438 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



iJ)V. It, 1893. 



Sigler cups at 30 targets eaeh. Tamblyn and Goodnough tied on 35 

 breaks each, Tamblyn winning on the shoot off. 



Georee Work and E^lgar Q, Murphy are matched to shoot 200 birds 

 each. SOydfj. rise, for $3,000 a side. The match will take place on the 

 grounds of the Westchester Club within two weeks. 



Several Altoona men will t^o to Wheeline:, West Virginia, on 

 Thanksgiving Day. The West Virginia State Association tournament 

 to be held on that day, promises to be a big affair. 



The Italian agent of the Schultze Powder Company has established 

 a branch depot at Vintraille, where all necessaries for the Monte Carlo 

 meeting may be obtained. 



The Spokane (Wash.) Kod and Gun Club will shoot live pigeons, 

 targets and turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. 



Don't fail to Kend us your entry for the 100 bird match, $100 entry, 

 to be shot on Dec. 15. We want a big list. 



Open sweep at 100 birds, $100 entry, Dec. 16. Watch for further 

 information. 



Milwaukee will be the Mecca, for trap-shooters on Nov. 23 to 26, in- 

 clusive. 



The East Kockaway Gun Club offers a gold medal to he shot for on 

 Nov. 24. 



c. H. Towns END. 



ger" department of the Altoona OazeLU, wherein lie has done 

 wonders in booming the sport: Edward Banks, correspondent 

 for the Harrisburg Telegram, a hustler in trap matters, a rattling 

 good shot at the trap or in the field, a genial companion aud very 

 popular all-around; the ever-welcome Frank Butler; J. Nelson 

 Alslp, who has been mentioned before, and several others whose 

 names I do not at this moment recall. 



At 10:.30 the whistle tooted, the Alsip and Bilderbaoh band 

 started "We'll Soon be Riding 'Round the Bend," and a moment 

 later we were started on our first trip to the summit of the world- 

 renowned Wopsononock Range of the AUeghany Mountains. 

 Before we had ridden a mile the mists began to gather, the 



Altoouiaus were in need of a good place for tiP work that in- 

 duced Billy to invest in the equipment of thesrgrounds, and he 

 has been ably supported by tbe local shots. TIP there was Wil- 

 liam Sands, "six foot and something over." whfH addition to his 

 truck work in the Pennsylvania shops is pa^io^a^sly fond of 

 trap and field work, and who can do both kind of s*iooting in a 

 winning style; J. E. England of Alleghany, wl> came over to see 

 the boys and enjoy his favorite sport; J. F. KiPtts of Altoona, a 

 rattling shot but who has an unfortunate penc^Bt for bringing 

 his thumb and lip in contact when he is shoot >it; William Tap- 

 pau. now of Altoona but who several years ag used to hold a 

 residence at Pine Brook, N. J., and shot on JoP Erh's Newark 



THE ALTOONA SHOOT. 



On Wednesday morning. Nov. 9. when the sun shone brlKhtly 

 over the oitv of Altoona, Pa., Billy Clark, manager of the Wop- 

 sononock Shooting Park, was happy. "Little Sure Shot" had 

 arrived in town that dav, bringing alone her shooting parapher- 

 nalia. Her manager, Frank Butler, had plenty of ammunition 

 loaded, and was ready to cast the plaster balls for Miss Oakley's 

 exhibition work. Sevei-al hundred live birds were on hand and 

 all over the <own were big posters announcing that on Tbursdav 

 and Friday Miss Oakley and Billy Clark would shoot live bird 

 matches and that "Little Sure Shot" would each day give one of 

 her unrivaled exhibitions with tl^e shotgun, rifle and pistol. In- 

 vitations and proprammes had been sent all over the country, 

 and from at least 50 shooters Mr. Clark had received promises to 

 attend. Everybody in the town was waiting anxiously for the 

 coming of Thursday in order that they might see the work of tbe 

 queen of markswomen and the .Juniata & Wopsononock Railroad 

 was anticipating two big davs of travel. 



On this sam« dav at 2 P. M. we, meaning the Forest and 

 StrbAm, left New York, and while crossing the ferry remarked 

 that the clour^s and wind portended a storm. At 2:15 the "Colum- 

 bian Express" carried us out of the Pennsylvania Depot, and as 

 we passed bevond the sheds down came a light fall of snow. No 

 one paid much attention to this for a time, but soon it became 

 apparent *'hat it was not merely a squall, but the setting in of a 

 genuine snow-storm. The mercury began to fall, and the farther 

 we advanced the faster came the snow. Reaching Philadelphia, 

 the ground had taken on a white covering that warned us that 

 winter was at hand. After pulling out of the Quaker City and 

 getting out on to tlie main line the storm increased in violence, 

 and no one doubted but they would run into a blizzard before 

 reaching very far west. 



