174 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 24, 1864. 



MIDWINTER SHOOT AT READING. 



Snow, snow all around; everywhere from New York to Reading, Pa., 

 en route to the tournament of the Reading Shooting Association, one 

 was greeted with the sight of the white mantle covering the earth. 

 The blizzard which created such havoc in various parts of the country 

 seemingly slipped around or across the section between here and 

 Philadelphia, as nowhere are there any signs of anything like the 

 heavy blow that visited the vicinity of New York and other sections. 

 Still there is snow enough for good sleighing in all sections of Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Here at the cozy hostlery known as the "Three-mile. House," pre- 

 sided over by that prince of good fellows, Harry Matz, President of the 

 Reading Shooting Association, may be seen dozens of sleighs passing 

 up or down the road, the majority bearing parties who are bent on 

 pleasure. This is a great boulevard for pleasure driving, both summer 

 and winter. This road, by the way, is one of the oldest in America 

 and was formerly known as the Oonestoga pike, which led from 

 Pittsburg to Philadelphia, and over which the old settler-traders were 

 wont to carry their goods, drive their cattle, etc. There are many 

 historic spots along the pike and even this place of Mr. Matz, modern 

 appearing as it. is, possesses an intensely interesting history, which 

 the "History of Berks County" thus relates: 



"More than two centuries ago, when what of the Penn farm was a 

 comparative wilderness and that part of it now known as Berks county 

 but an oasis on the desert plain, the town of Reading was laid out and 

 settled. A hamlet in which the Weisers, the Bears, the Keisers and 

 the Wolfes were the lords and masters, was the bud from which the 

 present city of 80 000 inhabitants became a full-grown national tree. 



"In spite of the prowling Leui Lanapes and the nearer resident 

 Monogacies and Narraganseis, the weakly settlement of which Conrad 

 Weiser was the presiding genius, imbued with the spirit of wild adven- 

 ture, instead of being contented to remain together in this newly 

 settled Eldorado, still yearned for new scenes and wilder homes, 

 where, like the romantic Crusoe, they might be 'monarchs of all they 

 surveyed.' 



"Leading out from the naturaJ basin, among the quiet mountains, 

 where the infant city of Reading nestled, a scarcely discernible path 

 led the hunter and adventurer westward to a quiet plain, rich in 

 woodland, rare in soil, opening a vista of future wealth to the hardy 

 pioneers who had sufficient courasre to settle there, and a vista of 

 future travel to the more remote settlement to one Sehwenckf elder, 

 whose great ambition was to be 'Mine host' to any wanderer who 

 might need shelter and food. So Jacob Schwenckfelder packed up 

 his miscellaneous household goods, loaded them on his primitive ox- 

 cart, crossed the quiet Schuykill one pleasant June morning in 1749, 

 and with his wife, two children and a hired man, wended his way 

 westward in search of a 'rural home' further away from the 'populous 

 marts of civilization.' 



"It did not take long then to find a new home. The wilderness was 

 broad and long, and when Schwenckfelder had left the little hamlet 

 three miles behind hirn and gave the order to 'schpan ous,' he had 

 reached a beautiful garden in the wilderness, where the deer browsed 

 quietly under the blooming chestnuts and the partridge sat quietly 

 about the rude trail to watch the traveler, who so seldom invaded his 

 domain. 



"The spot suited Jacob. The trail led west by the spot and 'dah is 

 der platz fer ein werts-haus!' was his decision. In a few weeks a 

 rude log house was erected, some few acres of land cleared around it 

 and Jacob could boast of being the only hotel keeper on that route 

 for a distance of forty miles to the west. He called it the 'Drei Mile 

 Haus' (Three-Mile House), which name it is still known by though 

 over a century of time has elapsed. Since then it has of course under- 

 gone many changes, but it "is still only a comparatively short time 

 since the old log house which offered such good cheer to the way- 

 farer was replaced by the modern building which was called for by 

 the spirit of progress and innovation. 11 



The old log cabin of the old hardy Dutch pioneer has indeed under- 

 gone a transformation, its site being now occupied by a handsome 

 three-story brick hotel with twenty-one rooms, all the modern im- 

 provements, a well equipped bar-room, pool room, meeting room, etc. 

