40 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Feb. 16, 1895. 
Nebraska! Trap Notes. 
Omaha, Web., Jan. 3.— Ever since J, C. E,ead issued his broad- 
cast challenge to the live bird shots of the State, we have been 
having quite a revival at the trap. Read has three acceptances 
on his hands, and is doing a great deal of preliminary practice. 
Last Wednesday he shot a novel match with Messrs. Parmelee, 
Loomis, Montmorency and Peters. Read shot against the 
quartette for the price of the birds, he shooting at 100 live birds 
and the other four at 25 each. The weather was windy and 
disagreeable and the scores were bad: 
Read 100220200012120011102212112220 
&22212021221111121110102212*1**20221 
^10220020222211111222111*1211211222 -77 
Parmelee 2011111112201102212011120—20 
Montmorency 1011120121011121112221102—21 
Peters .2210022110200211110122000—16 
Loomis 10211002110111101112202120—18 
|-^Total B,ead, 77; Opposition, 75. Will Simeral, Esq., referee. 
'" At the regular February meetings of the Omaha and Bemis 
Park Gun Clubs, the two leading organizations in this part of 
the country, the advisability of consolidation will be discussed. 
The J. C. Read-T. J. Hardin 100 live pigeon shoot came off on 
the Bemis Park Gun Club grounds, over the river, on Thursday 
afternoon, Jan. 31. A more disgustingly bad day could not 
have been conceived. A hurricane of sand and fine snow blew 
right across the range from north to south and the thermometer 
registered 6 degrees below. Incredible as it may seem, how- 
ever, over two hundred enthusiastic sportsmen assembled on 
die grounds to witness the race, and the bulk of them had the 
fortitude to stick it out. 
Of course a roaring fire was kept up in the club house, but 
this was not roomy enough to accomodate more than a fifth of 
the crowd, and how many endured those two and a half hours 
can be better imagined than described. The match was for 
36100 a side and the price of the birds, five unknown ground 
traps, 30 yards rise, 50 boundary, American Association rules; 
Goodley Brucker, referee, S. G. V. Griswold, scorer, and C. R. 
McCord, trap puller. The shoot was considered a cinch for 
Hardin, who is possibly as good a field shot as there is living, 
and there was quite a large sum of money changed hands. 
Read was groomed and handled by Prank Parmelee in a mas- 
terly manner, and it was to that individual's close attention and 
coaching that he was enabled to win. Hardin shot a ten guage, 
and was handicapped Wo yards. Read shooting a twelve 
guage. Hardin's blunderbuss missed fire only nineteen times, 
and he lost one bird by reason of his piece failing to cock. 
There was universal disgust at Hardin's work. That an old, 
intelligent shooter of his standing would enter a public race 
with such a gun was something that all„f ailed to appreciate. 
The score follows: 
Read 02220211100*1210122222120 
222111221*221022220021112 
2110212111222122222220011 
0120222021012001222120022—78 
Hardin ; . . . .22*21111110*201 1101211011 
* ' 2112211202210*12222022110 
f 122112010221*111111001012 
2120112120101020100101010—73 
On Thursday afternoon next, Feb 7, the Read Nicolai shoot 
comes off at the same place and under the same conditions. 
Mr Nicolai resides at Sutton, and is one of the expert trap 
shots of the State. On the same day, Billy Hardin, of Council 
Bluffs and H. B. Kennedy, will shoot a 25 live bird match for 
$50 a side, and C. R. McCord, of Norfolk, Lawyer Will Simeral 
and S G. V. Griswold will enter into a little triangle, 10 birds 
each $10 a corner. With good weather there will be five hun- 
dred spectators present. With the thermometer averaging 2 
degrees below zero for two weeks, this is a pretty fair evidence 
that there is a decided revival in trap shooting interests here, 
and the spring will see this largely augmented. If the Bemis 
Park and Ooaaha Gun Clubs do not consolidate, the Omaha 
will build a new club house and fit up grounds just west of the 
city. The Raymond Gun Club also intend to make many im- 
provements on their grounds as soon as the winter breaks ur 
and altogether the outlook is exceedingly bright for the tra^ 
shooter. SANDY GRISWOLD. 
