Feb. 6, 1897.] 
.FOREST AND STREAM. 
119 
I^archmont's Amateur Championship. 
The third annual contest for the Larchmont amateur champion 
ship took place on the shooiiag: grrounds of the Larchmont, N Y. 
C, Friday at d Saturday, Jan. 59-30. The weather was all against 
large scores, a st:ronB: northwest wind that reached the dignity of a 
gale about midday on Friday forming an extremely large factor in 
the matter of scores. Time after time, too often in fact for an ac- 
curate record of such happenings to be kept, birds were swept out of 
bounds with the wind under their wings. A 21yds. boundary may be 
all right on slow birds, but on birds such as were trapped at Larcti- 
mont on the above dates the element of luck far too heavily dis- 
counted skill A swift right-quarterer from No 5 trap was no second 
barrel bird. It had to be a center with the right or the chances were 
it would be over the botmda y whether the second barrel did its work 
or not. The totals, barring Welch's look decidedly ragged, but 
every allowance must be made short boundary line, strong quarter- 
ing wind and the very best birds obtainable. Ttie winner's 9i is a 
splendid record to loots back upon, and was the result of extraor- 
dinary precisioT with the flr-jt barrel. Welch won the cup by fairly 
and squaraly outshooting his opponents, never letting an easy one 
get away from him and scoring m iny a sereatner that looked like a 
streak as it left the traps. 
KNAPP WON IS 1895. 
The Larchmont amateur champioTiship was first iuaugm-ated in the 
winter of 1895, the contest bsiog held on Jan. 11-13. At that time the 
club's BOyds. boundary wa-^ in. use, and J. P. Knapp won the trophy 
and the title with a score of 95, scoring 49 out of his last .50, the lost 
bird being one that he had kuocked to the ground with his first barrel 
and neglected to put in his second, as it looked so safe. When the dog 
went for it the bird rose and fell outside the boundary before being 
gathered. George Work wag .second with 90, Louis Duryea running 
inio third place with 89. In that year there were six other entries: 
Capt Money, Dr. W. Wynn, Fred G. Moore, C. Furgueson, W. S Edey 
and E. G. Potter. 
EDGAB. MXIKPHT m 1896, 
In 1896 the contest took place on Jan. 10-11. On this occasion there 
were fourteen entries: Edgar Murphy, C. A. Macalester, J. P. Euapp. 
Louis Duryea. George Wo-k, H B. Gilbert, Yale Dolan, Fred G. 
Moore, Fred Hoey, E. F. Thomas (of Denver), W. A. H. Stafford. W. 
G. Broltaw. W S. Edey and J. B Ellison. At the close of the 100th 
round Murphy and Macalester were tied with 92 eat;h. Murphy win- 
ning on the shoot-off. Kaapp ran into third place with 90, Duryea 
taking fourth money with a total of 89, the same total that he made 
in 1895. The club's ."JOyds boundary was used and, as in U9% all stood 
at 30yds. Both the above matches were refereed by the late John S 
Hoey. 
THE CONTEST OF 1897. 
The nvmiber of entries this year were larger than in 1S9R. Although 
the" number of shooters only re ich-'d the same total as last year, viz , 
14, the entry list was larger, and at least one more shooter would have 
been on hand had not J. P. Knapp been prevented from taking pa' c 
in the shoot owing to ihe daach of a near relative. Mr. Knapp'.s 
absence was felt very severely, as he has been the moving spirit in 
all three contests; in fact, it is to hitu alone that the Larchmont ama- 
teur championship really owes its bting. 
The event, is op.»n only to rneratj^rs of certain clubs, among them 
being: Westminster Kennel Club, Tuxedo, Country Club West- 
cliester, Larchmont Y. C . Carrerat. Riverton Gun CInb, Piiiladelphia 
Gun Club, New Utrecht Qua C ub, et j The lidt of 11 entries was as 
follows: Carteret: George Work, Fred Hoev, G. S. McAlpio, W. A. 
H Stafford and R. A. Welch; Larchmont: VV. Wynn, L T. Durvea, 
Kr-'d «. Moore, E. G Murpbr and A. Marshall; Country Club: H. B, 
Gilbert; Riverton Gun Club: T. S. Dindo; Philadelphia Gun Club: C. 