 Connected with the house is a fine half-mile driving and bicycle track, 

 and here on the side of the track is the shooting house and grounds of 

 .the Reading Shooting Association, which on Feb. 13, 14 and 15, held its 

 annual mid-winter tournament at live birds and targets. 



It has been previously stated that the fury of the snowstorm took 

 but little effect through this section and this is strictly true, neverthe- 

 less it did have a material effect on the attendance, a large number of 

 shooters who live at a distance being afraid ro risk the trip for fear of 

 being stalled on the railroads. Still the attendance was fair, the events 

 on the opening day averaging about fifteen. Among those who were 

 on hand for the opening day were "Tee Kay" Keller of the United 

 States Cartridge Co.; H. L, David, E. R. Landis and Harry Thurman of 

 Germantown; J. W. Tredway, the "Comfort Recoil Pad" man from 

 Philadelphia; Paul North of the Ohamberlin Target and Trap Co.; 

 Harvey McMurchy of the Hunter Arms Co.; GusE. Greiff, represent- 

 ing Von Lengerke & Detmoldof New York; J. G. Miller of Milwaukee, 

 Pa. ; C. L. Terry, J. W. Evans and J. B. Cleaver of Camden, Del., and 

 F. Henry of Philadelphia. 



During the opening day the weather was extremely cold and the 

 stove, in the shooting house was the Mecca, for the shooters as soon as 

 they shot out their scores. Occasionally there would be a dash of fine, 

 cutting snow to render still more miserable the poor unfortunate at 

 the score, the trap-puller and the trappers. When the sun did show 

 its face, which it did at intervals during the afternoon, the effect on 

 the eyes was painful. The light was poor enough at its best but very 

 trying when the sun shone. 



The scores will show few straights, this beitig attributable to the 

 light and wind, which was variable, carrying the targets in all sorts of 

 erratic flights. The full programme of ten events was shot off as 

 were three extra events at ten targets each. Harry Matz was master 

 of ceremonies and kept things running smoothly. The work in the 

 cashier's office was done by Walter Eiler, the club secretary, who has 

 few equals in this branch of clerical work. There were no delays in 

 paying out moneys, and this was pleasing to the shooters, who inva- 

 riably raise a growl if obliged to ask more than once for their allow- 

 ance from an event. 



When the programme had been shot down to Event No. 7 a little 

 incident occurred which showed how uncertain are the chances in 

 trap-shooting. There were twelve entries in this event, and when the 

 two squads had finished Landis was high with 14, Schmeck and Terry 

 being next with 12 each. Before the last squad had finished in came 

 "Rainbow" Thurman and "Comfort" Tredway, who of course wanted 

 to shoot. The boys were good-natured etjough to let them enter, and 

 at it they went. Tredway had on a "breaking streak," which "Butch" 

 David says is not chronic, and broke straight, this leaving him alone 

 for first, while Thurman, equally ungrateful for the favor accorded 

 him in being allowed to enter so late, ran out 13 breaks and took third 

 money alone. Thereupon the party passed a vote of censure upon 

 these "pretenders" or "sleepers" for coming in at the eleventh hour 

 and spoiling their chances. 



In the evening a number of the shooters went to Reading, but still 

 enough were left to burn the midnight oil in Harry Thurman's room, 

 where a "go you five better" seance was held. 