At Harrisburg we were told that the snow was five inches deep 

 on the level, and west of that place it was still deeper and still 

 falling. Altoona was reached .iust before midnight, and here 

 everything bore the stamp of midwinter. We were told that the 

 snow was six inches deep on the level, and soon found that the 

 prospects were bad for a shoot on the next day. 



As soon as we stepupd from the train we were cheered by a 

 Warm welcome from "U^cle Jake" Pentz, who had arrived on an 

 earlier train: our old Wilmington host, Charle=i "Bilderbach," 

 Billy Clark and G. G. Zeth, both friends of Altoona. It did not 

 take us many minutes to get rid of our traps at the Logan House 

 and accept an invitaUon to visit Biliv Clark's Red Lion Hotel, 

 which we found much more comfortable than the car in w-hich we 

 had been shivering for nearly ten hours. Here we also had the 

 pleasure of meeting Messrs Hume and Kelly, local newspaper 

 men; "Buckshot" McDonald, Harry Dunham and several local 

 shooters. After a few "warmers" had been put away the party 

 difpovaerl for the night, all bearing long faces at the prospects for 

 the morrow. 



About 7 o'clock the following morning we reluctantly left our 

 warm couch and at once took a look through the window, con- 

 vincing ourselves by a brief glance that the day would be a most 

 disngreeable one. It was then warmer than at midnight, and 

 instead of snow a drizzing rain was falling, which was rapidly 

 converting the snow into slnsh. After breakfast it began to get 

 colder, and from 9 until 10 A. M. it gave a faint promise of clear- 

 ing. 



Strolling through tbe corridor of the hotel before breakfast we 

 had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the great and only J. 

 Nelson Alsip, of Clayton, Del., he who so ably i-pfereed the tar- 

 get everts durina' the rec«ntfgreat shoot of the Wilmington (Del.) 

 Rod and Gun Club. "Nelse." as everybody familiarly calls him, 

 is a great chum of Billy Clark's, and was until a few years ago a 

 practicing lawyer in Altoona. where everybody is his friend. R<^ 

 IS now emnloyed in the sunerintendent's office of the "Penusy" at 

 Clavton. Del., and his trip to Altoona was his vacation outing. 

 Genial, ever good-natured, a good singer and fine elocutionist, he 

 IS one who will never let a party grow sleepy for the want of 

 divertiaement. As a shot he has few equals in the field, but does 

 little or no trap work. 



Shortly after breakfast in came jolly Frank Butler, the well 

 known manager for Annie Oakley, who was in the doldrums at 

 the very dull prospect for the shoot. He had been very liberal in 

 the way of advertising and had even started an advertising 

 wagon about with circulars and electric-lighted signs on the pre- 

 vious night. Mr. Butlpr said, however, that there was no use 

 crying over spilled milk, and he would have to make the best of a 

 bad bargain, hoping that at some future time the weather bureau 

 would be more obliging. "Little Sure Shot," he said, was taking 

 her usual phMosophical view of the situation, having had many 

 similar exreriences during her career. He raid, however', that lie 



MISS ANNIE OAKLEY (Little Sure Shot). 



clouds became ones more heavy and dark and in a few minutes 

 It began to drizzle. Tne temperature, too, got lower and ih ■ rain 

 froze as it fell. But the party in the car was a jolly one, undis- 

 turbed by changes of weather, and all the way up the mountains 

 they rattled off songs and jokes. 



The views obtainable along the Juniata & Wopsononock Rail- 

 road are such as can only be justly described by the true artist, 

 and we regret exceedingly that our pen is not trained to do tbem 

 liustice. From the start the train begins to climb a heavy grade; 

 then it runs along for a distance through a magnificent vail «y 

 with comfortable looking farm houses an^ fertile farms: then 

 down into a deep ravine and up again on the mountain side 

 Every once in a while a look out the back window will show us 

 the places we passed a few minutes before. Climbing a little 

 higher we see a panorama of mountaiusridge and valley with 

 Mountain City in the distance. Then we come to "Horse Shoe 

 Band, which some claim presents more beautiful views than 

 •does the much-lauded "Horse Shoe" betwepn Altoona and Pitts- 

 burg. Up again we go until we round "Butcher Knife Point " 

 where one would suppose tbe track was a mile higher than a 

 point passed a few momeuts ago. You can, however, get off the 

 train and walk a few steps over the ridge to the right of the road 

 and throw a stone down on the track over which you have jnst 

 passed. Away up on a projecting point we see a little frame 

 building, on top of which is an American flag, -and this, we are 

 told, IS Point Lookout, the highest point on "'Wopsy," and from 



"T il — Z'' , . uuuu. vvo uuiuo lo a Place on ine 



road where the track is on a jutting ledge with a deep ravine on 

 either side. Here the train stops, the engine switches off to a 

 side track, backs down and comes up to the other end of the train 

 when off we go up another grade, the track running off at a sharo 

 angle from the one we were firston. This change is necessitated bv 

 the heavy grade, but will hg obviated this spring by tbe erection 



WOPSONONOCK SHOOTING GROUNDS. 



would not think of allowing her to risk her health by going upon 

 the mount ain under the existing weather conditions. 



