so  
thoroughly tested that the committee are
 of the opinion that that system should 
be recommended for adoption4  ,few      
appreciate the magnitude of the ,new    
,york public schools4 ,there are #c     
training schools1 #ai high schools1 #dij
 elementary schools1 #b truant schools1 
and #a nautical school2 total1 #eae1    
with #ad1ejj teachers4  ,these schools  
are scattered all over the #cbf square  
miles which the city covers4  ,the      
registered number of pupils enrolled in 
these schools is about #fjj1jjj1 which  
is more than the entire population of   
,st4 ,louis1 the fourth city in the     
,union4 ,half of them are boys4 ,the    
number attending the high schools is    
about #bj1jjj1 a little more than half  
of whom are boys4 ,the ,college of the  
,city of ,new ,york has about #d1jjj    
male students4  ,the vast territory over
 which the city has spread1 and its     

congested streets have made it          
impossible for the children             
7particularly in the poorer districts71 
to get any physical exercise1 and the   
physical condition of many of them has  
in consequence not only become below    
normal1 but instead of spending their   
energies in play1 as they do in the     
country1 the boys are led to join gangs 
and to become criminals4  ,this         
lamentable condition of affairs led to  
the formation of the ,public ,schools   
,athletic ,league for the purpose of    
promoting wholesome athletic exercises  
among the children attending the public 
schools of that city4 ,the league is    
made up from officers and directors of  
the board of education1 superintendents1
 principals and teachers1 prominent     
athletes1 gentlemen interested in       
philanthropic work1 and leading business
 men4 ,it was organized ,december #d1   
#aijc1 and its progress has been so     
great that during the year #aijf there  
were over #aej1jjj entries in the games 

which it carried on1 which numbered over
 #fjj4  ,in the early part of #aije it  
decided to institute rifle practice     
among the boys of the high schools of   
the city1 which schools are attended by 
boys from fourteen to nineteen years of 
age1 by installing in as many of the    
high schools as possible a subtarget gun
 machine4 ,this is an ingenious         
apparatus1 by which an ordinary ,krag   
army rifle is attached to a rod upon an 
upright standard1 placed to the right of
 the firer1 in such a way that while the
 gun is movable1 the rod follows the    
movements of the barrel of the rifle1   
and is at all times parallel with the   
line of the sights4  ,the shooter cocks 
the rifle and aims at a target a foot   
high on the other side of the room1 and 
when his aim is satisfactory1 pulls the 
trigger4 ,when this is done an          
electrical connection is made which     
shoots forward the rod which is on the  
standard1 so that its point punches a   
hole in a miniature target like a       

visiting card1 which is placed in front 
of it1 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 rifle4 ,it    
consequently gives the same experience  
in holding and pull off as is had in    
actual shooting4  ,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 made1 something which has     
hitherto been supposed to be impossible4
 ,the apparatus makes no noise4 ,there  
is no danger of its hurting anybody4 ,it
 can be used very rapidly1 and there is 
no expense involved in its operation4   
,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 galleries4  ,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 rifle1 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 #bfe each4 ,the    
schools which are thus equipped are as  
follows3  ,mr4 ,s4 ,r4 ,guggenheim1 the 
treasurer of the league1 gave one to    
each of the following schools3  ,the    
,high ,school of ,commerce and the ,de  
,witt ,clinton ,high ,school            
7,manhattan71 ,morris ,high ,school     
7,bronx71 ,boys' ,high ,school          
7,brooklyn71 ,curtis ,high ,school      
7,staten ,island71 and the ,bryant ,high
 ,school 7,queens74  ,col4 ,leslie ,c4  
,bruce presented one to the ,stuyvesant 
,high ,school 7,manhattan71 ,mr4 ,warren
 ,cruikshank gave one to ,erasmus ,hall 
,high ,school 7,flatbush71 ,col4 ,robert