Zero, Mock Suns and Corkers- 
Such a combination as the above is calculated to make goose 
eggs plentiful, and to knock the spots off many a ninety per 
cent man. It requires a good deal of nerve any way to stack 
un against such odds. As it turned out but five of the many 
members of the Carteret Club were found willing to risk the 
effects of the biting norwester that came from some region 
bevond the great lakes, and to compete at the club's grounds, 
Bergen Point, N. J., for the President's Cup, on Wednesday, 
Feb 6 It isn't often that we of New York are treated to the 
sight of mock suns, but on the afternoon in question, Sergeant 
Dunn of the New York Weather Bureau, had some capital 
specimens on tap. It is possible that they had something to do 
with the comparatively poor scores. Again, it is seldom that, 
here on the very sea coast, zero weather is dished up to us with 
a sauce piquante of a 40-miles-an-hour wind. That, too, had 
probably something to do with the registering of such a number 
of cyphers Lastly; the pigeons at Carteret are generally only 
medium flyers; on February 6, Supt. Lumbreyer had a sur- 
prise in store for the members; his birds were strong, vigorous 
flvers-'they had been'kept well warmed and protected from the 
severe weather; this,"added to "Phil's" patent "scare ups" and 
the strong wind, caused all calculations made on the way to the 
c"ub to be rudely shattered. The birds were "corkers", scarcely 
a* duffer among the lot. The scores show that out of the 260 
birds trapped, only 182 scored as "good birds"; 22 others were 
"dead out of bounds." The following figures also speak for 
themselves: Work killed 46 out of 57, average 81 per cent.; 
Knapp with 46 out of 59, and Duryea with 42 out of 54, both 
averaged 78 per cent., Knapp's average being a fractional part 
of on! per cent, better than Duryea's; Seaver Page scored 35 
out of 47, averaging slightly better than 74 per cent. ; Stafford 
averaged 53 pe? cent., killing 23 out of 43. When men like 
those named can only make the percentages quoted above it 
goes without further parley that the shooting was extremely 
The trap score type plainly tells that there were many birds 
with incoming tendencies. And so there were, but those same 
birds came in like streaks of anything you please; the wind 
was behind them and almost all of them were in a hurry to 
keen appointments in the rear of the club house. The beauty 
of the whole affair was that there was no telling what sort of a 
bird was coming next. First it was a towering or twisting 
driver then would come a left quarterer that skimmed s viftly 
over the frozen snow; the next bird might be an incomer that 
was blown high into the air by the wind the instant the trap 
was opened, being driven back over the score like a cock 
grouse, down a Jersey hillside There was lots of fun m it, 
both for shooters and the onlookers. Some excellent kills 
mieht be mentioned, but it would take too long for particulars. 
In the cup match, Work, the donor, came out ahead by doing 
the best shooting of the nay. The cup has now been competed 
for five times: Knapn won it twice, the dates being Dec. 19 and 
Tan 2- Fred Hoey won it on Dec. 5; Seaver Page made 20 
straight on Jan. 16, and^cored a win; Work's win on this occa- 
S1 °ThIone-handed matches that brought the afternoon's work 
to a close, produced some very pretty work. Jpiapp's shooting 
in these events is noticeable on account of this being bis first 
essay at that kind of thing. Louis Duryea and George Work 
are experts at that kind of shooting. On Friday, Feb. 15, they 
shoot a match at 10 > birds each; 50 using both hands and 50 
using but one hand; Duryea calculates that he can beat Work 
in the one-handed half-century sufficiently far to counteract 
whatever lead (if any) Work may obtain over him when they 
use both hands. In 'event No. 4 Mr. Page was unfortunate 
enough to have his gun go back on him, in the 6th round, just 
when he was in the happy position of having the ouly straight 
score. His misses in the 8th and 10th rounds were probably 
due to the necessary change of weapons. 
President's Cup, 20 live birds, handicap rise, optional sweep- 
stakes, two moneys, high guns: 
Trap score type copyright by Forest ana Stream, 1895. 
35152515334545113254 
, ;»-k-*-<-k'?<-\t i m — Vi^-T^-^ 
Geo Work, 31yds 11 2112222221111*202 1—18 
43515354224333421231 
J P Knapp, 31 2 02222*222*20322222 2-16 
31432332312251224352 
J Seaver Page, 30 212121110122*10022 2-16 
442112223555 
L T Duryea, 30 2 0 2 * 2 2 1 * S 2 0 Ow — 7 
524442143 
W A H Stafford. 27 2 0 2 * 0 0 0 1 * w — 3 
No. 1. No. 2. No. 5. No.'6. 