This was the outlook, and a gloomy one it was, but we had 

 ti-aveled a long while to get a look at the famous Wopsononock 

 Farfc and the more famous railroad leading thereto, and weather 

 or no weather we determined to get the said look. So at 10 

 o clock a half-dozen o£ us boarded one of the cars of the escel- 

 iently equipped electric line which nearly encircles the city and 

 were carried to the depot at Juniata, the station being opposite 

 the Juniata shops of the "Pennsy." At this hour the douds had 

 lightened up in spots and we tried, though it was hard work to 

 convince ourselves that we would have a clear day 



On this trio, our party comprised "Uncle Jake" Pentz, of 

 A/iootwio ana Fis/iHig; Charles Fehrenbach, the famous "Bilder- 

 bach who holds thB re.'^ponsible positio" of Dreside.nt of the 

 wideawake .Wilmington (Del.) Rod and Gun Club and who Is 

 developing into a very sti'ong shot at either targets or live birds- 

 George G. Zeth,. proprietor of the well-knowTi Zeth's Altoona 

 B»BlneBS OoUege.and who Uooidently edit© th«j "Trap and Trig- 



of a section of trestle road over one of > he ravines mentioned A 

 few minutes later we have reached the Wopsononock Station fo 

 the right of which is the shooting grounds^aXo the left ?s th^ 

 hotel. W;e are now at the highest summer resort in Pennsrl 

 vania, 1,500ft. above Altoona and a,650ft. above sea level 



Are we glad we are here? Well, yes. But oh. don't" the rni,i 

 out! The wind is blowing a gale from the northwest, and is hrine 

 ing a ong with.it a tine wet snow which cuts like a knife And uJ 

 here thp^ snow is from 6 to Sin. deep on the level, covered with a 

 crust which makes walking anything but a pleasant ta^k A t, ^ 

 yet when we have tramped through the crust^ and have entered 

 the shooting house we have no regrets for having bra vfid th a 

 elements, for inside the house we find, including ouf own party 

 maiUaUze! ^^^P^^'^^^^ ^''^'^"^ ^'^"^^^^ t^aS w expected to 



t Jn^^''-q'^^?'^y ?i^''^' ^§ °' the Red Lion Hotel, whose love of 

 trap and held sport has enieared him to sportsmsn all over the 



COUntrv. and whn in a >ior/1 nno -h^ar 1... . V^^t '-f^^ 



ground'' along with such veterans as Samuel Oast).'^ and others, 

 and who is now considered one of the beat field an(?l hrush shots 

 in Pennsylvania. "Doc" Christie was also there ful 1 of shoot and 

 fun, as was J. Manlove, one of Altoona's rising shots- ^^nd former] y 

 a well-known ball player. There were several othe^' local shots 

 whose names appear in the scores. 



The°e shooting grounds, which are controlled s.'olely by Mr. 

 Clark, are splendidly equipped for the sport. The H alf-tone cut 

 which a'^companies this article gives an excellen''t ifiea of the 

 arrangement of the house and traps. The main but Wine is TaX 

 16ft. with a 16ft. roof projecting out over the score- so that the 

 shooter is at all times under cover. The floor is 3""^. above the 

 ground and the house is provided with plenty of s 'eats, benches 

 and gun racks. At the further end of the building i*^ the store- 

 ruom, which on this occasion was provided with a tstove, which 

 proved a great attraction to the shooters. The t I'^ps. six in 

 number, are of the expert pattern, and the autoir>'atic pulling 

 attachment, designed by Mr. Clark, is as good as a^ny we have 

 seen. As .shown by the cut, there is a separate hu' t over each 

 trap. The foreground is clear with the exception o^ that to the 

 light-quarter, where the targets are thrown towa^i"*! * heavy 

 growth of wood, this giving rather a poor light for Z'-'^o. i target. 