A. Macalester: New Utrecht Gun Club: O. M. Meyer. Scanning the 
above lisf, it will he noticed that outside of Knapp. of the Larc imoat 
Club, and Leonard Fmletter, of the Riverton Club, all the more 
prominent amateurs of clubdom were represented at Larchmont on 
Jan. 3if-30. 
CONDITIONS OF THE SHOOT. 
The conditions of this year's shoot were materially altered from 
those that had governed t he previous contests. In the first plac?, the 
boundary line was reduced to one of 21yds. in place of thrf SOyds. 
boundary that had governed the first two contests. SeGond, t'oe con- 
ditions imder which men were "callel out" were changed, and this 
change was the cause of so m') slight difficulty. The ciause read as 
follows: "At the end of the . 0th round shooters with 10 misses are 
out if lower than 8th place; at the end of the 60th round shooteis 
with lii misses are out if lower th lu 8th place; at the end of the Tuth 
round shooters wiih 15 misses are out if lower than 8th place. 
Thereafter the referee will retire shooters 'with a privilege' when 
advisable to hurry he finish." The wording of the above parajrap i 
is plain enough, bus the fact that some of those who were shootiug 
had not read tiie conditions carefully caused some little dissatisfaction 
for a time. It had been supposed that icose who were out under the 
above ruling would be ehgibie to shoot up pLOvided th^v had any 
chance of getting in for mon-y .-iucQ had been the custom m pre- 
vious contests. This year, however, the ^hooting committee of the 
club decided to make the change as above in order to facilitate the 
shooting off of the event. 
Under this clause C. A. Macalester, Prad Hqay, 0. M. Meyer and 
W. A. H. Stafford were retired at the end of the '59th round -Ihe fl st 
day's shoot Mr. Marshall retired voluntarily at the end of the •34th 
round. Edgar Murphy was dropped at the end of the 60th round, the 
other eight men still in being ahead of him, he being in ninth place 
with the total of 15 misses out of the 60 shot at. When it was seen 
that both Macalester, Hoey and Murphy would have stood a show to 
get at any rate part of second, third or fourth money, the three above 
named protested at not being allowed to shoot lip. The shootiug 
committee, however, decided to stick to the programme, a copy of 
the conditions having been furnished to each entry. It may seem a 
little arbitrary to make such a ruling, particularly as the event is 
one of two days' shooting, and a bad start may often be atoned for 
by a good piece of uphill shooting (for instance, Murphy's work on 
the second day in '96;, Still there was nothing unfair in 'the matter: 
due notice had been given, and all entries shot under the conditions 
named. It was a case of "the same for all." 
As a point of interest, it may be mentioned that Fred Hoev and 
Macalester would have had to score la out of 60 on the second day to 
get a portion of fourth money, while E Jgar Murphy would have had 
to kill 37 out of the last 40 to get a portion of that same money. All 
three contracts would have been hard ones, judging from what the 
other shooters did and the way the birds were flyinff. 
WEATHliK AND THE BIRDS. 
As Stated above, the weather on the first day was all in favor of the 
birds. Ofl the second day there was no'hing like ths wind of the 
first, but still the birds showed thit the Gilberts, of Philailelphia had 
doue their part in fulflliinutbe contract for furnishing -'Giloert m'atch 
birds." The pigeons were a marvelously good lot; all-blu .clean 
of wing, tail and feet; slim built, and witn that racv air that makes a 
really good bluerocn look he ttioroughbred that he is. The way 
they left the traps on the >-econd day, with a wind that quartpred in 
from left to right, was something a ionishiug. A.g]anc2 at ihe de- 
tailed score w 11 sho.v that right quarterers (drivers and incomers) 
far outnumbered the left-quarterers each day. No, 5 trap was a 
dea ly one; right quartering birds from tnat trap were too swift tor 
the judicious use of the second barrel vvheu the iir.st had failed in ics 
« ork. It was a case of pit-pat, and if the ''pit" didn't do i:s duty 
•■pat" had small chance to score the bird. For our'part. we don't feel 
.luoh warmth toward a ^'lyds. boundary, particularly under such 
weather conditions as esisted on both days at Larchmont; the ele- 
iueut of luck in Ihe draw of traps and birds entering too argely into 
.what should really be a contest of skill only as far as possible. 
