464 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 2H, 



Class Defeats Elliott at Patersoil. 



Once more has the pigeon shooting talent been surprised and once 

 more was J. Franlf Class the one who surprised them. It will be re- 

 membered that when Class and Elliott first met in a contest it was 

 predicted that Class was outclassed and would fall an easy victim to 

 Kansas City Elliott's skill. There were some, however, who believed 

 that Class not only retained his skill of former days, but also possessed 

 latent skill and nerve which had never been called forth. Class sus- 

 tained this good opinion by tieing his opponent on S6 kilts out of the 

 100 birds, and lost the shoot-ofif at 25 birds each by having a bird fall 

 dead out of bounds. When the second match was- shot, at Morris- 

 town, Class again took the field by storm by kUUng 95 to Elliott's 90. 

 Class's 5 lost birds falling dead out of bounds. His friends simply 

 took this as a matter of course, but there were still many to say it 

 was ''a fluke 1" They did not take into consideration the fact that 

 this self-same Class in match shooting had previously averaged over 

 93 per cent, at 850 birds, nor did they consider that to kill 95 of the 

 Morristown birds required more science than to kill 98 such as were 

 trapped for the first match. 



On Nov. 17, however, those of the doiihters who went to Willard's 

 Park, in Paterson, saw Class kill 99 out of 100 fair match birds against 

 95 killed by Elliott, who lost three birds dead out of bounds. The day 

 was a fair one for the sport, although not by any means clear. When 

 the match started, at 1:52 P. M., the sun was shining brightly and the 

 sky was clear. Within an hour, however, the sky had clouded and the 

 air became chiU and raw, making it uncomfortable to stand about 

 without an overcoat. The attendance was light, not over fiftv specta- 

 tors being on the grounds, owing to lack of advertising. It had pre- 

 viously been announced that the match would be shot on the White 

 Plains track, but as that place was in the hands of about 150 Italians 

 undergoing repairs, the scene had to be shifted to Paterson at short 

 notice. 



It was just 1:52 when Elliott stepped to the score and downed a slow 

 bird, which scarcely left the trap before catching the contents of 

 the first barrel. Class followed by grassing a fairly fast driver, using 

 both barrels. Previous to this T. W. Morfey, of the Paterson Gun 

 Club, had been chos«n as referee; Henry Wolf, of the same club, 

 pulled the traps, while the representatives of the sportsmen's journals 

 acted as scorers. Mr. Morfey 's red Irish Eagle did the gathermg, and 

 did it in great form. The match progressed smoothly until the seventh 

 round, when Class scored the first goose egg, losing a right-quartering 

 driver, which in our judgment he should have killed. However, this 

 was his only lost one of the match. 



Elliott grassed 15 and then lost a right-quartering driver that twisted 

 in all styles. His 17th was similar in direction and'flight, and Ihi.s also 

 went over the hills and far away. The tii st quarter ended with 24 

 kills for Class to 23 for EUiott. 



The Kansas City man ran into hard luck on the second quarter. His 

 third bird was hit hard with both barrels and seemed barely able to 

 carry its dose, but nevertheless it managed to get over the ISin. wire 

 fence marking the 50yds. bouudary and then gave up the ghost. His 

 17th bird, which like the one above mentioned was a right-quartering 

 twisting driver, was hit awfully hard with both loads, but this, too, 

 died over the fence. When this bird was examined it was found to 

 be hit, and hit deep at that with no less than seven No. 7 trap shot. 

 On the third quarter Elliott's 12th bird refused flight as the trap was 

 pulled, and before it could make up its mind whether to fly or not, 

 wideavv^ake Eagle pounced out and gatijered It. Tliis of coure gave' 

 Elliott another bird, which turned out to be another of those riglit- 

 quartering twisters, which caught both barrels full and went over the 

 fence to die. Following this he killed 38 straight and ended with a 

 score of 95 kills to Class's 99. 



The scores show conclusively that both men were down to form. 