During the night, one who was uninitiated would have thought that 

 Bedlam had broken loose in the usually quiet Three-Mile House. From 

 early evening the house had been filled with a motley crowd of natives, 

 attracted thither by the announcement of a raffle for a 2.3001bs. bull 

 and a 6001bs. hog. The raffle was run in the old Dutch style. Tickets, 

 five for $1, each ticket entitling the holder to three throws, not of dice, 

 but of seven copper pennies, the party throwing the largest number 

 of heads out of tue possible 21 to be the winner. Up to 11 P. M. 16 

 was high, at 11:30 17 was thrown; between that and midnight there 

 were five throws of 18 each. Here bidding began and so sure was one 

 party that 18 would not be tied nor beaten that he paid f 50 in cash for 

 the chance of the first man who threw 18. It was not until 1.3:30 that 

 the winning throw was made, a ruddy-faced hayseeder throwing 19, a 

 remarkably high throw, and seldom made. Every time a good throw 

 was made the joyous rafflers would show their appreciation bv jump- 

 ing and stamping and 'raising Cain" generally. The noise made by 

 the hob-nailed boots on the bare floor was particularly pleasing, (?) 

 the room where raffle was held being directly over our bedroom, and 

 the uproar lasted until 2:30 A. M. Mr. Matz assures us that these 

 raffling rackets "are not of daily or nightly occurrence," and we 

 should imagine from our brief experience that he does not desire 

 them to be. 



Each day the Association deducted one-half cent for each target 

 thrown, and the amount thus accumulated was sbot for at the end of 

 the day at 15 singles. On this day the shooting of this event proved a 

 fiasco, there being such a diversity of opinion m several instances in 

 regard to breaks and misses, that the manager declared it "no shoot," 

 and it was decided on the following morning, the pot of g9.50 being 

 divided by Keller and David. 



The scores of the day are here shown in detail: 

 The First Day. 



No. 1, 10 singles, $1 enry: Henry, 10; Terry, Landis, Gichter and 

 Matz, 9 each; David and Evans, 8 each; North, Pfantz and Keller, 7 

 each; Schmeck and Greiff, 6 each; J. G. Miller and Shaaber, 5 each. 



No. 2, 15 singles, $2 entry: 



Keller 011101111111111—13 Evans 001011111101101—10 



Landis 111111111011011—13 Shaaber .110111101100011— 10 



David 111111110101001—11 Henry llinmilillll— 15 



Pfantz 011110010101110— 9 Miller , 111111011101000—10 



Gichter .,..111111111111110—14 Matz...... 110110100101011— 9 



North. 1111M101111101— 12 Greiff 11111 111 0110111 13 



Schmeck 101110111100000- 8 Dick..... 001100O0O00OOO1— 3 



Terry 111100111111101—12 Cleaver, ,,,,,,, ,011111110000111—10 



No. 3, 10 singles, $1 entry: Terrv, 10; Henry, Schmeck and Cleaver, 

 9 each; Landis, Evans, Greiff ahd Miller, 8 each; North and Shaaber, 7 

 each; Keller and Gichter, 6 each; David and Miller, 5 each; Matz and 

 Pfantz, 4 each; Dick, 3. 



No. 4, 20 singles, $2 entry: 



Keller niOllOlllllllllllil— 18 Terry 10001111110001111011—13 



Landis 11101111111011011111—17 Evans 00011110011110101111— 8 



David 10011111111100111101—15 North 10111111010111111011—16 



Matz 10100111001101111110—15 Shaaber. ...lOOllimilllOHOlll— 16 



Brown 11011010010000101000— 8 Schmeck . .11111001111111011000— 14 



Gichter. . . .11111011010001111111— 15 Cleaver. . . .00111111111111111110—17 

 Henry 10111011111010111011—15 Miller 00111010111111001111-14 



No. 5, 10 singles $1 entry: Henry 10; Landis, Gichter, Schmeck and 

 Terry 8 each; Keller, David, Miller, North, Greiff, Evans and Shaaber 

 7 each ; Cleaver 6, Matz 2. 