On Thursday, Jan. t8, it looked very much as if the Larohmjuc 
shooting committee had made an unlucky choice of dates. A 24- 
hours' snow, chat did not stop falltag until well op toward night oa 
• lie asth, had bni ied o^ery thing a foot deep. Friday morning biok^ 
cjld and clear, with a temperature of about 15°, perhaps less and 
with a strong wind from the uorthwest that drifted the fine snow be- 
fore it m a way that made it take all sorts of curious shapes when it 
fell to leewara of any nou.se, fence, rock, etc. By noon the force of 
the wind had reached somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 miles an 
hour, but toward evening the wind droppea with the sun. Saturday 
was as pleasant a day, barring the extremely frosty natui-e of the 
air, as one could wi.sh. Thero was a wind, out it never reached the 
class of that which prevailed oa Friday. In addition to lois it had 
veered several points more to the north, blowing directly into 'the left 
eye of the shooter as he stood at the score, the traps facing about 
nor'nor'east. 
The energy of the management of tbe shoot was well shown by 
the expedition with which ev .ry particle of snow had been removea 
from the infield. On the arrival of the 9:03 train from New York 
over iheN. Y., N. H. .it H. R. R., Fred Knof, the club's manager cf 
the shooting grounds, had everything in readiness, the ground insi( e 
theaiyds. boimdary being entirely clear of snow, with the exception 
of a patch in the extreme left hand corner near the deadhue ruw 
clearing off of the snow did its work, and the buds were not bothered 
in the slightest by the conditions that usually prevail after a heavy 
snowfall. They did not find themselves suddenly released in a daz- 
zhng waste of snow; hence they left the traps with a readiness that 
could not have been obtained otherwise. 
It is irapos.-sible to review the match in detail. Our trap s-ore 'y p<» 
tells the story aptly, and each shot can be followed iuteiligfntlv bv 
uotiug the number of the trap and the flight of each bird The cuoi 
ber of the trap is oepesijary In order tbac ^ proper ooneeption of eacii 
bird's flight can be made. A circling incomer to the right from No. 1 
trap is a totally different kind of a bird to shoot at to one that leaves 
No. 5 trap and follows the same direction A few comments on the 
shootiug of each man will, however, not be out of place. 
R, A. WELCH, THE WINNKR. 
With the solitary exception of the Elkwood Park inaugural shoo^ 
on Jsin. 21, we have never seen Mr. Welch do any shooting to amount 
to much since the Pennsylvania State shoot at Altoona, Pa., in 1894. 
On that occasion he carried all before him, winning the State cham- 
pionship afier a hard struggle, and scoring during the day a total of 
8; out of 83 shof. at. At Elkwood Park he won the Patten cup with 25 
straight, and also won more than an average amount of the sweeps 
shot on the same day. At Larchmont he shot iu as good form as 
ever, his exc^lleut first barrel standing him in gooi stead on many a 
hard bird. I', must not he f upposed that Weluh cannot use his second 
barrel; several magnificent kills were credited to him that were due 
entirely to a well and quickly placed second, after the first had been 
betdnd or under the bird. His ''Ready" and ''Pull" were given with 
an energy and ear esiness that show his evident steadfastness cf 
purpose to score the bird. His whole frame (not a large one by any 
mi^ans) is jarred when he give* the cautionary word and the signal to 
pull the trap. An impression is abroad that Welch was favored in 
th'i luck of the birds. It may be that he did have somewhat the best 
of it on the first day, but there was not one of his thirteen competitors 
who did not own up frankly that he won the cup aud the title strictly 
on his own merits. His double figure runs were 18, 87 (?0 ai the end 
of the firsf day, and 17 at the commencement of the second day), 12 
anil'. Hesho^ a Purdey hammer gun, 4Sgrs. of Schultze, 'wi h 
l^jgoz. of No. 7>2andNo 7 
GEORGE S M A1.PIN 
The winner of second honors was 8 birds behind Welch when it 
came to a finish, McAlp'u'd fcore of 81 was the direct result of some 
very good shooting. Many of his shots were of the phenomenal 
order, and showed that his present position in the amateur trap 
shooting world is not due to chance or luck. George McAl pin has, 
like CA'ery body else, his ueculiarities. As good a companion as one 
can wish for, fuU of life and always ready with a joke, and just as 
willing to take as to give one, when shooting pigeons and "down to 
business" he is somebody else, all seriousue.ss and full of nerves. 