 Class used a quick and effective first barrel, while he abandoned his 

 slap bang style with his second, the result being some fine second bar- 

 rel kills. Elliott shot in form much superior to that he displayed in 

 the previous match, both barrels being used safely and effectively. 

 The general opinion was that in his present form Class outraiLks 

 Elliott, and is shooting well enough to defeat any man in the country. 

 He is certainly doing remarkable work and improving with each eon- 

 test. That he has been greatly under-rated in the past is sure, and 

 those who have persisted in placing him into the third rank will prob- 

 ably alter their opinions. An average of %% out of 100 for three 

 matches is a fine showing, even though the bii-ds be not of the "genu- 

 ine bluerock" order. 



A glance at the detailed score will show that Elliott's weak point is 

 on birds bearing to the right, all his lost birds taking this direction. 

 The birds as a whole were not near as good as those trapped for the 

 previous match, but still they were a rair lot of match birds. Only 

 two birds were called on account of refusal to flv. 



Elliott's best runs were 38, 19 and 15. His second barrel was used 55 

 times to kill. He used a Greener gun and American wood powder. 



Class made a run of 93 and used his second barrel 45 times to kill. 

 He used a Greener gun and Schultze powder, his cartridges being 

 loaded by Von Lengerke & Detmold. 



The times of the match by quarters irere 24m., 29m., 25m. and 35m., 

 a total of Ih. 43m. for the 200 birds. 



The exceptional birds (the direction of flight is shown by the de- 

 tailed score) were. Class's 4th, 6th (quick kill), 9th (very fast). 16th 

 (splendid second), 34th (lightning bird and quickly killed), 40th' (fine 

 second), 63d (awfully fast, elegant second), 64th, 67th. 82d (an ugly 

 zig-zagging driver killed in beautiful style), 89tb (a zig-zagging, right- 

 quartering driver, changing direction by the yard, as one a kill as 

 could be made). 



Elliott, 3d (good), 9th (fast and a quick second which was needed), 

 I2th, 14th and 27th (all fast ones and well stopped), 31st (fast, hit with 

 both barrels and quickly). 34th (same), 41st (best bird and prettiest 

 kill of day, a lightning driver), 57th (elegant kill of extra good bird), 

 78tb (humming driver, a great second barrel kill), 81st (fast and a 

 good kill), 88th (good kill of fast bird) . 



Class's 7th bird, the only one he lost, was a hummer and could have 

 been miase(J.by almost any one. His 97th was shot on the ground and 

 he was given another bird which was a fast one and well killed. 



Elliott's 28th was shot on ground, referee giving him another bird; 

 on his 32d the trap was pulled before he called "pull" and another 

 bird was allowed, the same occurring on his 36th round. His 42d bird, 

 which fell dead out of bounds, v as hard hit with both barrels, and 

 dropped less than a yard beyond bounds. His 62d bird was one which 

 any one would have been excused for missing but he hit it hard with 

 both barrels and saw it drop over the boundary. On his 83d round he 

 called no bird on a dulTer. 



Below is the score in the style usually presented by Forest and 

 Stream, which style, by the way, all our esteemed contemporaries 

 would like to copy if Uncle Sam's copyright did not prevent them 

 from doing so. 



Please note that the characters in the third line signify as follows: 

 1, first barrel kill; 2, second barrel Idll; 0, missed; •, dead out of 

 bounds. In the second line an H siguifles a bird which is killed close 

 to the traps, commonly called a flipper. T signifies a towerer. 



Trap score tiipe—Copyriyht is'js, by Forest and Stream Publishinc Co. 



