Dead-Eye Henry

When Henry Morgenthau became Secretary of the Treasury he had many things to learn about finance. To his surprise he also discovered that among his employes were about 3,000 men who carried pistols--most of whom were sorry pistol shots. So in 1935 Mr. Morgenthau instituted year-round pistol practice, taught by Coast Guard cracks, for all armed agents of his Customs Bureau, Alcohol Tax Unit, Bureau of Narcotics, White House Police, Bureau of the Mint, Secret Service, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Uniformed Force of the Secret Service, Public Health Service. He put up a handsome silver Morgenthau Trophy and several other prizes for annual competition.

Last week, under a blazing sun on the range of the U. S. Park Police at Abingdon, Va., Chief Gunner Charles Hubbard, U. S. C. G., bellowed "ready to the right, ready to the left, ready behind the line, FIRE!" As a line of targets swung into position, a line of Treasury pistols cracked, and better than nine out of ten of their shots pierced the 3 1/4-in. bull's-eyes. Best individual shot among the Treasury's men was an affable, red-faced Scotsman, Lee E. Echols, inspector at the New York Customs Bureau. Last week he let smugglers know how dangerous life can be by shooting 299 out of a possible 300 to defend his individual championship. He also shot a 296 and two perfect 300s, led his five-man Bureau of Customs team to win the Morgenthau Trophy for the third year. Most of the shooting was done with .38-calibre revolvers with 4-in. barrels, slow and quick fire at 15 and 25 yards. In the round permitting .45-calibre guns with barrels up to 10 in., Inspector Echols was tied at 300 by his teammate, Customs Inspector Erne Lee Ballinger of El Paso, Texas.

Second to the Bureau of Customs team was the White House Police team, whose towering Officer Roland G. Ford had second-highest individual score for all events, 1,186 out of a possible 1,200. The Treasury's six best shots will practice in Washington until next fortnight, when they go to the national championships at Camp Perry, Ohio.

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