His keennes* for the spnft is shown by his promptitude at the score 
He followed Dr. Wynn, and as soon as the doctor left the club house 
to take his plac at the score McAlpiu was right after him, a yard 
behind. Taking his place at the head of the two steps that led down 
off the platform to the score, his back against thepuUing house, he 
wateht d the doctor's performance silently. When his turn came he 
stepped down to the score with a delicacy of step that might make 
L'jie Fuller envious. Without being irreverent, we might mention 
that be reminded us of the Amalekite A?ag. who walked ''deli- 
citely"when he came face to face with his Jewish captor. And at 
the Srcore everything had to be just so; bis mustache was stroked, his 
right hand rubbed on the outsiae of his black Norfolk jacket, and the 
.stock of his gun given just the proper "outside edge" twi^t before 
being placed against his shoulder, Then came th^ cautionary signal, 
'• A.re you ready," iu full As soon as Fred Knof hsd answered back 
"Ready," McAlpin's gun was put up to his cheek three or four times 
aud then slightly drojified. A pause of five or six s«conds eisued 
while he stood motionless in that attitude, and then came the word 
'•Pull" loud and clear. The instant the trap opened his eye caught it, 
and up to his cheek went ihe gun, and as a rule do vu came the oir.i 
Notwithstanding his run of 19 strai ht in his first 25, w think he shot 
in really better form during the la^t 25. when he totaled sa out of 
25, wi'h one dead oui of bouu'^s Both of the two lost birds may be 
attributed to his extra care, Dr. Wvnn having dropped his birds in 
the same rounds, and McAIpin only needing a kill to make him a tie 
for second place. His 8Sih bird should have been scored, but his 
anxiety probably had much to do with his shooting behind it, as it 
came in to the left from No. 2 trap, as easy a shot as one could wish 
for. Duriug his last ;5 he was like himself, all mirth and full of 
chaff, joking all the time. His double figure runs were 19, 12 and 10 
He shot a Purdey gun, with 48grs of Schultzeand IJ^oz. ot No. 7>^ 
and 6. 
WILLI AJI Wi'NN. 
Probably no one outside of Edgar Murphy did more to create fun 
at this shoot than Dr. W. Wynn, of Brocklyn, who. despite his sixty 
odd years (may we be pardoned for meniioniDg his age!) held his 
own in second place, and only yielded it late in (he day to George 
McAlpin, who beat him out by 1 bird. The Larchmont grounds ire 
favorites with Dr. Wynn, and it is on them that he has done his best 
shooting, running 50 straight on one occasion recently. In last year's 
contest he was well up it the end of the first day, but" fell dowu"inthe 
last 50, His score of on the present occasion was the result of 
some good work with tne gun, his first barrel nearly always doing 
the work, the second being used "for safety." Naturalfy" he had 
many rooters who '•pulled" for him when he went to the score. 
Whenever a bird got away from him, which was not very often until 
the last string of 25, there was a small chorus of lamtntaiions from 
bis rooters, who were far more distressed than the doctor: he, after 
mis-ing a bird, was more likely than not to look after it and sing 
"Good-by, Sweetheart," coming back from these re with a joke on 
his lips. His sin gle doublt-fisure run was one of 18. His gun was a 
Parker, loaded 'with 4'grs. of Schullze and IJioz. of No. 7 in both 
barrels. 
H. B. GILBERT. 
H. B, Gilbert owed his position as toutth in the race to a steady 
piece of work on his last birds. After losing the first 2 in that 
string, the 7Tth bird falling dead just over the boundary, he settled 
r own and pounded out 23 straight, the longest run made oa ei her of 
the two days 1 ■ e got a bad start in the race, scoring only 1 7 out of 
his first -^5, and also seemed in daneer of going to pieces between the 
70ih ana 80th rounds of the match. He was plaitly out of foim in 
the earlier stages of the match, and complained of his health a good 
deal. Oo the second day a change of guns worked well, and his one 
regret was that he had not made the change to a longer stocked gun 
earlier. He stands very erect at the score, and one would think that 
he handicapped himself very seriously by placing the ourside of his 
left foot from the heel to the toe tight up against the slat t hat i-oarked 
the 30yds. score. Taking that position and placing our left foot in 
precisely the same way th«t he did, we found it decldedlv hard to 
swing in the direction of No. 1 trap. Gilbert is really an excellent 
shot, and fully deserved the position he look in Ihe race. His double- 
figure runs were i'3 unfinished and 12. He shot a Purdes' g n,with 
48grs. of Schuhze and l^ieOz. of No. 7. 