2413144152544444435141143 



Elliott 1322232 2 2S22S230S02212 2 1 2—23 



2 4 224354124431244355 4 3114 



432152434145123 4 315513413 

 ^H<r-'<-^^^^^^^^^ > > > ^^-»<-^/-^ — H — » 

 11132221112.11121 1 1 11121 1—24 



44255114452454255222 5 5245 



112111231122111121112121 3— 25— 95 



333. 3 44233352 5 13331333 3 512 



Class 2 21223021123333331312111 1—34 



2 32452425 3 441322514431354 



11222211 2 111 3 21312122113 1—25 



134413524123433354 3 344434 



->\ -s- >/-^H H H T -»«-^->/^ H 



J3111131111S211311111121 1—35 



114 14133 4 53134 4 5133413411 



8S333121121113121111132.3 2-25-99 



How the race progressed in strings of 10 shots each: 



Elliott , 10 18 27 37 46 56 65 75 85 95 



Class 9 19 29 39 49 59 69 79 89 99 



Saturday's Match at Morristown, 



The day following the shoot at Paterson the men met again on the 

 Morristown Driving Park, and once more was a surprise administered, 

 this time by the unaccountably poor work done by Class, who at one 

 stage of the game seemed to lose both nerve and skill, losing no less 

 than 9 birds in 23 shot at. Up to the first of these misses he led Elliott 

 by one bird, but from this out he was as good as beaten. 



During the early part of Saturday the weather was clear and crisp, 

 with a stiff southwesterly wind. Before the match began the condi- 

 tions were loaterially changed, the sun bad become obscured and the 



air became raw and damp. The vnnd did not change its direction, 

 blowing at about twelve mfles an hour. The attendance was light, 

 not over seventy -five people being on the ground. Among these were 

 Al Heritage, of Jersey City; M. F. Lindsley and Eddie CoUins, of West 

 Hoboken; "Uncle Jack" Harrison, of Dover; John Cockefair, of Bloom- 

 field; Samuel Castle, C. M. Hedden and J. E. Wheaton, of Newark; 

 Messrs. Campbell and Wemple, of Glen Ridge; Elliott Smith, president 

 of the American Wood Powder Co. ; S. R. Martin and John C3ass, of 

 Pine Brook; J. R. Boyle, of Willard's Park, Paterson; John Riggott, of 

 Rockaway; Dr. P. J. Zeglio and J. F. Zeglio, of Warrenville, and J. W. 

 Hoffman, of Orange Valley. 



It was 1:40 P. M, when the first shot was fired, .John Riggott being 

 referee. Elliott shot first, bringing down a fair right-quartering driver 

 with his first. Class following with a first-barrel kill of a left-quartering 

 driver. The first miss was by ElUott on his 11th round, when he made 

 a clean miss with his first and put his second too far behind a fast 

 right-quarterer. Class ran clean to the 20th round, when a left-qiiar- 

 tering mcomer flipped out of his first load and only got enough of the 

 second to accelerate its flight. Score on first quarter, 24 each. At this 

 stage a drizzling rain started, making every body feel miserable for 

 half an hour, when it stopped. 



On the second quarter Elliott lost his 3d, a fairly fast one, his 12th, 

 an awful ugly twisting driver which fell dead out of bounds, and his 

 17th, which was missed with the first and sunply frightened with the 

 second. It was in this quarter that Class began his miserable work, 

 using his old slap-bang style of firing both barrels, a style of which 

 he was never the master. The birds that he lost were not the slowest 

 of the day and on the other hand none of them were what could be 

 called "screamer.s." In a string of twenty-three he lost no less than 

 nine, and while three of these fell dead out of bounds the others were 

 no more than feathered; in fact, three of them were simply fright- 

 ened. He had been shooting a ragged and erratic first barrel from 

 the start, and while this streak lasted his second was little, if any, 

 better. Of the nine lost six were on this quarter, his total being 43 to 

 Elliott's 46. 



Elliott's form was first-class throughout, his kills, as a rule, being 

 neat and clean. On the third quarter he lost his 9th bird dead out of 

 bounds, this being a mean twister with plenty of staying powers, 

 which enabled it t.o carry the shot out. His 20th looked like a clean 

 miss with the first, while the second simply hurried it across the 

 field. Class lost his 1st, cleanly missed, his 2d, which was a fairly 

 fast twLsting incomer to the left, and his 7th, a fast twisting left- 

 quartering driver which fell dead out of bounds. At this point he ■ 

 seemed to pull himself together and of the next tbirty-eight birds he 

 lost only one, and that fell dead just over the fence. At the three- 

 quarter mark Elliott had scored 69 to Class's 05 and the race was all 

 over but the shouting. 



