Nov. 11, 1898.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



419 



All ties divided unless otherwise reported. 

 FIXTURES. 



If you want your shoot to be announced here 

 send In notice like the following: 



Not. 8-10.— Highland Gun Club tournament, Dee Moines, Iowa. 

 1894. 



April 4-6.— Interstate Manufacturers' and Dealers' Association's 

 Grand American Handicap at Dexter Park, Long Island. 



May 28-34.— KnoxviUe (Tenn.) Gun Club toiu-nament, 81,000 added 

 money. 



June 19-21.— Obamberlain Cartridge and Target Company's first 

 annual tournament, at Cleveland, Ohio. 81,000 added money. 



June fthird week).— Atlantic City Rod and Gun Club, three days' 

 tournament. Address E. C. Griscom, Sec'y, Atlantic City, N. J. 



DRIVERS AND TWISTERS. 



Every sportsman in America knows personally or has heard of 

 Eene T. Clayton, the handsome blondine who presides over the desti- 

 nies of the United States Hotel, at Tamaq.ua, Pa., that is to say, his 

 name is on the signboard and he "presides" when he does not happen 

 to t e away at a trap shoot. He is a rattUng good shot in the field or 

 at the trap and usually manages to "puU out whole" in either live 

 bird or target contests. He has a host of friend-s in trapdom and 

 adds to the number wherever he goes by his unfailing good nature 

 and genial manners. He ranks as an amateur among target shooters, 

 although at time.s his pace is pretty hot. Some months ago he con- 

 ceived the idea that if an amateur could be provided with the means 

 of "holding on" to quartering targets instead of shooting into space 

 in order to break Ins scores would be materially improved, so he put 

 his thinking cap on and finally evolved what he calls "Clayton's 

 switch sight," got it patented and put a big lot on the market to catch 

 the boys. The success of the sight exceeded even the expectations 

 of the inventor and to-day the demand is in excess of the supply, 

 although he will soon catch up with his orders. The invention is a 

 simple one, devoid of all complication and does not require the ser- 

 vices of an expert mechanic in adjusting. The parts comprise a flat, 

 thin plate of steel on the front end of which is a bead sight, and a 

 small screw wliich passes through a hole in the rear end of the plate 

 and is screwed into the hole intended for the usual fixed bead sight. 

 Along with each sight is a tap to thread this hole. When shooting 

 at quarterine targets the sight is moved either to the right or left, 

 the bead held "dead on" and "a break is usually the result," says the 

 inventor. It is useful, of course, only when shooting at known 

 angles. It is really one of the most valuable inventions of recent 

 date and deserving of the warm reception it has received from 

 amateur shooters. It is sold at the extremely low price of 

 which places it within the reach of all shooters. 



Josh BiUings' saying that, "It is better not to know so many things, 

 than to know so many things which ain't so," could be applied with 

 force to Walter B. Peet, author of an article entitled "Handling the 

 Shot Gun." which appeared in a recent issue of the Chicago Inter- 

 Ocean: The article contains many points which will be of benefit to 

 the beginner, but on the other bandit contains some glaring inaccu- 

 racies, For instance, in instructions for aiming, Mr. Peet says, refer- 

 ring to the front sight, "If you see too much of the sight you will 

 shoot over, if too Uttle your charge will go under." The effect of 

 seeing too much or too little of the front sight, as every shooter knows, 

 is the reverse of what Mr. Peet asserts. He also states that, "In the 

 Hurlingham i ules for trap-shooting, which is the code most used at 

 present, the contestant is required to hold his gun below the armpit 

 until the call of 'pull,' " which statement proves conclusively that he 

 does not study the trap columns of Forest akd Stkeam, Had he been 

 accustomed to doing so, he would have seen an autograph letter from 

 the secretary of the Hurlingham Club, stating that the rules had been 

 altered and that, as in the American Shooting Association rules, the 

 gun could be held in any position. This letter was published in our 

 columns over a year ago. Again he says, "A general rule, worth 

 remembering, is that the stock should not be * * * * so short as 

 to bend the right arm too much, and bring the right hand close to the 

 nose of the shooter," This part is all right but in connection with the 

 article is shown a picture (by Travis), over the caption, "Correct 

 position for holding gun," which shows a shooter with gun at 

 shoulder, the gun stock being so short as to bring the thumb near the 

 ear, and the hammers alongside the eye. 