No. 6, same as above: Cleaver 10, Landis 9, Henry and Terry 8 each; 

 North, Shaaber and Schmeck 7 each; Evans and Greiff 6; Keller, I Matz 

 and David 5 each; Gichter 4, 



No. 7, 15 singles, $1.50 entrv: 



Keller 011010100111111-10 David 111010011111110-11 



Landis 111110111111111—14 Shaaber 100100010111011— 9 



Schmeck 111001111111101—12 Terry 111000111111111—12 



Evans 110111110011011—11 Gichter 011101011011100- 9 



Matz 101111010101100- 9 Cleaver 101110010111111-11 



North 101110011111011— 4 Thurman 100111111111111-13 



Henry 111111011001010-10 Tredway 111111111111111-15 



No. 8, 10 singles, SI entry: David and Landis 10 each; Schmeck, 

 Thurman, Evans and Tredway 9 each; Keller and Cleaver 8 each; 

 Henry, 7; North, Matz, Terry and Gichter 6 each. 



No. 9, 25 singles, $3 entry: 



Cleaver ill 11 lllllllli 11 11 ill U l 1—25 



Keller llOllllllllllllOOlllOll 1 1—21 



Schmeck 1111101111111011101011111— 21 



North 0111111111011111110111110-21 



Landis 1110011111011110111101111—20 



Henry 1111011011011111111011011—20 



Terry 1011111100111111111111100—20 



Tredway UllOllOlOlinmOllOUOl— 19 



Gichter 1110110100101111111011110—18 



Shaaber , llOllOlOllOlOlolllllllOll— 18 



Thurman , 1111101111011011101000010—16 



David 0010101101111001101101111-16 



No. 10, 10 singles, $1 entry: Thurman, 10; Keller, Henry and David 

 9 each; Schmeck, Cleaver and North 8 each; Tredway, Terry and 

 Shaaber 7 each; Landis 6, Matz 3. 



Surplus shoot, 15 singles: 



Keller 111111110111111—14 Shaaber 011011111011011—11 



Landis 101111111010111—11 Henry 101111110011110—11 



Schmeck 001001110111110— 9 David 111110111111111-14 



Cleaver UlilOlllllOlOl— 12 Matz 100110111110111—11 



Terry 111110111111110—13 



Extra went No, 1, 10 singles, $1 entry: Henry and Schmeck 9 each, 

 Cleaver 8, Miller 7, Terry, Matz and Evans 6 each, North, Pfantz and 

 David 5 each, Landis and Shaaber 4 each, Greiff 3. 



Extra No. 2, same as above: Henry and Cleaver 10 each, David 9, 

 Landis, North and Shaaber 8 each, Miller and Evans 7 each, Terry, 

 Pfantz and Schmeck 6 each, Matz 4, Dick 3. 



Extra No. 3, as above: Sehmeck and Evans 10 each, Matz, Henry and 

 Terry 9 each, Landis 8, David, Shaaber and Cleaver 7 each, Dick, 

 North and Pfantz 6 each. 



The Second Day. 



Wednesday opened with the thermometer 5° above zero, a trouble- 

 some wind blowing and the atmosphere laden with snow. During the 

 day there were occasional flurries, but none of them lasted long. The 

 light was fully as annoying as on the opening day and caused many 

 a target to be missed. There were a few new arrivals, among them 

 being the genial "Billy" Fieles, the host of the Christiana (Pa.) Hotel; 

 Mr. Paddock, of the. Philadelphia Sporting goods firm of Bailey & Co.; 

 Will K. Park, of the Wilkesbarre Gun Co., and A. C. Krueger, "Black- 

 bird," of Wrightsville, Pa. The shooting was about the same on the 

 average as on the previous day, the boys not seeming to be able to 

 master the tricky light and wind. The surplus shoot resulted in the 

 pot of $11.85 going to Harvey McMurchy, who ran out 15 straight. 

 This ended the target events of the tournament and after supper 

 those who do not practice live bird shooting left for home. During 

 the two days about 4,600 targets were thrown. 