On the last quarter EUlott lost his second, a bird which flipped up as 

 the trap was sprung, and then dropped out of the first charge He 

 put his second in and whfle the bulk of the charge appeared to enter 

 the ground immediately under the bird's body, it took to its wings 

 and may be still flying for all the damage it received. His 10th also 

 went over the fence and then he killed out, making his total 92 fnr the 

 match. Class's only loss on this quarter was his 19th bird, which fell 

 dead out of bounds, giving him a total of 89, this being the third time 

 only in three years that he has fallen below the 90 mark. 



There is no doubt but Elliott could have killed one or two birds more 

 in the last half, three of those he lost being only fairly fast. His 

 form was far above that of Class. 



The time of the match by quarters was ,35m., 33m., 37m. and 30m., a 

 total of 3h. 5m. 



Elliott used his second barrel 63 times to kUl. His best runs were 16, 

 15 and 15. 



Class used his second barrel 50 times to kill, it being used 28 times 

 to kill in the first half. His best runs were 19, 14 and :36. 



The birds were not the cracking good lot that they were expected to 

 be, although several yards faster as a whole than those trapped at 

 Paterson the previous day. They were of the mixed order, which are 

 likely more than any others to cause hard shooting. Some were 

 "screamers," then would come a few fairly good ones, then a batch 

 which were all the way from very fast to very slow, this keeping the 

 .shooters guessing on each shot. 



This was the fourth match shot between these experts, and the 

 scores have run as follows, exclusive of the shoot-ofiC of the tie in the 

 first match, when out of 25 birds EUiott killed 24 to Class's 23. 



1. g. 3. U. T. Per cent. 



Class 96 95 99 89—379 94.75 



ElUott 96 90 95 92—373 93.25 



The full score of the final match is here given : 



Trap score type— Copyright, fnmi, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 



425148 5 1412133535513 44 3 21 



Elliott 1 12132211101112222112111 2—34 



5 43112 3 435355154552443324 

 T-^t/^T THH i t T ^Ti'T^— »^H/'T7'^*- 

 22032313133•222220222211 2-22 



3422434451418424334335113 

 32323123»221222232012131 2—38 



51413523321311231314 53121 

 H H i. /" ^ ^ ? \ T \ / 4- ^ 4- 4. 

 102323312023222232121211 1—23-92 



5542244311544354423314555 

 \<-t-i \-> X*-<-H T ^ \ t ? \ e'T/' T H 4. 

 Class 1 12221332133231129101222 2—24 



4533 5 32545145254325315155 

 H T H t N / 't, 4 t 4 t t N J' ^ H / 

 111331222.01.20222012301 3—19 



5135134331 5353 3 54 3 34 3 254 2 

 001201«21211112112223212 2—22 



42445332213 451335443 2 8543 

 S./' 4. t \ T-^iT-^H \T-^H 4<-T^ t H t<- 

 122111113111223122«11212 2—24—89 



The score in strings of 10 shots each: 



Elliott 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 88 98 



Class 10 19 29 35 43 50 60 70 80 89 



The Virginia Championship Again. 



Lynch, November.— Editor Forest and Strearn; In your issue of 

 Nov. 4 I notice a reply to my article on the Virginia championship cup 

 from W. F. Summerson. The facts I give herewith, and call on your 

 trap editor to correct in a foot note any mistakes that I may make. 