 ,b4 ,woodward gave one to the ,manual  
,training ,high ,school 7,brooklyn7 in  
memory of his brother1 the late ,maj4   
,gen4 ,john ,b4 ,woodward1 and ,hon4    
,bird ,s4 ,coler and ,mr4 ,horace ,j4   
,morse united in giving one to the      
,commercial ,high ,school 7,brooklyn74  
,another1 presented by ,mr4 ,j4 ,a4     
,haskell1 will shortly be installed in  
one of the other high schools4 ,the     
,city ,college expects to have one      
during the spring4  ,in pursuance of the
 policy adopted by the league in regard 
to its athletic games1 it caused a      
marksmanship committee to be appointed  
in #aije1 consisting of the coaches of  
the different schools having gun        
machines1 to organize and control the   
shooting under regulations adopted by   
the high schools games committee and    
approved by the central games committee 
of the league4  ,this committee has been
 found of great value in carrying on the
 work and creating interest in shooting 
in their different schools4  ,in #aije  

,mr4 ,henry ,payne ,whitney presented to
 the league a beautiful bronze          
bas-relief1 being a reproduction of     
,darnley's ,battle of ,lexington1 for   
annual competition by teams from the    
different schools having these machines1
 the winning school to keep it for the  
year4  ,in #aije four gun machines were 
in use1 namely1 by the ,de ,witt        
,clinton ,high ,school1 ,high ,school of
 ,commerce1 ,morris ,high ,school1 and  
the ,boys' ,high ,school4  ,in ,june1   
#aije1 a competition was held between   
these schools1 each school shooting in  
its own building under the inspection of
 the marksmanship committee4  ,the      
following were the scores for teams of  
#h1 #aj shots standing1 highest possible
 score #djj3      ,de ,witt ,clinton    
,high ,school    #cgg     ,high ,school 
of ,commerce        #cfc     ,morris    
,high ,school             #cde          
,boys' ,high ,school              #cdd  
,the winning team averaged #dg-c_/h out 
of #ej4  ,two boys made perfect scores4 

,each member of the winning team was    
given a bronze badge modeled from the   
,whitney trophy4  ,the result of this   
match greatly stimulated interest in the
 shooting4 ,it also attracted public    
attention4  ,during the fall of #aije1  
and the spring of #aijf1 the league was 
able to equip the remainder of the other
 six high schools with the machine4  ,in
 #aijf it employed ,capt4 ,g4 ,w4       
,corwin1 inspector of rifle practice in 
the ,seventy-first ,regiment1 ,new ,york
 ,national ,guard1 and one of the best  
shots in the ,national ,guard1 as a     
general instructor1 who served until    
after the ,creedmoor competition4  ,he  
selected in each school a teacher who   
was interested in the subject 7usually  
the athletic instructor7 as             
superintendent of shooting1 and in each 
class four boys as sergeant-instructors4
 ,the superintendent and these boys were
 carefully instructed by ,captain       
,corwin in the theory and practice of   
shooting1 so as to make them competent  

instructors4  ,the system adopted varied
 in the different schools4 ,most of them
 preferred to use school hours for the  
purpose4 ,in these schools1 usually when
 each class was sent to the gymnasium   
for physical exercise1 squads of boys in
 rotation were detached to practice     
their firing under the immediate        
direction of a sergeant-instructor1 and 
the general direction of the            
superintendent of shooting1 the whole   
being carefully supervised by ,captain  
,corwin4  ,some schools preferred to    
have their shooting after school hours1 
in which case1 however1 it was carried  
on under the same general principle4    
,captain ,corwin was of the opinion that
 the former method was the most         
satisfactory1 although the ,morris ,high
 ,school1 which won the ,whitney trophy 
in #aijf1 adopted the latter method4    
,the league established a marksmanship  
badge1 to be awarded1 as in the         
,national ,guard and in the ,army1 to   
each boy who annually showed            

satisfactory proficiency in shooting4   
,the qualifying score first adopted for 
this badge was #dj out of a possible #ej
 off-hand4 ,it was found almost         
immediately that the boys were shooting 
so well that it was necessary to raise  
the standard1 which was therefore       
increased to #db and later to #dc4  ,the
 following is a list of the number of   
boys who qualified as marksmen in their 
respective schools during the year      
#aijf3      ,boys' ,high ,school        
#de     ,bryant ,high ,school           
#ah     ,commercial ,high ,school       
#f     ,curtis ,high ,school            
#bd     ,de ,witt ,clinton ,high ,school
    #bc     ,morris ,high ,school       
#af     ,erasmus ,hall ,high ,school    
#ae     ,manual ,training ,high ,school 
#bc     ,high ,school of ,commerce      
#ai     ,stuyvesant ,high ,school       
#h      ,total                          
#aig  ,the qualifying score has now been
 raised to #dd4  ,the ,brooklyn ,eagle  
assumed the expense of manufacturing and