Below is a list showing the guns and powders used by those who 

 took part in the shooting to-day: 



H. C. W. Matz, Reading, Pa., L, C. Smith. American wood. 



J. C. Schmeck, Reading, Pa,, Parker, Walsrode. 



J. G. Miller, Wilkesbarre, Pa., L, C. Smith, E. C. 



G. E. Greiff, New York, Francotte, Schultze. 



F. Henry, Philadelphia, Pa,, L. 0. Smith, American wood. 



H. Thurman, Germantown, L, C. Smith, American wood. 

 J. Shaaber, Reading, Pa., L. C. Smith, Walsrode. 



W. K. Park, Wilkesbarre, Wilkesbarre, American wood. 



C. L. Terry, Camden, Del., Lefever, American wood. 



J. B. Cleaver, Camden, Del., Lefever, American wood. 



J. W. Evans, Camden, Del., L. C. Smith, American wood. 



H. L. David, Germantown, L. C. Smith, American wood. 



T. K. Keller, Piainfield, N. J., L. C. Smith, American wood. 



H. McMurchy, Syracuse, N. Y., L. C. Smith, American wood. 



A. C. Krueger, Wrightsville, Pa., Francotte, Schultze. 



J. W. Tredway, Philadelphia, Pa., Greener, American wood. 



W. R. Fieles, Christiana, Pa., Greener, Walsrode. 



E. R. David, Germantown, L. C. Smith, American wood. 



The second day's scores ran as under: 



No. 1, 10 singles, Kl entry: 



Terry 1111111111—10 Miller 0100101101— 5 



Landis 1101110111— 8 H C Matz 1011011111— 8 



Keller 1111111111—10 Evans 1110111011— 8 



McMurchy 1101111011— 8 Greiff 1011110110— 7 



Krueger 0101110100- 5 Cleaver 1101111111— 9 



Tredway 1111110111— 9 Henry 1110111101— 8 



Fieles.. O110101111— 7 Thurman 0001111001— 5 



Matz ,1101101011— 7 Shaaber 1110111100— 7 



Schmeck 1011111011— 8 David 1111101111— 9 



No. 2, 15 singles, $1.50 entry: 



Terry 011100110111111—11 Tredway 111111111111111—15 



Landis 111111111011111—14 Evans 111010111011111—12 



McMurchy 111011110111111—13 Matz 001110000100100— 5 



Keller 110111110111101—12 Cleaver 111101001111101—11 



Fieles 110010111111110—11 Schmeck 101111111111111—14 



David 111101011100111—11 Krueger 101111111111110—14 



Thurman 111111101101111—13 'Greiff 111111111011111—13 



Shaaber 111001110101101—10 



No. 3, 10 singles, $1 entry: 



Terry 11010111 11—8 Thurman 1110110010-6 



Landis 1111101111—9 Cleaver 1011011111—8 



McMurchy 1111101111— 9 Krueger 1111111111-10 



Keller 1101101111—8 Brown 0011000111—5 



Evans 1110110010-6 Schmeck lilllllllO— 9 



Fieles 11 11001101— 7 Tredway 1011111 110— 8 



David 1011111111—9 H Matz 1111010101—7 



Henry llOHOlllO— 7 Shaaber 0110111010-6 



No. 4, 20 singles, $2 entry: 



Terry lllllllOOmilOlllll— 17 Evans 11011101111101111111—17 



Landis lllimillllllllOlll— 19 Cleaver. . . .10110111111111111111—18 



McMurchy.01111101011011110111— 15 Tredway. ..lOllllllllllOlllOHO— 16 



THKeller.11111111110101111111— 18 Matz 00111111100110101111—14 



Fieles 10101111111111110111—17 Brown 11010101100111100000-10 



David OOlllOilllllllllOOll— 15 Krueger. . .11111111100111110111—17 



Henry OlllOOOlllllOlllllll— 15 Shaaber. . .11111101010111111110— 16 



Thurman. .11111110111111111110-17 Schmeck . .00110101111111011111—15 



No. 5, 10 singles, $1 entry: Terry 8, Landis 7, Tredway 10, T. H. 