It is amusing at times to hear the remarks passed in reference to 

 the relative skill of various shooters At the first EUiott-Class match 

 some of the spectators were heard to say that the two men could de- 

 feat any two men on earth in a live bird contest,— because they killed 

 239 out of 250 birds on that particular day. No allowance was made 

 for the weather conditions nor for the atmospheric effect upon the 

 birds, the opmion being based solely upon the cold figures. The day 

 has gone by when any man, pair, trio or quartette of men could sally 

 forth and "sweep the deck." Solar as individnal skill is concerned 

 we consider ourselves safe in asserting that there are In this country 

 at least 100 men, the skill of any one of whom does not vary one per 

 cent, from that of any other of the number. If all men were in proper 

 form, all things being equal, a 100-bird contest between these 100 men 

 •would be so close that the slightest element of luck might determine 

 the result in favor of any one. In New Jersey there are a dozen or 

 perhaps fifteen men who shoot so closely together in regard to scores 

 that it is not a "sure thing" to wager on any one. It is safe to say 

 that were these men, along with J. Frank Class, to engage in a 100- 

 bird contest, when conditions were equal and all were in form, it 

 would be impossible to pick the winner. And yet not a Jerseyman 

 except J. L. Brewer and John Riggott ever showed pluck enough to 

 meet Class at the trap in an up-aud-up contest. 



New Jersey gun clubs should lose no time in afQUating with the 

 State League in order that a new series of team contests may be in- 

 augurated. The contests of this league have tJius far been success- 

 ful and pleasing affairs, and the only regret of the projectors is that 

 suchasmaU number of clubs took part in the sport. There are at 

 least 35 target shooting clubs in the State, and it would seem as though 

 one half of the.se should be able to muster teams for these contests. 

 Clubs should consider the advantages of being able to make new and 

 renew old acquaintances at the monthly contests of the league and 

 promptly join. Mr. Wm. R. Hobart, 59 Halsey street, Newark, N. J , 

 js secretary of the league and is ready to receive propositions for 

 membership as well as to answer all queries. 



In another column will be found an article under the caption of 

 "Pigeon Shooting— Past and Present," which we commend to the 

 careful attention of all interested in trap sports. The author is the 

 well-known "Gaucho" CArthur \\'. Du Bray), whose facile pen has 

 made bis writings popular wherever sport is known. Mr. Du Bray is 

 personally and favorably known thi'oughout the country as a genial, 

 whole-souled sportsman, and one who is sure of a welcome wherever 

 he goes. His sentiments anont the brutal methods formerly used in 

 find, trap and handle matches will commend themselves to all who 

 have the interests of pigeon shooting at heart. 



On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 30, the Forest Gun Club will give an all- 

 day shooting touraameut on their grounds, Twenty-seventh street 

 and Lehigh avenue, Philadelphia. The club intends making this one 

 of the best tournaiueMts ever given in Pliiladelphia. It is the best 

 equipped grouuil aud easiest of access of any in Philadelphia at the 

 present time. Blueroek targets ami expert bluerock traps will be 

 UBed. Wm. Morison, Sec'y. Kid^re avenue, Philadelphia. 



In answer to a popular demaud from sportsmen for lower prices on 

 the higher grades, that they may continue their use as against so- 

 called smokeless powders, the Hazard Powder Co. has made a reduc- 

 tion m its 'Electric" and "Duck Shooting" brands of from sixteen 

 to twenty-five per cent. 



The new model 13-bore single barrel shotgun made by the Reming- 

 ton Arms Co., of Dion, N. Y., is rapidly coming into favor, and is used 

 by a number of trap shots. It is a light-weignt, and for this reason 

 will soon attract the attention of the boy shooters. 



Another find, ti'ap and handle match will take place at Martin's 

 Hotel, Pine Brook, X. J., on Nov. 1(3, between Eugrene Pierre of Boon- 

 ton, and Samuel Castle of Newark. The conditions are S5 live birds 

 per man, iJSjds. rise for a slake of Sw'i^i a side. 