LOUIS T. DUHTEA. 
For the past ten years there has not been a more consistent shooier 
in the amateur circles of New York than Louis Duryea. His reco d 
of third in 1695 and fourth in 1696, each time with a score of 8,t, shows 
that; Duryea (or Davei port, as he us.ially calls himself when shoot- 
log) is strictly in it. Tnis year he dropped out of t;he money on his 
98th bird, and finished one behind Gilbert with 81. On the first day 
he shot steaoiiy, scoring 2J and 21 respectively out of his two st ints 
of 25 each On the second day he had ihe misfortune to break the 
gun he was shooting, and had to take his second gun, the change 
probably causing him the loss of some of the birds that got awiay 
from him between the 71st and 77th rounds inclusive. In those seven 
rounds he dropped five birds, three falling dead out of hounds. His 
i)3th bird was lost owing to his neglect of acauticnof the referee's. 
In the 66th round he could not pull the right trigger. Tne referee 
tried it, and found that it would not pull off, but that the left v\as all 
right. The gun was opened and an empty shell put in, but again the 
trigger would not work. After opeuing it once or twice again it 
seemed to be all right, b t the referee warned him that the giin was 
defective and that he must abide by the consequences if he per.-isted 
iu usin^ the gun, and it went back on him again. He n as allowed an- 
other bird under the club's rule (a very proper one) that a defect of 
the gun should be trea ed as a defect of a si: ell. He killed his (j6bh 
an 1 67th birds, but the gun failed again on the OSth, and he had to 
take a lost bird, which he did withou" a murmur, walking away from 
the score without even making a remark. His double-figure runs 
were 21 and 14 He shoots a FrancoCte gun, and 4agr8. of Suhulize 
with of No, 7 shot. 
GECRGE WORK. 
The shooting capabilities of George Work are so well known that 
very liitle of interest can be added to that of which mention has been 
made so many times in the columns of Forest and Stream, A fin. 
ished s looter, with an easy siyle aud a lightning sec ma barrel, he is, 
when in form, as good as tne best, amateur or professional. He 
made a name tor himself when in England last year, and won more 
honors prooably than a.Dy American who has ever shot on tiie 
grounds latHurlingham or the Gun Club, Netting Hill. At present 
he is havmg an off time and doesn't seem to be able to pull nimself 
together. His own words are: ''I don't know where I'm shootitg." 
At the stfi.rt of the rac-* be shot in his trut^ form and ran 18 strai-'nt 
before losing a bird. He then finished hi ^ first string with 24, a greac 
total on such birds and in s-dch a wind. He looked all over a winner 
Then came a break and he dropped 4 out of hjs nest 5 birds, finishing 
with 19 out of the second S3 and a total of 43 out of the 50. On the 
sei-ond day he shot very raggedly, making inexplicable misses on 
e-i-y birds, iuterspersing mem with star kills that called forth rounds 
of applause. He finally retired at the end of the 96th round with. 76 
kill- 10 his name. His two double figure runs were 18 and li. He shot 
a Ch. rcUiU liammer giui loaded with olgis. of Scnultze and ll4oz of 
l<t8 8 and 7>S' 
T. S. DANDO. 
Ihe left-handed representative from ihe R.yerton Quu Club madd 
a fair start with 20 out of his first 25, but droppsd down to IS in the 
second string, just managing to tie for eighth place and thus earning 
the right to stay in the race on the second day. He shoots ordinarily 
with his gun well down from the shoulder when calling "PuU," and 
does notpu6 it up until the bu-d is well on the wing. He thus handi- 
capped himself 2 or -Syds. on the fast birds he drew on (he. 
first day, many of his lost birds being distinctly attributable to this 
habit of his. In his third -26 he ran 8'J, drawing several ver,y hard 
birds, but Idlling them well. He held hi.s gun to the shoulder and 
pinned his fast birds as easily as his slow ones. He asked permissinu 
to retire at the end of rhe 90th round, with a total of 70 out of the 90 
to his credit. In bis last 15 birds he drew some corkers, but made a 
bad mess of his 83d, an easy bird. Hemadearuu oflH. his sohtary 
double-figure run. He shot a Smith gun, 50grs, of Schultze and IWoz. 
of STos, 7 and 8. 
BRED G. MOORE. 