At Charlotte, N. 0., in the presence of Mr. Townsend I chaUenged 

 Mr. Summerson for this cup after asking him if there was any one in 

 ahead of me, receiving a reply that there was not and that he would 

 shoot me for it at Richmond, Va., and name an early day, also inform- 

 ing me of the conditions under which Ve should shoot, to which I 

 agreed. I then waited some time for him to set the day, but only re- 

 ceived reply to my letters of inquiry that he would shoot as soon as 

 able, and learning he was off shooting at country fairs and other 

 places, I notified him he must either comply with the conditions and 

 shoot or forfeit this cup, and was somewhat surprised to receive the 

 following letter from Mr. E. F. Wayman, dated June 12: "I notice 



A Stray Shinplaster 



Comes to us once in a -while for a copy 

 of "Game La-vvs in ^ Brief;" but shin= 

 plasters nowadays are scarcer than Moose 

 In New York; and 23 cents in postage 

 stamps will do just as well. 



A NEW-SUBSCRIBER OFFER. 



A bona fide new subscriber sending us $5 wiU receive for that sum 

 the Forest and Strkam one year (price ^) and a set of Zimmerman's 

 famous "Ducking Scenes" (advertised on another page, price $5)— a 

 $9 value for 86. 



This offer is to neto subscribers only. It does not apply to renevxtle. 

 For $8 a boTwi^de new subscriber for six months will receive the 

 Forest and Strkam during that time and a copy of Dr. Van Fleet's 

 handsome work, "Bird Portraits for the Young" (the price of whiofa 



your challehge in the American Field to shoot Mr. W. F. Sunamerson 

 for the cup. I beg leave to inform you that mine comes in first. Am 

 only waiting for him to get in a better condition. He has been verv 

 sick." 



To which I replied: "You make a mistake for theise reasons, that 

 while my challenge to Mr. Summerson was only published last week I 

 challenged him while at Charlotte, N. C, on the 18th dav of May. and 

 if you will recollect the conversation between us on the way to Knos- 

 viUe, Tenn., you wfll remember that I told you I had challengwl Mr 

 Summerson for this cup and that I considered I had a walkover for it' 

 This challenge was given and accepted in the presence of clie trap 

 editor of Forest and Stream, and jVIi-. Summerson then told nie no 

 one was in ahead of me and that he would name an early date for the 

 race. But assuming you had in an earUer challenge, you nor Mr. 

 Summerson neither had any right, under the rules governing this cup" 

 to postpone a match over .30 days. Any other challenger has a right 

 to force a shoot, as your agreement with him wotfld be a waiver of 

 your right against any one else, and hence if it wexe as you say, you 

 now have no rights In the matter until after my race with him, which 

 I shall insist upon coming off, or Mr. Summerson must forfeit the 

 cup." 



At the same time I wrote Mr. Summerson: "I received a letter from 

 Dr. E. F. Wayman to-day stating that he had a challenge in for the 

 State cup ahead of mine and guess that he based his opinion upon the 

 date of my challenge that was published last week, but as I Challenged 

 you while at Charlotte, N, C, May 18, you can point out to him Ins 

 error, as you wfll recoUect you told me in Mr. Townsend's presence 

 there was no one in ahead of me for this cup; that you would shoot 

 me and set an early day for the race, and as you now have only four 

 days left in which to comply with the rules I hope you will do so, a.s 

 neither you nor myself have any right to change the rules governing 

 this cup. * * ♦ . 



"If Dr. Wayman Is so anxious to shoot we could aU then shoot at 

 once, or we could throw heads and tails for who should shoot you 

 first, and then the other shoot the winner on the same day, and it 

 don't matter where the cup is to be shotfor in this State. I only want 

 time enough to get there." 



Does the above look like I would not shoot anywhere but Rich- 

 mond? And if he had been in such health that he could not go to 

 Richmond, why did he write me on June 14 as foUows: "Why not go to 

 Tolchester, Md.? If you will go. Twill." When I wrote him, upon 

 seeing an account of the cup race between him and a local friend, he 

 repUed as foUows: "My friends Dr. E. F. Wayman and Mr. John M. 