A private lett«r from ReadviUe, N. C , reports quail in abundance 

 all over that section. Tiie Richmond A; Danville Railroad runs direct 

 to Readviile, High Point, Greenboro, Charlotte and other prime game 

 centers, and their service cannot be excelled. 



Elmer E. Shaner, of Pittsburg, the popular and etficient manager of 

 the Interstate Manufacturers' and Dealers' Association, has devised a 

 new indicator which does away with afi the elements of luck when 

 gargets are thrown under the Novelty ride. 



Wm. and John Diike.s, of IDast Orange, and Lewis Dentz, of Harrison 

 N. J,, spent three days lust week in HunttrJou county, and bagged 34 

 rabbits, "13 quail and 5 gi'ouse. I'his week they were to start for the 

 West on a hunt for big game. 



Programmes of the 1S94 tournament of the Chamberlin Target and 



Cartridge Company will be out about January 1. Bound with the 

 programme will be the company's catalogue and price list, and adver- 

 tisements of all the leading sporting goods houses of the coimtry. It 

 will be embellished with a large number of half-tone hunting and 

 fishing pictures and prominent trap shots. Fifteen thousand copies 

 will be published of the first edition. Paul North has the -work in 

 hand. 



T. W. Morfey, of Paterson, and Theodore Morford, of Newton, are 

 to-day engaged in shooting a match on Martin's Pine Brook grounds, 

 the conditions being 100 live bu-da each, for gilOO aside, Hurlingham 

 rides to govern. 



The entire lot of extra finished guns comprised in the Greener ex- 

 hibit at the World's Fair have been ptu-chased by Henry C. Squires, 

 178 Broadway, and are oflfered by him at regular list prices. 



The heavy rain of last Saturday caused a postponement of the sec- 

 ond match between Class and Elliott. The match was to have come off 

 on Wednesday, too late for this issue. 



Some lively work will be seen at Springfield, Mass., on Nov. 25, when 

 the Yale and Harvard gun clubs will meet at the traps for their annutal 

 contest at artificial targets. 



Wm. Lyman, he of "Lyman Sight" fame has been "doing" the trade 

 in New Y^ork and vicinity, and met with good success. His sights are 

 always in demand. 



The shoot off of the tie between Bogardus and Hall will be shot at 

 Sprmgfield, 111., on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 30. 



Nutley, N. ,T., has a gun club, newly organized, which wUl equip fine 

 grounds in a convenient location. 



Next Thursday will be Essex Gun Club day on Al Heritage's ground 

 at Marion. 



C. H. TOWNSEND. 3 



Pigeon Shooting— Past and Present. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Pigeon shooting as compared with many other outdoor sports is 

 of comparatively modern origin. Prior to 1850, the shooting of birds 

 released from traps had never been gone into to any great extent, so 

 that as compared with football, cricket and indeed most of the leading 

 games indulged in by men and boys alike, pigeon shooting is only a 

 recent pastime. 



Unforttmately, for the lovers of this sport the impression has arisen 

 with many, principally ladies, that it is decidedly cruel to shoot at a 

 bird sprung from a trap, while some men aver it to be unsportsriian- 

 like even to go into a pigeon match, declaring in support of their 

 objection that a bird should be at freedom and allowed to take care of 

 itself, by eluding its pursuer by stealth or else flying off before he is 

 near enough to harm it. in other words that nothing but field shooting, 

 pure and simple, should he recognized. 



It is not to be denied that field shooting is on a much higher plane 

 than pigeon shooting could ever reach. There is absolutely nothing 

 sentimental in the mere killing of pigeons over trap; it is purely a test 

 of skill, and was never intended to represent anything else. On the 

 other hand, the man who stickles on the point of allowing game to 

 baffle the sportsman by hiding or in any way making itself scarce, 

 ought not, logically, to shoot over a dog, for the raison d^etre of the 

 latter is simply to find the game, so that when it is flushed his master 

 may shoot at it. Now, field shooting without a dog is worse than 

 Hamlet minus the ghost, for after all the very best dog is the one that 

 finds the most game, or in other words the dog that allows the least 

 number of birds to escape without being shot at. So if it is unsports- 

 manlike to sboot a bird confined in a trap, it is necessarily so to shoot 

 one that has already been located by a dog, for nine times out of ten, 

 the gunner unaided would never have had the ofter. 