 presenting these badges1 which         
consisted of a ,maltese cross having    
crossed rifles1 the seal of the league1 
which is the ,winged ,victory1 in the   
center1 the whole being suspended from a
 bar with the word ,marksman on it1 and 
the date4  ,during the spring of #aijf a
 large number of interscholastic        
competitions were held4 ,these were     
found valuable1 not only in broadening  
the boys' ideas in respect to shooting1 
but in helping their nerve in           
competitions4  ,on ,june #a and #b the  
annual interscholastic competition for  
the ,whitney trophy was held4 ,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 ground1    
under the supervision of ,captain       
,corwin as range officer4 ,the following
 were the scores1 the conditions being  
the same as above stated3      ,morris  
,high ,school4 ,instructor ,e4 ,m4      
,williams             #cei     ,curtis  

,high ,school4 ,instructor ,o4 ,m4      
,curtis               #cef     ,high    
,school of ,commerce4 ,instructor       
,charles ,jamison       #cee     ,de    
,witt ,clinton4 ,instructor ,emanuel    
,haug                  #ced     ,manual 
,training ,high ,school4 ,instructor    
,ernest ,g4 ,muller  #cej     ,bryant   
,high ,school4 ,instructor ,george ,w4  
,norton           #cdi     ,erasmus     
,hall ,high ,school4 ,instructor ,j4 ,m4
 ,tilden         #cdh     ,stuyvesant   
,high ,school4 ,instructor ,m4 ,f4      
,goodrich         #cdh     ,boys' ,high 
,school4 ,instructor ,w4 ,h4 ,andrews   
#cdj  ,the two best scores were not as  
high as were made in #aije1 largely     
owing to the strain of shooting in      
actual competition and among strange    
surroundings4 ,but the average was      
better and the scores were closer4  ,the
 ,savage ,arms ,company presented a     
rifle to each of the six schools whose  
team made the highest score in this     
match4  ,for the purpose of impressing  

upon the boys and the public that those 
who could make a good score on the      
subtarget gun machine could shoot       
accurately in the field1 the league     
arranged for a match between teams of   
five from all high schools and colleges1
 to be held at ,creedmoor1 ,july #bf1   
#aijf1 to be shot #ajj yards standing2  
#djj yards lying1 five shots at each    
distance4 ,it also arranged for two     
days' previous practice by the teams and
 also by all other boys who had won its 
marksman's badge1 and paid the          
transportation and ammunition for the   
participants4 ,it provided ,captain     
,corwin as instructor1 who was assisted 
by a number of volunteers from the      
,national ,guard4 ,about #aej boys in   
all availed themselves of this          
opportunity4 ,none of the boys had ever 
previously fired a cartridge4 ,some of  
them were consequently a little nervous1
 in addition to being embarrassed in    
shooting in the presence of so many     
military men4 ,after a few shots1       

however1 they got over their            
nervousness4  ,in the first practice the
 average score was about #fj out of     
#ajj4 ,the second score averaged #hj4   
,mr4 ,j4 ,a4 ,haskell1 president of the 
,du ,pont ,powder ,company1 and a member
 of the national board1 induced that    
company to present for annual           
competition in the match1 a handsome    
bronze trophy4  ,mr4 ,simon ,uhlmann    
presented a bronze figure of a rifleman1
 as second annual prize4  ,the following
 is the score of the competitors in this
 match2 highest possible score #bej3    
,de ,witt ,clinton ,high ,school        
7,manhattan7        #bbj     ,boys'     
,high ,school 7,brooklyn7               
#bae     ,st4 ,john's ,military ,school 
7,manlius1 ,n4,y47     #baa             
,commercial ,high ,school 7,brooklyn7   
#bja     ,curtis ,high ,school 7,staten 
,island7             #bja     ,st4      
,john's ,second ,team                   
#ahc     ,manual ,training ,high ,school
 7,brooklyn7         #aha               