 Ou this occasion only five traps were used, No. S waihg the idle 

 one. p 



It was after 11 o'clock when the party uniimberec*' their guns 

 and began to shoot, no one having any idea of allowing the 

 cutting cold to interfere with the sport. Three even ''s were shot 

 before dinner and here are the scores. Ko3. 1 ani"l ^ ''Vere at 10 

 targets each, SI entry, and No. 3 at 15 targets, SL.'iO ' entry, there 

 being three moneys in each even'-. The expert r><''f*'fee from 

 Delaware, J. N. Alsip, gave the decisions, wnile G. G«- ^eth man- 

 ipulated the blackboard: i 

 No. 1. No. 3. N 



Fehrenbach 1101001010— 5 1101010101— 6 noiiaOOlOllOlOO- 9 



Quirk 0101111100 - 6 0100011110 - 5 looiinlH '111111—13 



Uoc oiiiimii— 9 iiuooonio- 5 iniiiionoooioi— lo 



England 1111011110-8 1111111111-10 01110x1111101110-11 



Clark 1001111011-7 1111111111-10 umil'UMOlOOl— 13 



Edwards 1010011101— 6 0011301001— 5 0101 IC 1011 100- 8 



IJ^illetts UllOlOni— 8 1111111011— 9 



Manlove 0011101001— 5 IllllOOOlO- 6 . 



home may think the above scores low, but those w M were on 

 hand and who realized the delights of a freezing col('*^i Sale, con- 

 sidered the shooters in great form. At the above fita^'Ke a recess 

 was declared for dinner, which was served in good sh;^a'pe by mine 

 host Williams and his wite at the Wopsononock H^'otel. After 

 dinner the Delaware "band" regaled the party with*' stich choice 

 selection as "Old Man Simon," "Long Time A"-o ' etc, all of 

 which were received in a tolerant spirit, the hearers V^'eing in just 

 the humor to endure any kind of an infliction. ' 

 . All this time the weather had been growing worse ( '^hd more of 

 it) and Frank Butler had deeid«d not to bring Miss'*^ Oakley out 

 and risk her health, a conclusion approved by all. When the 

 first afternoon train reached the ground, bringing ali ""tS about a 

 dozen people who had hr.ivod the elements for the sak t-e of seeing 

 the live bird shooting. Shooters cannot long he coi'^'ihue'l in a 

 bote 1 parlor when a trap is within reach, so they'*' soon tore 

 themselves away from the sweet music (?) of the "itioand" and 

 meandered back to the shooting house. 



. Ihe first event was at 10 live birds, $3.50 entry, Amei**'ican Asso- 

 ciation rules, 38yds. rise. 3 moneys. ,Iacob Pentz w- 'as referee, 

 ihe score line was about 2ydB, in advance of the targ«i' 't traps and 

 was rnarked by a row of American flags. The light 'Twas simply 

 a,nomTnable, there being a mist hanging over the outflf*^ -Id o*" such 

 aensity that at times the boundary flags could not be'^' seen. The 

 birds acted in a peculiar manner, a number of those t '^"PP*:'<1 ^lu'' ■ 

 ing the earlier stages of the game refusing to fly, be'^-ing chilled 

 through by exposure to the piercing air. Later, how^ ever, after 

 being kept alongside the hot stove they were a fair h'Jjt. some iu 

 tact being extra good. The scores of this event are he-'S'S given: 



Doc 00o1o20112-5 Killetts ifvO32311100-r 



gl;"-lr- ••• 1020212331-8 England 016112101220-7 



Bilderbach OOa^oOlOll— 5 Edwards 9;eT010l20020— 5 



Manlove 0002011212-6 Quirk .". r iU'00123fe-6 



Ben-- 1-210111111-9 Tappau ' ' (,.•051001121)- 4 



.Killeits auil EuMliirid who tied on 7 each for third ^ money de- 

 cithd 10 hiiooL oft at :.'5 targets each on the following ds, 



llie next event was a match at 5 birds each for $3.5i * side, be- 

 tween Clark and Sands, each man shooting at oOyds. I'a The score 

 was a tie so they shot-off. miss-and-out, the result i poeing here 

 given: ^ 



Tie. Tie. 



° 1 1-»-0 3 Sands . ,1 0 «'0.1-3-o / 



years. Before the party started for home Sands and Ta^. PP«J^ shot 

 n o bird match for $10, ths score being- ler 

 TajJpan , 2121W3 Sands ^:io.. .o2310-3 



country, and who is a hard one to hear at ei™Vanch of Ih^ ^?r'i?''°i-- -. V 2121W3 Sands ^:io.. .o2310-3 



work. It was this love of the sport and the knowlod-e that Jbe *h«^',%+-°^'"^^*'f "^P?"*^ "^^^^ ^'^'^ is safe to say cl at despite 



c js.uowiea„e that the the cutting slest and general discomfort oxperi^noed • » on« haci 