 Keller 9, Fieles 8, Evans 10, Thurman 9, David 8, Henry?, McMurchy 8, 

 Grieff 7, Krueger 8, Cleaver 6. Schmeck 10, Shaaber 8. 



No. 6, 10 singles, $1 entry: 



Terry 1111111111—10 Shaaber 1111110011— 8 



Landis 1111110010— 7 Evans 1101111101— 8 



McMurchy 0111111111— 9 J W Tredway 1111111101— 9 



TH Keller 0111101110— 7 Krueger 1111111111—10 



Fieles 1110111101— 8 Cleaver 1111011110— 8 



Henry 0111011111— 8 Greiff 0111011000— 5 



Thurman 1111110111— 9 



David 1011110101— 7 



Schmeck 1101111111— 9 



No. 7, 15 singles, 81.50 entrv: 



Terry 111111111011111—14 



Landis 111110111111001—12 



Matz 1111101011— 



Harrison 1110111111— 9 



Evans 011111101010111—11 



David 010010110111011— 9 



McMurchy 110111111111011—13 Harrison 101111110101101—11 



Keller 111111101010111—12 Cleaver 010111011111110—11 



Fieles 111111011111111—14 Greiff 000110110111111—10 



Henry 110011100111011— 10 Matz 101011010111101-10 



Thurman 110111111011011—12 Krueger 111111101101111—13 



Sehmeck 1 11 llllOlllOlll— 13 Tredway 111111110110000—10 



Shaaber 110111011001010- 9 



No. 8, 10 singles, 551 entry: 



Terry ...1111 101110— 8 Landis 1101111111— 9 



McMurchy llOllllill— 9 Cleaver 1110101110— 8 



Keller llllllllll— 10 Evans 1001111111— 8 



Fieles 1101011101— 7 Matz 1100111101— 7 



Henry 1011111111— 9 Park 0111100110— 6 



Thurman 0011111111— 8 Harrison lllllOOlll— 8 



Schmeck 0001101111— 6 Krueger 1100111101— 7 



Sbaaher 1011101111— 8 Tredway .1110111111— 9 



David 1111011000— 6 



No. 9, 25 singles, $3 entry: 



Terry 0111011111110110111110101—19 - 



Landis 0011111110111111111011111—21 



McMurchy 1111111111111110011111111—23 



T H Keller , lllllllOlOllllllllOlOllll— 21 



Fieles 1111111111111111111111110-24 



Henry 1111111101010111111111110-21 . 



Thurman llOllllllllllOllOlllOOlll - 20, 



Schmeck 1100101111110111001011111—18, 



Shaaber 1110111111111110100111011—201 



Krueger 1011111111111111101011111—23; 



Cleaver . . ; 1110111110110111110111110-20 



Tredway 1111111011110011111101111—21. 



David 0111100111101111111111111—21 i 



Matz 1011111111101000110000100-14. 



Evans 0110111111111110111011101—20 



No. 10, 10 singles, $1 entry: 



Terry. 1110111101— 8 Matz 1101001010— 5 



Landis 1111111111—10 Tredway 1011111111— 9 



McMurchy 1111111111—10 Pack 1011100011— 0 



T H Keller, 0111101110— 7 David 0101111111- 8 



Fieles .1000011011— 5 Krueger 0111111011— 8 



Henry 1111011101— 8 Cleaver 1011111111— 9 



Thurman 1011111101— 8 Evans 1111111110— 9 



Schmeck 1011111101— 8 Harrison 1000011110— 5 



Shaaber 1111111111—10 



Surplus shoot, at 15 singles: 



Terry 101110111111010-11 Shaaber ,111110011111111—13 



Landis 111111101111011-13 Krueger 111111111111101—14 



McMurchy 111111111111111—15 Cleaver 101111001010101- 9 



T K Keller 110111111111111—14 David. 111101111111011-13 



Fieles 101111111111110-13 Tredway 111111111111011—14 



Henry 111111100011011—12 Matz. 311101000011110- 9 



Thurman 111110001110111—11 Evans 1100011001 11011 — 9 



Schmeck 111111100011011—11 



Extra No. 1, 10 singles, $1 entry: Thurman 9, Terry 8, Landis 9, 

 Tredway 4, Matz 9, Cleaver 8, David 7. Fieles 8. 