HI luck seems to pursue Fred Moore when shooting for Larchmont 
cups The grounds do not appear to suit him, and on this occasion he 
retired at the end of the 86th round with 2J misses out of 86 shot at 
At the end of the first 5T he was tn 6th place with 40 kills and several 
dead out of bounds. He scarcely seems able now to get into his old 
form, and it is only occasionally that he gets into one of his winning 
streaks. He shoots quickly and does noi take long when he is at the 
score. Throwing his gun to his shoulaer, he swings rapidly but 
rather stiffly from No. 5 to No. 1 trap and back to No. 3; then jog- 
gles his sun (we can't think of the propter word) once or twice up and 
down over No. 3 trap. Next comes a sharp "Are you readys^" with 
the word "Pull!" right on top of the puller's "readV " On both davs 
he made several extra good kills, but never seenied to be favored 
with any "of the luck." He made one rim of 15 straight between the 
33d and 4 9'h rounds. He Shot a Purdey ^un, 48grs. of Schultze and 
jj^oz of No. 7. 
EDGAR GIBBS MURPHT. 
The life of the shoot was the "ex-champion," Edgar Gibbs Murph.y. 
It seems a pity that a man of such shooting abilities as Edear 
Murphy will not, does not or cannot always keep himaelf in practice. 
He is nearly always now an unknown quantity owing lo lack of prac- 
tice. He seems, too, to take less interest in his work than any other 
shooter. His "abandon,'' as he would probably term his behavior 
at the score, is refreshing, but a little more care for the matter in 
hand would frequently add another notch to his- total. But Murphy 
shoots best when he is made to shoot and when he is iu a real shoot- 
ing match At Larchmont he was out of form and shot a gun that 
did not seem to suit him. while he was certainlv using too small a 
charge of powder to be eflipctive on the class of birds trapped for 
him. Time and apain he filled the birds with shot, but he bad not 
enough powder behind the shot to do sutTficient damage. Tne natural 
result was "dead out of bounds" more timps than once. With his title 
to defend, it is hard to realizs how he could have come to the score 
voluntarily handicapped; pattern is not much good on fa^C driving 
birds unless you have Denetration as well. He made one run of It 
straight In his second 2^, and finished the .50 with 39 kills. At the 
start on the second day he lost 4 out of his first 10 and retired under 
the rules with 15 misses aerainst him. He shot a Francotte with 44grs 
of E. C. and IJIoz of 734 and 7. 
CHARLES A, MACALESTER. 
C. A. Macalester has been before the Shooting public so long and 
his shooting reputation is so firmly establi-shed, that he would not. 
lack supporters in any match that he might enter into. As a match 
shooter, he has probably had no eqtial, in amateur circles at least 
Last year he tied with Edgar MurDhy on 92 out of 100 for the Larch- 
mont cup. and lost on the shoot-off after a slice or two of hard luck. 
His start in this year's race was enough to dishearten anybody: h's 
first bird, a fast right-quartering driver that towered as it rose from 
the traps, was closed up with both barr^'ls, but fell stone dead a foot 
or two outside the 21yds boundary. This misfortune seemed to he 
a piece of bad luck in another way. He appeared to be so deter- 
mined to watch Nos. 4 and 5 Sraps that he practicallv left Nos, 1, 2 
and 3 to look after themselves: the birds from these traps thus gained 
somewhere in the neighborhood of 3yds. on him, with a result that 
was disastrous several times. In his second strins he took in all the 
traps and Fcored 21 as against 16 for the first '^6. Under the rules he 
was declared out at the end of the first 50. That he was not shooting 
in form is shown by his score, 9 being hi^ hi^^hest consecutive effort 
He shot a Purdey gun, 52grs. of E. C. and 134^2. of 7 and 63^. 
FRED ROET. 
Fred Hoey was another of those who were declared out at the end 
of the 50th round. In Hoey's case it looked verv much like a piece 
of hard luck, as he started very badly, losing 10 of his first 25 birds- 
after such a streak as that he might well have been excused had he 
gone to pieces, but he did not do so; on the contrary, he ran 23 out of 
his last 25, just lauding below eighth place and being declared out. 
On the second day he shot in several miss and-outs, and showed all 
his old-time skill, scoring 36 out of 39 shot at. As some explanation 
of his break on his first 35, it should be stated that he drew No 5 trap 
11 times and No. 4 trap 7 timss out of the 2.5. a total of 18 out of 35 
No 5 was the most dreaded trap of all, with No 4 a close second! 