The greatest back set trap shooting has ever had, was when "find, 

 trap and handle" matches came into vogue. The brutality of many 

 of these contests was simply horrible; the most barbaroils methods 

 were used to accomplish certain damnable results, and no wonder that 

 when fiends calling themselves men, sportsmen forsooth, disgraced 

 humanity by torturing harmless birds in order to win a few paltry 

 dollars or acquire a degree of fame(?), no wonder, I say, that the rest 

 of mankind tabooed pigeon shooting as a whole, making all sufl'er 

 alike as a penalty for the trickery of cruel black-legs bent on winning 

 a stake or reputation regardless of the commonest laws of decency. 

 These "find, trap and handle" matches were in a great measure 

 merely gambling schemes, wherein the handler performed a vastly 

 greater part than those who actually did the shooting. In such affairs 

 it was of uppermost importance to have at one's back a person well 

 up in the moat devilish arts, in order that he might at least keep 

 abreast of the man trapping against one for his opponent. Two men 

 engaged in a "find, trap and handle" match bein^of equal skill, it was 

 always dollars to cents on the man's winning who had on his side thii 

 more skillful handler of pigeons- indeed the betting was governed 

 very often solely on the handler, when it was once known who should 

 handle against him— clearly jjroving that the shooting was quasi of 

 secondary consideration, so much stress being laid lipon the effect 

 I^rodueed on the defenceless pigeon, after it once left the merciless 

 bauds of its brutal captor. No one could from a demi-civilized stand- 

 point, uphold such savage practices under the guise of sport, so 

 naturally enough many becoming disgusted withdrew altogether, de- 

 claring It a brutal degrading pastime and censuring in no measured 

 terms Its advocates. 



Nowadays, fortunately, all such butchery oC birds is removed. We 

 now shoot at the best-flying pigeons we can procure; we shoot them 

 from five ground traps, 5yds. apart, give them a good long start, and 

 if they are wounded with the first barrel tbe second generally gives 

 the coup de grace, or else the trapper instantly kills the wounded bird, 

 ending bis suffering. So that as a matter of fact pigeons are much 

 more humanely and caref ully treated than poultry huddled up in 

 coops, carried head down by the legs, bruised and banged about in a 

 thousand ways, and eventually decapitated with a duU ax or saw-like 

 knife at the hands of whoever has stomach enougb to jierform this 

 delicate operation. Pigeons are now shipped in roomy coops, are well 

 watched and fed, and on all first class shooting grounds are given the 

 best care, for non-flyers are a dead loss to the purveyor, ergo, as 

 purely a matter of economy everything is done to insure their being 

 m good health and weU able to take care of themselves when once re- 

 leased from the traps. 



A great deal of discussion and condemnation has arisen from the 

 shooter being allowed the use of both barrels when shooting at the 

 trap. There can be nothing said against it from any rational stand- 

 point, every one has the same privilege; in the event of a bird being 

 merely wounded the humane shot at once kiUs it, if possible, with his 

 second barrel. Many birds that would fly off and out of bounds, 

 though badly wounded, are at once kiUed outright by the dextrous 

 use of the ever ready second. In field shooting one always uses the 

 second edition when the fii-st has not accomplished its purpose, and as 

 it is weU known that gunshot wounds are not painful until after a 

 certain time after being received, it is quite clear that a wounded bird 

 that is at once kUled by the trapjjer on being gathered cannot have 

 suffered any more than had it been beheaded or killed in any other so- 

 caUed legitimate method. Birds kihed at the trap are Invariably used 

 as food, neuce it is that they are well cared for, first to insure their 

 being good rapid flyers, and secontUy, so that when dead they can 

 readily be sold for the table. The cruelty therefore of pigeon shoot- 

 ing is purely imaginary, and not for a moment to be compared with 

 that inthcted by men who habitually fire into flocks of game birds, 

 kflling a few and wounding many others that wander off to die a 

 hngermg death or become a prey of carnivorous birds or beasts. It 

 was, or nas been a cruel sport, but when properly carried on there is 

 absolutely nothing of that character about it. On some grounds, I 

 admit, birds are aflowed to suffer, wing-broken birds or birds shot so 

 they cannot fly off are permitted to hmp around the traps or lie 

 stretched on the ground, bleeding and crippled, writhing in their 

 agony, but tbat is entirely due to the want of management and cannot 

 in fairness be charged against the sport itself. Such birds being ac- 

 tually detrimental to it, as they serve as decoys and materially inter- 

 fexe with the flight of all birds subsequently released. 