Extra No. 2, same as above: David 7, Landis 8, Cleaver 8. Thurman 

 3, Fieles 8, Terry 9, J. W. Tredway 8, Greiff 8, Schmeck 8, Shaaber 8, , 

 Matz 8. 



Extra No. 3. 25 singles: 



Landis 1111111111111111101111101—23 



Keller 1010011100101110101101011—15 



Krueger 1110110110111011111111111—21 



Henry , lllllllllOOlllOlOOlllllOO— 18 



McMurchy 1111111111111111101111111—24 



Fieles 1011110011111111111111011-22 



Shaaber , ..1011111011110110111111111-22 



David 1011111111111111111111111-24 



Schmeck lllllllOllOlOllllllilllOO— 20 



Thurman 1111100101111011011001110—18 



Tredway 1011011101111101111111100—19 



Extra No. 4, miss and out, $1 entry: Fieles 3, Thurman 3, Matz 1, J. ' 

 W. Tredway 0, David 5, Landis 0, Terry 5, Greiff 4, Evans 0, Schmeck 

 3, Ritter 0, Shaaber 2. 



The Third Day— Live Birds. 



The final day opened with every indication of being disagreeable. 

 About midnight the snow began falling, and in the morning when we 

 peeped out the window it was still confine down as though it meant 

 business. With the wind blowing strong from N.N.E , the snow was 

 of the fine, cutting kind that causes the cheek to tingle on short ac- . 

 quaintanee. The mercury showed about 20° above the zero mark. 

 Later in the morning it grew warmer, the wind decreased in force, 

 and between 10 and 11 the snow ceased falling. 



Shortly after 10 A. M. quite a party reached the grounds and pre- 

 pared for work. Among the new comers were "Billy" Ives, the well- 

 known sporting man from Norfolk. Va., who is anxious to match Neaf 

 Apgar against William Tell Mitchell, of Lynches Station, Va., for $250 

 a side at 100 live birds each; Milt F. Lindsley, full of American wood 

 powder lore; Capt. William Cranmer "Jones," formerly of the New- 

 ark Gun Club, but now resident in Philadelphia; Neaf Apgar, of Henry 

 C. Squires, New York, and H. A. Penrose, of the S. S. Powder Co. The 

 storm evidently frightened off the Philadelphia contingent, which is 

 usually on hand on live-bird day, and also kept away the Mahanoy 

 City, Tamaqua, Altoona and other shooters. 



As was to be expected the majority of the birds were slow to take 

 wing, the snow evidently blinding them for a time when the trap was' 

 sprung. Once on the wing, however, they proved to be strong and 

 hard flyers and caused the boys to do some close calculating in order 

 to bring them down within bounds. The first event at five birds each 

 was won by Greiff and Apgar. The second event was one wnich pro- 

 voked a good deal of enthusiasm. It was at fifteen birds, and up to the 

 ninth round Milt Lindsley and John Shaaber were even up on clean 

 scores. Shaaber missed his ninth bird, leaving Lindsley a chance to 

 win first alone. "Milt" was shooting in good form but about this time 

 he met with an accident which bade fair to handicap him, one of the 

 parts of his gun giving way, this compelling him to shoot with a bor 

 rowed and of course a strange gun. Lindsley gritted his teeth, pulled 

 his hat hard down and went on with his score, determined to do or die. 