32341 45555 21111 5353344 
T/TT\ TM-M- /T-V/ /(rV\t^-» 
Duryea, 30. .. .2 2 2 0 2 -4 1 2 2 2 2—5 2 2 2 0 *— 3 2 2 2 2 2 0 2—8 
53524 24111 
Page, 30 * 0 0 2 2— 2 1 2 2 2 2-1 
13145 4415 31215 4355422 
Knapp, 31 2 2 2 0 0-3 2 0 2 2 —3 1 2 0 1 0-3 2 1 2 1 2 # * *— 3 
34512 4423 51551 2444 
Work, 31 0 0 1 2 2-3 201* —2 12*2 1-4 1 2 2 0 -3 
35321 23142 3434 32 
Stafford, 27. ..2 2 2 0 0-3* 1 0 2 2 2-4* 01*2 —2*0 0 
♦Divided, Stafford taking allowance. 
No. 3. No. 4. 
4215224415' 1253243553 
Duryea, 30 2 02222112 0—8* 0212222122 ~9 
2 5 55211 1524323841 
Page, 30 *12 12**w —4 2121221010 -8 
251152452 544424452 
Knapp, 31 1 22222222 —9 022220221w —7 
232213422 4535221122; 
Work, 31 2 1 2 * 2 1 1 2 0 —7* 21*2222122 -9 
143545 5144211515a 4_ 
Stafford, 27 0 00120 —2 002221102122-^ 
♦Divided second without Work shooting his ninth bird . 
Nos. 1 and 2 were five bird sweeps, Stafford being allowed 
one miss as a kill. Nos. 3 and 4 were 10 bird sweeps, Stafford 
allow jd two misses as no birds. Nos. 5 and 6 were five bird 
sweeps, Duryea, Work and Knapp shooting one-handed, Staf- 
ford using both hands, standing on the 30 yards mark. 
Edwabd Banks. 
very hard bird, and' his 43d, both fell dead out of bounds, and 
Elliott had killed both his birds in those rounds, the score was 
again a tie. Work wound up his first half century with a 
splendid kill of a very fast driver from No. 4. Both men were 
a tie, with 45 out of 50 when Elliott killed his 50th bird, an easy 
one from No. 2. The first 100 was shot in 70 minutes, 37 min- 
utes having been consumed in shooting at the last 50 birds. 
It was in the third series of 25 birds that Work really lost the 
match, losing four birds, all dead out of bounds; Elliott killed 
his 25 straight. Work's first cypher in this series was in his 
olth bird, an extremely fast driver from No. 3; this bird fell 
dead just over the 21 yards boundary. His 57th and 59th birds 
were terrors, as good birds as ever were trapped; both towered 
slightly, and apparently Work rather undershot them; one fell 
dead just behind the dead line, circling back after it was hit; 
the other pitched head foremost into the snow, without a kick 
left in him, close to the outside fence. In the series that closed 
at the end of the 75th round, Elliott manifestly "outlucked" his 
opponent; the birds drawn by each man presented time and 
again a remarkable contrast in that respect. Elliott was un- 
doubtedly shooting well and cleanly, but it is rather improb- 
able that he would have had a straight score had he drawn the 
birds that Work drew in ithat 25. The 75th round found Elliott 
four to the good, a lead that was almost insurmountable unless 
luck changed completely. 
In the last 25 both men shot very well indeed; the united 
totals of 47 out of 50, three dead out of bounds, two of them 
inside the 50 yards boundary, makes a remarkable record, the 
quality of the" birds being much improved. Work's 77th and 
Elliott's 78th were both hard birds, extremely well killed. 
Work's 81st carried his lead just inside the 50 yards boundary, 
Elliott's 85th serving him the same trick. Work's 82d, 86tn, 
87th, 95th and 98th birds were all very fast birds indeed; his 
97th was hit hard with both barrels, but managed to fly clear 
up to and against the outer fence, before falling dead. Elliott's 
82d, 83d, 96tb, 97th, and 99th, were all excellent kills of hard 
driving birds. Out of his last 59 birds Elliott lost but one, his 
85th, above mentioned, which would have been scored had the 
boundary been the usual one of 50 yards instead of 21 yards. 