Let any one wbo considers pigeon shooting cruel go to John Watson's 

 Park at Chicago, and then he wiU, he must change his views. The 

 same must be said of all the crack clubs of America, where thousands 

 and thousands of pigeons are shot every year, and never a one is 

 aUowed to suffer, unless indeed those that fly off wounded— against 

 which wounded birds afield act as an oft'set. 



Another thing, men who habituafly shoot pigeons are for the most 

 part provided with the best guns and use the best and most expensive 

 ammunition made. In these days of nltro powders the gathering of 

 woimded birds, of yore an art by itself, has from disuse become 

 almost oljsolete. Now one uses a weU choked duck gun loaded with 

 a powder that instead of producing a volume of smoke so dense aa to 

 be impenetrable, emits a thin vapor, transparent and fleeting, obscur- 

 ing notbing from view, leaving the bird clearly visible, admitting 

 thereby tbe Instantaneous delivery of the second barrel. Aside from 

 tnis, either because certain smokeless powders dehver the load more 

 compactly and with greater force, fewer bii'ds are sent off woimded 

 than formerly; it is now generally a clean, sudden kill, resembling the 

 impact of an electric shock, or else a clean miss altogether, though of 

 course some birds must be woimded and wfll so continue to be bo long 

 as shooting at them exists in any form. 



It is to be regretted that men still continue to import pigeons long 

 distances, geueraUy by rail, when they come packed too soUdly in 

 crates, and where their feathers must perforce become sofled and 

 stuck together to such an extent they cannot fly. Such shooting is 

 totlrely devoid of sport. Itis at such pigeons that long runs of inili^ 



are made, and It is in witnessing such insipid slaughter that men form 

 erroneous ideas as to the possibilities of the sport. To charge the 

 tameness of such shooting against the sport in general is parallel to 

 comparing a game of baseball as played by some small viUage club, 

 on a ground ankle deep in mud, swimming in ice water in winter, or 

 chasing an antelope mounted on a worn-out city hack. And yet many 

 men who have not the faintest idea of the pace and vim latent in a 

 cooing pigeon, who have never seen one dart out from an end trap as 

 though each wing was trying to overlap the bill in its anxiety to anni- 

 hilate space, will complacently tell you that killing pigeons is easy, 

 that you hold the gun where you please, that you are allowed two 

 barrels, that it is always done in an open field, and to sum it up that 

 the bird has no chance. All I can say to such is— let them try it — at 

 Watson's in winter, with the wind at Lake Michigan, at Larchmont in 

 a shifty breeze, or at any crack New York club— to say nothing of 

 hundreds of places where gootl strong birds are trapped, and where 

 the wind has a fair sweep at them. One single effort will dispel the 

 Uliision, for while it is easy enough to kill 70 or 80 per cent, of one's 

 pigeons, yet every 1 per cent, after 85 is very hard to squeeze out, so 

 hard indeed that but few men have the power of reaching beyond as 

 a steady average. 



Pigeon shooting should always be done over two or more traps, ex- 

 tending at least 20yds. apart at the extremes. The strings that oper- 

 ate the traps should always be concealed. The traps should invariably 

 be placed on a totally bare spot, clear and smooth, the King trap being 

 the best, though a scoop trap makes very fair birds of only mediocre 

 ones and scorchers of really good pigeons. The rise should never be 

 less than 30yds., while the boundary is about correct at 50. 



In the matter of guns, assuming the 12-gauge to be standard, a 16- 

 bore ought to go in at least 4yds. instead of 2; for no 16-gauge with an 

 ounce of shot can equal a correspondingly good 12, even with the 

 4-yard handicap in effect, with its second barrel. A thoroughly good 

 16-bore is absolutely certain, when properly loaded and held, lip to say 

 28yds. rise with the first barrel; but on thunderbolts that vanish 

 through the air, leaving naught for the wistful eye to gaze on but a 

 dim, fleeting meteor franticaUy endeavoring to overtake its own 

 shadow, a Iti-gauge can't be compared to a 12. It is not in the gun nor 

 in the load, though skillful, steady handling wfll accomphsh great 

 things. On this subject I may be pardoned for speaking feelingly, as 

 experience is avowedly the best teacher. 