 Kinney formulated rules under which it [this cup] is to be shot.- 

 In future, should you want any information on the subject, you can 

 correspond with either of the above gentlemen." I immediately wrote 

 Mr. Kinney, inclosing a stamped envelope, but up to this time have 

 received no reply; and now this gentleman tells us that the Staunton 

 Gun Club formulated the rules under which it is held. I can't see how 

 they or any one else had a right to change the original conditions of 

 this cup, and would like to read the code of rules that are more sports- 

 manlike and yet aUow a man to ignore challenges. 



The above is but a plain statement of facts in this case, and I leave 

 the sporting public to judge whose course has been the more correct. 



In conclusion, let me say to Mr. Summerson that, should he feel 

 that he ever wishes to meet me at the score for money or glory, I will 

 pocket my pride and take pleasure in showing him his true standing ' 

 as a shot. W. T. Mitchkll. 



An Old-Time Picture. 



We pubUsh this week an excellent half-tone reproduction of a photo- 



f-aph taken at Le Roy, N. Y., in 1864, during the tournament of the 

 ew York State Sportsmen's Association. The picture represents Mr. 

 W. Wingert, a noted inventor and gunmaker of Detroit, Mich., and his '■ 

 partner, Charles Bradford, both of whom have passed over to fhe 

 great majority. Mr. Wingert is said to have been the first man in tip 

 country to transform a muzzleloader into a breechloader, and i ' 

 picture shows them in the act of e.xamining a pair of the altered gun 



The guns thus altered were the Lafaucheux, the barrels of whieli 

 (before altering) were fastened to the fore end by two pins pissing 

 through lugs on the under side of the barrels. The method of pro 

 cedure was simple. Once the screw-end was separated from rlif 



W. WINGERT. 



C. BRADFORD, 



breech, the hole in the lug nearest the forward part of the fore enfl 

 was lengthened to admit of play for the pin forwai-d and back. The 

 pin passing thi'ough the rear was transformed into a catch and thei 

 operation was complete. AU that was necessary in manipulating the, 

 gun was to loosen the rear catch, sUde the barrels forward on the 

 forward pin and tip them ready for loading. 



After repeated inquiries and a deal of correspondence we have failed 

 to elicit any further information in reference to either the firm, the 

 working of the altered guns, ammimition used, or in fact any points 

 of interest beyond what is here given. We imderstand, however, that 

 Mr. Bradford was a regular visitor to the New York State shoots and 

 was the first one to use a breechloader at them. 



We would be pleased to pubhsh any further information which it 

 may be in the power of any of our readers to impart on this interest 

 ing subject. For the photograph from which this cut was made 

 Forest and Stream is indebted to Mr. C. H. Fmch, a veteran sports 

 man of Syracuse, N. Y., and one of the charter members of th' 

 Onondaga County Sportsmen's Club. 



The Paterson Gun Club. < 



The semi-mothly shoot of the Paterson (N. J.) Gun Club took plaoj 

 at Wiillard's Park on Nov. 14, there being a fair turnout. The dn 

 was fair and quite a number of spectators were present. The shoofl 

 ing comprised both target and live bird events. Among those whr 

 took part were "Benny'' Abbott and "Charley" Lenone, of Passaic' 

 Edward HiU and Charles Zwirlein. of Trenton. In two events at 1 

 targets each the scores were as follows: 

 No. 1. 



Lenone. 111111111011111—14 



Abbot 100001000111100— 6 



Morfey 101101110111101—11 



Wright 011011110111111—12 



Hopper 000110000100000— 3 



Boyle 100011010011111— 9 



Wolf.. 000101010111010— 7 



HiU 101111111111001—12 



Then came the club shoot at 10 live birds each: 



Morfey 220101 1 213-8 Wright 112221 1 201— 



Abbot 0002112111-7 *Wolf 1221112211—1 



Lenone 120121U11— 9 *Hopper 1111111123—1 



*For birds onlj. 



No. 2. 

 llllOlllOlllllI— 1 

 101011001001 (Kll— 

 111011111101111—1 

 010101101011111—1 

 000001101001111- 



oiooiioiiiiiooi— . 

 110111011011110-1 



