SIR, — The suggestion made by Captain Leake in the Spectator of
August 19th should meet with the cordial approval of every officer commanding a school corps, and his remarks concern- ing the Ashburton Competition have much justification. In many schools it means that some ten or a dozen boys devote all their spare time to match praotice, and the rest of the corps gets little or no musketry training at all. A great deal of money is spent on private rifles and all the devices known to the "pot-hunter," and the school that enters the lists armed only with the ordinary Service rifle issued by the authorities is decidedly handicapped. What we should seek to produce is a high school average, not necessarily the best eight marksmen. If, in default of an official return, Captain Leake, or any other officer, feels inclined to collect results privately and publish them, I should be delighted to assist him in every way possible. Perhaps the Ashburton Com- mittee would undertake the task. I would suggest that the table should show the percentage of number firing course to number in corps or in school.—I am, Sir, &c., Victoria College,Versey. R. RICHMOND RAYMER.
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