Over -loading should be avoided, especially in long matches. Great 

 scores have been made with only 3drs. to, say, 46grs. of E. C. and 

 IJ^oz. of shot. Per contra, J. L. Brewer, perhaps the greatest pigeon 

 shot to-day, uses tremendous charges of powder, going up to 50grs. 

 or more. PhysicaUy a very powerful man, constitutionally rugged, 

 of a nervous organization that little feels, such a man can lead a pace 

 on loads that few could, with impunity, follow. No amount of load- 

 ing can counteract bad shooting, whereas the very best shot and 

 holder may soon become totally disabled by over-charging his gun. 

 It is erroneous to suppose that anything beyond the rational limit is 

 advantageous. The speed of a charge of shot may be increased up to 

 a certain point by adding to the powder; after that its pace is gained 

 at the expense of the regularity of its deUvery, but above all the jar- 

 ring and bouncing of an overloaded gun will make flinching a cer- 

 tainty, will generally scatter the charge and may strain the very best 

 gun. The writer has seen men using but2j!4drs. of E. C. kill bird after 

 bird stone dead. He himself has made good scores with a 16-gauge 

 using oniy2}4drs. of same kind of powder. The crack pigeon-gun 

 maker oi London, a man whose name is known the world over as 

 having always advocated large charges of black powder, advises his 

 customers to keep under the 47gr8, limit. That, coming from such 

 high authority, ought to convince any one of the futility of attempt- 

 ing to obliterate time and space by using such tremendous charges 

 that no gun can long withstand them. All nitro powders are greatly 

 influenced by the kind and quantity of wadding used; 43grs. weU 

 wadded will actually shoot much harder than 48 with insufflcient 

 wads. So, also, does the' crimp play a very important part. 

 Velocity or penetration (synonymous terms) to the whole charge is 

 more certainly obtained, with regularity of shooting, by a rational 

 load well wadded and crimped than by more powder not so well con- 

 fined and held down. 



Close observation of this very interesting sport teaches these things 

 —isolated cases to the contrary proving nothing. A small percentage 

 of men can withstand continued severe punishment without its inter- 

 fering with tneir entire nervous system— the worst that happens to 

 them is a bruised face or shoulder— but the great majority bruise 

 themselv^es less because they hug their guns less and less as the shoot- 

 ing progresses, dodge away from it in fact, and score less in conse- 

 quence. A gun with a very crooked stock, when overloaded wfll kick 

 back and hurt the shoulder; one with a straighter stock in addition to 

 this reaches up for the jaw or cheek bones and gives these such a 

 sudden joit at every discharge that self-preservation soon asserts 

 itself, and instead of facing the stock, the only way to properly align 

 the gun, the head is bobbing away from it and the muzzle is not point- 

 ing where the shooter is looking; result, pigeon moves off gracefully 

 and serenely and a goose egg adorns the score. The mania for over- 

 loading is very natural, especially among those who have for many 

 years used coarse, slow-burning black powder. Of this kind four 

 drams could be used In an 8lbs. la-bore, and then but little recoil was 

 felt. Indeed only a portion of the load was consumed, whereas now 

 with nitro powder a four dram charge is tremendous, out of afl reason, 

 if properly wadded and sheU crimped as it should be. Fortunately, 

 we are becoming educated to the new powders, and in proportion to 

 our knowledge generally, so do we decrease our charges. 



It needs no vivid imagination to discover that in days when spring 

 traps were in vogue and fated pigeons were tossed in the air to be in- 

 stantly snapped out of existence by men using scattering guns — shot- ■ 

 ted to the last notch— there was not much sport in it, for then be the 

 bird never so good, the impetus given him by the trap spring pre- 

 cluded all possibiUty of his taking flight untfl he had overcome the 

 impetus of the powerful flip. In the meantime, whUe dazed and com- 

 pletely bewfldered, a whirlwind of small shot came pelting at him, so 

 large in scope and dense in volume that there was no evading it. So 

 his aspirations were cut short, and riddled, he faUs to the ground 

 without even having spread his wdngs. 