The largest runs were: Elliott, 41, 26 and 15; Work, 27 and 15. 
Of Work's eleven lost birds, two fell dead inside the 50 yards 
boundary, and 7 fell dead outside that boundary but inside the 
lot; Elliott had three dead out of bounds, two of them inside the 
50 yards boundary. 
The result of the match cannot be said to satisfactorily de- 
termine the merits of the two men. Work was not shooting in 
his usual form, frequently undershooting towering birds. In addi- 
tion to this he was certainly not fortune's favorite; the luck of 
the birds was decidedly against him, Elliott himself acknowl- 
edged this in a very straightforward way after the match was 
over: "1 must admit," said he, "that I had the luck of the birds 
with me." On the other hand Elliott had a bad cold and a 
heavy cough, which necessitated frequent applications of Piso's 
Cure for Consumption during the two hours and ten minutes 
which it took to shoot the 200 birds. He complained, too, that 
never in all his pigeon shooting experiences had the five traps 
looked so far away from the score; he added, also, that never in 
anv previous match had he used so much ammunition! He shot 
well, there's no two ways about that, although the birds were 
not really fast as a general rule in the Westminster Kennel 
Club's sense of the word. They were good birds, with several 
hummers among them The traps fell to each man as follows: 
Elliott Defeats Work. 
<" When George Work agreed to shoot Elliott a race at live 
birds, it was generally believed among the few who were aware 
of the match that, whichever man won, he would, after the 
race was over, at any rate, have the pleasure of knowing that 
he had been engaged in a shooting match. Work's great, hold 
is upon fast birds with a short boundary; Elliott believed .that 
he could beat him under those conditions, and, as Work was 
willing, a friendly race was soon arranged. 
The event was brought off on the Westminster Kennel's 
Club grounds at Babylon, L. I., on Thursday, Jan, 7. Both 
parties were in high hopes of a strong wind on that day, a wind 
coining fast from the north would cause the birds to tax the 
skill and quickness of each man. They were disappointed, how- 
ever, the gale of the previous day, which made the Carteret birds 
fly well, died away during the night, until a gentle breeze was 
all that was in evidence when Thursday morning broke. At 
Wantagh, half way or so between Long Island and Brooklyn, 
fine snow began to fall listlessly; this was about noon. At 
Babylon, when the match commenced at 12.17. gentle puffs of 
the breeze that chopped around to all points of the compass be- 
tween West, North and East, served at times to raise our hopes 
that a good wind would show up before the match was over. 
It never came, though, and the birds had to do it all themselves. 
At the hour mentined, 12.47, Work, having won the toss, 
went to the score and killed; Elliott followed suit. The first 50 
birds, trapped in 33 minutes, found both men with clean scores 
of 25 each. Elliott was the first to let a bird go; his 27th was a 
fast, strong bird, that was hit with both barrels but got away, 
only to meet its fate at the hands of a scout down by the barn. 
This was the only bh-d those scouts had anything to do with; it 
was a cold day for them, with no potpie at the end of it! 
Work slipped up on his 28th, by no means a hard one; it was 
barely touched and flew round to the coop as if nothing was the 
matter. The score was thus a tie again. Elliott's 30th bird 
w r as a towering left quartering driver from No. 5; it was only 
lightly hit, probably shot under, with the first barrel, the 
second dropping it stone dead only just a few inches inside the 
boundary. Work's 32d was a hummer from No. 1, that re- 
quired a very quick second to score it. Then Elliott, for his 
33d, drew a driver from .No. 2, not extra fast at that, which he 
hit hard with both barrels; the pigeon, however, reached the 
barn in safety. Work thus again had a lead of one, but only 
for a few minutes as he was slow on his 35th bird, shooting too 
far behind'a right quarterer from No. 1. A tie once more. The 
36th round" saw no change in the position of affairs, both men 
having their birds drop dead out of bounds. Work's was a 
very fast driver from No. 2, that fell stone dead about seventy 
yards from the trap, while Elliott's was a right quartering 
driver that seemd to duck at the flash of the first shell; it was 
killed with the second barrel, but fell several yards over the 50 
yards boundary. Work went ahead in the next round the 
37th, when Elliott drew a "flipper" from No. 2; it was clean 
missed with| the first barrel; the second load of shot was a foot 
to the right of the bird as it sat on the ground, Elliott trying to 
kill it so as to get a no bird. After these two narrow escapes 
the bird jumped up and sailed gently over to the club house, 
Elliott being credited with a lost bird. Work went still further 
ahead in the 41st round, when a strong right quarterer from 
No. 5 earned both of Elliott's loads over the 21 yai-ds boundary, 
dropping stone dead about three yards inside the 50 vards wire 
fence. This lead of two thus early in the race, made Work's 
chances look very rosy for a few seconds; but when his 42d, a 
Work, 
Elliott, 
No. 1 L No. 2. 