,stuyvesant ,high ,school 7,manhattan7  
#agd  ,the winning team averaged #dd out
 of a possible #ej1 although the day was
 a difficult one for shooting4  ,the    
,school of ,applied ,science of         
,columbia ,university asked to be       
allowed to enter a team in this match1  
and offered to allow the high school    
boys a handicap of #be points4 ,this was
 objected to on the ground that they    
were grown men1 who had opportunities   
for practice which were out of the reach
 of the boys1 and who were not in the   
same class4 ,they were1 however1 allowed
 to shoot under protest for the purpose 
of seeing how their scores would compare
 with those of the boys4  ,the score    
which they made was #bah1 which is less 
than that of the ,de ,witt ,clinton     
team1 which could have beaten them      
without any handicap4  ,this shooting   
shows the value of the practice with the
 subtarget machine1 as the teams from   
both ,columbia ,university and ,st4     
,john's ,military ,school had been      

practiced in actual rifle shooting1 and 
yet were inferior in marksmanship to the
 high-school boys1 who had only used the
 machine4  ,a match was put on the      
programme of the ,new ,jersey ,rifle    
,association1 ,september1 #aijf1 at ,sea
 ,girt1 in which a number of the boys   
entered4 ,the pressure upon the target  
accommodation in consequence of the     
national matches was1 however1 so great 
that it could not be held at the date   
appointed1 and the boys could not       
remain4  ,the high schools which are    
equipped with this subtarget gun machine
 have organized rifle clubs1 and are    
holding interscholastic contests in the 
armories of the different regiments of  
the ,national ,guard1 shooting with     
4#bb-;caliber ammunition1 and are       
displaying great proficiency4  ,the     
movement has the hearty support of      
,president ,roosevelt1 who has accepted 
the office of honorary vice-president of
 the league1 and also has announced his 
intention of writing to the boy who     

attains the greatest skill in the rifle 
matches during the year a personal      
letter of congratulation and            
commendation4  ,at the present time     
there are over #g1jjj young men being   
instructed in these high schools in     
shooting with a military rifle1 the gun 
used being the regular ,krag army rifle 
as issued by the ,war ,department4      
,great interest in the matter has been  
taken by both teachers and boys4 ,many  
of these have now become so proficient1 
that the services of a paid instructor  
have been dispensed with4 ,it would1 of 
course1 be much better if a regular     
officer could be procured for such a    
purpose4 ,but the finances of the league
 will not permit it to continue to incur
 the expense of paying the salary of    
such an instructor4 ,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    
service1 and could1 besides helping the 
shooting1 give the boys some idea of    

military movements and discipline1 which
 would be of great value4 ,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 colleges4 ,the supply of  
regular officers is1 however1           
insufficient for the needs of the ,army1
 and it has so far been impossible to   
have one detailed for this purpose4     
,the league is now preparing a manual of
 instruction to be used in the different
 schools4 ,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 accurately4      
,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 men4  ,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     
weeks1 it takes a long time to teach    
them to shoot1 and that unless they can 
shoot accurately they are of little     
value as soldiers4 ,if1 however1 the    
young men who are graduating from our   
high schools in the different ,states   
should be skilled riflemen the country  
can rest content with a small standing  
army1 knowing that in case of war it can
 put into the field at short notice a   
force of volunteers whose skill in rifle
 shooting will enable them to be fully  
the equal of any army which may be      
brought against them4  ,the system is1  
therefore1 a great factor for national  
peace4  ,the committee would therefore  
recommend3  #a4 ,that the largest       
possible publicity should be given to   
the methods that have been found to be  

so successful in the ,new ,york high    
schools4  #b4 ,that the educational     
officials of the different ,states      
should be urged to introduce instruction
 in rifle shooting in their schools     
among the boys of #ac years of age and  
upward1 conforming to the ,new ,york    
methods as far as their situation will  
permit4  #c4 ,that this would be helped 
by the organization of a public schools 
athletic league in each educational     
center4                                 
,,geo4 ,w4 ,,wingate1                   
,a4 ,b4 ,,critchfield1                  
,committee4