Nor could the 2lyds. rise plunge trap be considered much better 

 form, for here also, although to a lesser degree, the birds were pitched 

 out ot the trap and given an unnatural fUght, being generally killed 

 the moment tbe trap was sprung. Both styles were bad alike. They 

 balked nature in the endeavor to accelerate motion, and neither style 

 had a vestige of semblance to field shooting. The traps were always 

 known ones, which is all wrong. The rise was short, though quite 

 far enough for the guns then used; but above all, there was fdways a 

 suspicion in the minds of some that they were getting a plentiful 

 supply of harder birds than their opponents. And although this very 

 frequently was a matter of luck, still it wfll always obtain where 

 known traps govern. 



Now, with good lively birds, traps further away and many yards 

 apart, no one can be favored when shooting under standard rules; 

 birds if in condition cannot be "extinguishefl" untU after they have 

 risen, it is wing shooting sure enough, and very different from pop- 

 ping at the Jack-in-the-box style contemporaneous with muzzleloader 

 guns, whose shooting quahties, albeit perfect inside of 25 or 30yds., 

 have only the halo of loving reminiscence of our boyhood days to re- 

 commend them. Gaucho. 



Hell Gate Gun Club. 



The monthly shoot of the Hell Gate Gun Club at Dexter Park on 

 Tuesday, Oct. 24, brought together only ten members. Usually this 

 club turns out twenty to twenty-five men at Its monthly shoot, but 

 the fact that Tuesday was bluerock day probably kept many of the 

 members from coming out. To the ordmary pigeon shooter biuerocks 

 are an abomination, for which he has no use. To face five targets in a 

 twenty-target club event and break two, four or six, as the case may 

 be, is hkely to break the courage of the ordinary five bird shooter and 

 cause him to pack up his kit and make a break for home. The Hell 

 Gate Club has, however, a number of members who are equally at 

 home with biuerocks or pigeons, and when the conditions are right 

 they can put up good scores shooting at either. On Tuesday aU the 

 members were ofl' in their shooting, Dannefelser was in extreme hard 

 luck, breaking only five out of bis twenty. H. Shortemeyer, one of 

 the prominent Emerald Gun Club members, put in an appearance dur- 

 ing the af tei-noon and helped to make matters interesting for the 

 other contestants. A series of sweeps at biuerocks and live birds were 

 shot off foUowmg the club event, the results of which wiU be found 

 appended: 



Club shoot, 20 biuerocks: 

 J H Voss. .10111111001111101110—15 Doenick. . .01001000010001111010— 8 

 C Weber... 11011111000000011010— 10 A Muefler.OlOlOOOOOOOOOOllOOOO— 4 



Reiger 11)000110101000001010— 7 L Heinz. . .imilOllOlOUlOllll— IB 



Brodie OOOOOllUllOOilOOOOOO— 6 D'lmefels'rOlOOOlOOOlOlOOlllllO- 9 



H W Voss.OOllluUllllOlOlOlll— 14 Knodel. . . .10000101001011001000— (5 



No. 1, 10 biuerocks: J. H. Voss 8, Brodie 0, 0. Weber 7, Reiger 4. 



No. 3, 10 biuerocks: J. H. Voss 7, Brodie 3, Weber 8, Reiger 4, H. 

 W. Voss 5, Greenville 5. 



No, 3, 15 biuerocks: 



Shortmeyer . . . .011101011111011— 11 Brodie 011011110100101-, 9 



E Doenick 011110111111011—12 Knodel lOOOOlOlOOlOllO— 6 



HW Voss lOOlOllOlllOllO— 9 Rieger 011110100001001— 7 



Greenvflle 101011010010011— 8 Maeller 110101100000000— 5 



Dannefelser.... 010001000101001— 5 Weber 111001111011110—11 



Six live birds, 28yds. : 



Brodie 201112—6 Shortmeyer 212221— S 



Weber 011211—5 J B Kay 021220—6 



Knodel 000021—2 Doenick 110022—4 



Rieger 102102—4 Rebenstein 020201—4 