30 21 
25 19 
55 40 
No. 3. 
19 
15 
34 
No. 4. 
13 
23 
36 
No. 5. 
17 
18 
35 
The guns and ammunition'of each man was as folows: Work, 
Purdy gun, 48 grs. American E, C, in the V. L. and D. Spec- 
ial shell manufactured by the U. M. C. Co. ; Elliott, Greener 
gun, 48 grs. American E. C, in the Winchester Repeating Arms 
Co.'s new Leader shell, with their No. 4 primer. The following 
gives all the further details of this match: 
Trap score type, copyright by Forest awl Stream, 1895. 
25 5 3313141525511151151255 
Geo Work 
2 22221121222122222222222 3-25 
1533311331231521234313314 
1202212220*12121**232222 1-20 
2343215114251 
. 
2 2 2*13 
221554 5:2 1234 
2*112211122212*11 1—21 
3423241 422133421424141121 
T ? l-> T->T ->->7 T-»T T I ?/*^*- 
13322*221111212121122*12 2—23—89 
125311 5 44 i;4 13424533511134 
-> T \/ s £S H 4- 1 <-4 1 TH^ T \ T/*^-> T-+ ? 
JAR Elliott. .1 2222221222212212233333 I 2—25 
5533521241121245523434422 
102 2 223011*0122*31231222 2—20 
5533433452214324343512154 
t \->-M— T/"-*/W/ S< — >T->-»i->T 
21222313331131211 1 312323 2—35 
3 1 4 2 3 1T2 145514444112154112 
233331232*12212331222321 2—24-94 
EDWARD BANKS. 
Declined With Thanks. 
San Antonio, Texas.— A certain gun club in this 'city is in 
receipt of a neatly written letter, fresh from the typewriter, of 
an enterprising but erratic mayor of an Illinois town, contain- 
ing a novel and unique request cut bias. It comes to south- 
west Texas in the conventional full dress, but I propose to give 
it to Forest and Stream rather decollette. 
The writer says that he proposes to shoot three matches with 
Dr. Carver, otherwise known by the Indians as the Evil Spirit 
of the Plains, and by trap shooters as the bete noir of aspirant 
trap shooters who desire notoriety. 
The gentlemen will shoot one match in Illinois, one in Arkan- 
sas, and, if the club in San Antonio pays all expenses, lends its 
name and embonpoint to the occasion, they will shoot the third 
match in San Antonio for the modest consideration of 50 per 
cent, of the gate receipts. 
I might give the Illinois official's name, and would but for the 
fact that some very good friends of mine told me to-day that 
he was a good fellow only gone wrong for this time. I will 
state right nere, for the benefit of all parties concerned, that 
the sportsmen of southwest Texas are well up in trap shooting, 
and that a contest which smacks seriously of hippodrome finds 
no favor with them. They don't care about seeing the Illinois 
mayor shoot with Dr. Carver for gate money. They shoot 
themselves, and if the gentleman from the Sucker State would 
spend a little of the gate receipts which be will undoubtedly 
secure through his two matches in Rlinois and Arkansas, buy a 
railroad ticket to San Antonio, we might be induced to put him 
against a little Dutchman that we know of and that lives in 
Cuero. A few simoleons of the realm might be won in this 
manner by the gentleman, but I hardly think his proposed con- 
test with the Evil Spirit would draw any more than the cheap 
cigars that can be purchased in our trans-San Pedro district. , 
* TEXAS FIELD, j 