 Now of all the frequenters of tournaments none are more popular 

 than the genial wood powder man, and the boys determined to give 

 him a "send off" if he killed straight. Bird after bird was scored to 

 him, and when he stepped to the score for his fifteenth and final round 

 the shooters all loaded their guns and quietly lined up behind the 

 score. Out went the bird, twice spake the borrowed gun, "Dead bird," 

 said the referee, and then as "Milt" turned from the score he was 

 greeted by a fusilade from the boys in line, this causing him to wonder 

 if anything had happened to affect his friends' sanity, It was a popu- 

 lar victory and everybody was pleased. Gus Greiff, the boyish-looking 

 exponent of Schultze powder, did some pretty work, getting fourteen 

 kills and taking second place alone. Third place went to Pentose and 

 Fieles. This gave American Wood powder first and Schultze second, 

 while third was divided by S. S. and Walsrode, the latter also dividing 

 fourth. Hardly enough difference in results to enable one to classify 

 the brands. 



The final event was another at 5 birds, in which Schmeck, "Tee 

 Kay" and Gichter walked off with first honors, second being divided 

 by nine others. 



Thus came to an end the third annual midwinter tournament of the 

 Reading Shooting Association, and despite the many drawbacks the 

 affair ean be classed as a big success. Everybody was in a jolly 

 humor from start to finish, and the best of gcod fellowship prevailed 

 on all sides. With better weather on Tuesday the attendance wouid 

 at least have been doubled, and had it not snowed on Wednesday night 

 there would have been close to thirty shooters on hard for the live 

 bird events. 



From the inception of this tournament it has been credited as under 

 the auspices of the Reading Shooting Association, but this we cer- 

 tainly think is incorrect. The association is comprised of over 100 

 members, and still the entire work of arranging this tournament and 

 carrying it to a successful issue was done by President Matz, Secretary 

 Eiler, J. C. Schmeck, John Shaaber and John Ritter, not one of the 

 95 other members lifting a finger to assist them. Correspondence, 

 providing birds, entertaining guests, scoring, doing office work, 

 refereeing, and in fact, everytning, was left to the "devoted five," and 

 royally did they carry out their part. During the three days we doubt 

 if three members besides the above five appeared on the grounds. 

 This is anything but creditable to the association as a body. It is 

 likely, however, that when another tournament is held in the name of 

 the association there will be less than 95 drones on the roll. 



Below are the scores pf the live bird events. Event No. 1 at 5 birds, 

 $4 entry; No. 2 at 15 birds, $10 entry ; No. 3 at 5 birds $5 entry ; four 

 moneys in each: 



No. 1. No. 2. 



Schmeck 12020 -3 202101010222121—11 



Penrose 10111—4 221212021220122—13 



Lindsley 22038-4 1888888888222:.-:-: o 



Capt Jones 10122—4 021101011201221—11 



Ives 12100-3 •102201221011101—10 



Ureiff 1 1 121— 5 102212121221222—14 



Apgar 12121—5 211020111102202-11 



Miller 10001—2 



McMurchy 11012—4 101021121100120—10 



Shaaber 11120—4 211111210210220—12 



Matz . . 21320—4 121 1001000 w 



Fieles 111211201022212—13 



Melot 212022210222201—12 



Zellers 



Fisher....... t 



Sherman 



Sheeler.... 



Harrison 



Keller 



Slipp 



Gichter 



No. 3. 

 12121-5 

 21012-4 

 20020—2 

 11202—4 

 12022—4 



02121— 4 i 



12120-4, 



2.210-3' 

 1.110—43 



12022—4 

 12202-4, 

 00002—1 

 10221-4 

 11311—5 

 12120-4 

 11211— 5; 



H. TOWNSKND. 



Trap on Staten Island. 



The regular monthly shoot of the North Shore Gun Club was held 

 at Port Richmond, S. I., Feb. 10. Although it was a perfect day for 

 shooting the attendance was small, only five members taking part in 

 contest for club medals. Each man shot at 25 bluerocks, thrown from 

 5 unknown traps. The following scores were made: Zimmerman 10, 

 Seawood 16, Bar tram 18, Westbrook 15, Howard 14. J. A. H, 