The reason of this, with the wind as it was and with the short boun- 
dary, is obvious. Hoey made one run of 10. He shot a Churchill 
hammer gun, -with 49grs. of Schul ze aud lJ4oz. of No. 7. 
M. MEYER. 
At times a most brilliant shot, 0. >I. Meyer, of the New Utrecht Gun 
Club, made his debut in the prominent amateur trap-shooting circles 
under unfavorable conditions on this occasion. The fast birds short 
boundary, and perhaps the feeling that be was handicapped by both 
these things, brought about his downfall Those who know Chris 
Meyer, and those who have seen him shoot, know that 34 out of 50 is 
not his form, no matter how good the birds may be. After losing so 
many birds early on in the race, he seemed to lose interest and to be 
in need of some one to jog his elbow. He made several good stops 
with both first and second barrels, and showed that he could handle a 
gun with considerable ability, it is safe to prophesy that this will 
not be his last appearance in public. He shot a Greener, with 492rs 
of Schultze, l}4oz. of No. 7. , s a. 
W. A. H. STAFFORD. 
In pigeon shootmg matters the fates are rarely favorable to W. A 
H. Staft'ord. It makes no difference whether he is shooting in* a 
match or in sweeps, if there is a good one '-in the box" it will he dealt 
out to Staft'ord. He can shoot well, but a continued run of hard birds 
will tell, BO matter how well a man shoots. Some are hound to get 
away, and on Jan. 5g there were several that did. During the past 
twelve months Stafford has improved very much in his form and has 
learned a good deal that will be of use to him in future. On Friday 
he seemed to be shooting rather listlessly just as if it were a fore- 
gone conclusion that he wouldn't be in it. The 21yds. boundarv 
seemed to bother him not a fittle, particularly when it 'came to a bird 
from No. 5 trap. No 2 trap was, however, the trap that seemed to 
come to him with a persistency that was remarkable. Out of 50 
1 imes at the score he drew No. 2 just 22 times, and No- 5 ten times 
He shoots a Purdey gun, iSgrs. of Schultze and IJ^oz. of No. 7. 
ALFRED MARSHALL. ' 
No man can work and shoot, Mr. Marshall's score is another proof 
of the truth of that, saying. He retired early in the game dropping 
out at the end of the 34th round. He had too much to do to permit 
of his paying strict atrentiou to shooting, his position as chairman of 
the shooting committee placing all the responsibility for the success- 
ful running of the shoot upon his shoulders This was an especially 
hard task m view of the enforced absence of J. P. Knapp Marshall 
IS comparatively a beginner at the trap, and will unq'ie.>;tionably he 
lieard from agam. He shoots a Parker gun, 48Krs. of Schultze and 
IJ40Z. of and 6. 
HOW THE TRAPS ffEUL. 
As slated above, the luck of the traps was a big factor in malriu" 
or marring many a score. The following figures will therefore be 
perused with more than the ordinary amount of interest that is 
u-ually attached to such statistics. Nos. 5 and 4 traps were the worst 
to draw on Jan, 29-30. 
^ -, ^ ^ No. 1. No. 2. No. 3, No. 4. No. o. Total. -. 
T7'^Jch 24 :0 16 21 19 100 
McAlpm VI 24 19 IT £t l< 0 
}^ynD 17 22 25 12 U lOJ 
Gilbert...., 19 :3 2-4 14 2i JOO 
Duryea id •l^ 24 19 19 aco 
Work 18 22 21 H :a g,; 
i'anao 13 17 EO 20 20 90 
Moore 16 il 21 16 S^S 86 
Murphy 10 17 J2 n 10 HO 
^"ey- 13 c 4 11 16 go 
Macalester., 14 8 0 6 1.'^ 50 
M'-.ver 11 10 9 IS 7 SO 
Stafford 7 22 9 a 10 So 
Marshall 9 S 6 5 0 
206 232 21s 177 Im L066 
From the above figures it will be seeo that it took 1,066 birds lo 
settle toe match. Dividing 1.066 by 5, the average per trap would le 
213 and a fraction; thus No. 3 was about an average, while Nos 5 atd 
2 were both slightly over the average, and Nos. 4 and 1 both und' r 
the average. No. 4 oemg a notable delinquent. Taking it altogei h< r, 
the run of traps evened up very fairly, hut individually there wei© 
