278 
The Grand American Handicap. 
ALL HKOOKDS BROKEN. 
The Grand Atnpricon BandicaD for 1897 tas broken all records. 
The entry list contnined '46 nntnes. 11 forfpits red"cinpr the number 
of flotnai coDtpptflDts to ISS. In our issue last weelr we g:ave the list 
of phooterp who bad entered rperilarly, thp list contsining: 139 names. 
Six ■po»t entriep wrp reepifed later, the names being Tbeo. HoKtet- 
ter. Pittshurp-, Pa. .T. Eehriff, Lphiehton Pa.; Franfe Class, of Mor- 
ristowTi, N. .T.; Prorting Life, of PViiladplpbia, Pa.: B. L. Packard, 
New TorV city; Franlr Lswrerce, Nfw York city. The name of A. 
W. Sheroian. of Frpphold. N .T., was left out oif onr I'st last wefk 
tbro"gh error; he should have been the last on the list, making 140 
regrular entriPS. 
Among- thp withdrawals were: W. K. Sanders, of New York, who 
had the misfortime to bp injured in the radiator explosion in a Turk- 
ish hath; Seth Clover, who was linjpine around with a bad case of 
"obarlev horse:" John H. Sbaffpr. of Pittshursr. sickness; Dr. .T. H. 
Wer^. of Long- Branch, prin Other withdrawals for cause were: 
Fer Hooper, of Mshanoy City. Pa. r T. !>. Hooper, New York city; A. 
S. Hunter- TJtica. N. T.: Tom Farmer. Pittshurg-, Pa.; E. S. Kibe, of 
Chicago: M. M. McMillan, Mahanoy City, Pa.; and A, W.. Sherman, 
Freehold, N. J. 
MOHE POPULAR THAN KVKB. 
From the above figures it can be seen that the Grand American 
Handicop is more popular than ever. An entrv list of 146 in a 25-bird 
racp. $93 entrance, birds extra at 30 cputs each. ^oziJTto'uif 07ie ceni o/ 
added money, speaks volumes for the popularity of this annual 
evpnt. 
In 1893 the Grand Ampiican Handicao was stfirfed with a list of. 21 
shootprs; it wa« shot off that year at Dexter Park, L. I. In thp i^ol- 
lowirffypar, 1894. the event was again shot off at Dexter Park, L. T., 
but the entry liot had prown to 54. In 1895 the Grand American 
Handicap was shot at Willard Park. Paterson. N. ,T., the list of entries 
that year showinpr a healthy increase over that of 1894; 61 entries 
with B8 shooters was thp total for 1895. In 1896 a move was made to 
Elkwood Park, and a new sy.stem of dividing the moneys was tried. 
Thp result was a big jump in the list of entries: 109 shooters entered, 
104 taking part in the event 
Then came this year's contest. The choice of grounds was left to 
the tournament cbrpmittpe. and although several locations were ex- 
amined, when the committee 8<3w the Elkwood Park grounds there 
wag nothing else in it. It was a case of Elkwood Park or nothing. 
These grounds have been described so often in the?e columns that it 
eeros superfluous to say anything more in regard to them. The ac- 
companying cut will enable our readers to follow with ease the de 
scription of how the Grand American Handicap was run, and will 
also give an idea of the manner in which the three sets of traps are 
ocated. 
There are no such grounds anywhere else in this country or in any 
other country, for the matter of that. The shooting public at once 
became interested in them, and thus several new entries, were doubt- 
less secured. The .system of dividing the moneys which prevailed in 
1895 was adopted ngain for 1E97. the divisions, however, being gradu- 
ated up to 150 entries in this year's nroeramme. Although we had 
confldsrtly exppcted that last year's bigto'al would be exceeded, and 
had so stated in several of our recent issues, we were totally unpre- 
pared frr such an enormous increase in the number of actual en- 
tries as is recorded on the cashier's bonk for 1897. This increase 
amounted to 37, an increase of just about 35 per cent.! 
SOME COMPARATIVE FlGrSES. 
The great shoot promoted in August. 1896, by the Du Pont Powder 
Companv at Watson's Park, Chicago, under the management of Mr. 
E. S. Rice, the company's general agent in the West, made a new 
ecord with a total of 155 entries. The Grand Prix at Monte Carlo 
his year also made a new record for itself with a total of 118 entries. 
Frorn these figures, therefore, it will be seen (hat 1 he Interstate Asso- 
ciation can boast of having broken all records. In regard to the 
Grand Prix, however, it must not be overlooked that that event is 
' all on the same mark." except in the case of previous winners, who 
are penalized 1yd., the winner in the previous year standing back an 
additional yard. The conditions also are ISbirds, 540 entrance— prac- 
IBBV BKNUEIT. 
Chairman Tournament and Classification Committee, Interstate Abs'd. 
fcically a $40 miss-and-out, with sub.=!tan' ial money for the winner and 
a handsome trophy of silver. Hence it is perhaps unfair to compare 
the Grand American Handicap and the Grand Prix. 
HOW THE SHOOT WAS BUN. 
It may at first glance seem an easy matter to run a shoot when 
three sets of traps are provided, but when one comes down to figuring 
on it, it will be spen that there is far more in it than meets the eye. As 
a matter of fact the running of this year's Grand American must be 
looked upon as an experiment, and as such it was a big. success. 
There was not a hitch in the whole affair, and everything ran wiih 
the smoothness of well-oiled clockwork. For that reason it is highly 
probable that Manager Shaner may not receive all the credit that is 
due him for his work in his double capacity of "engineer and oiler." 
Many bom's of thought had necessarily been given to the running of 
the shoot; to all intents and purposes the Grand American Handicap 
of 1897 had been shot on paper time and again, and on paper the ar- 
rangements looked all right. An actual trial was needed to prove 
whether the calculations and preparations were correct or not. That 
trial has com" and gone, and the result is a great triumph for Elmer 
E. Shaner. The 185 shooters were handled with ease, and the only 
delay was caused by the dilatoi iness of the shooters in gptting to the 
score. These delays were in many cases almost infinitesimal, but the 
number was sufficient to amount to many minutes during the day. 
The claim was made in theprogt-amme that with a number of entriPS 
no larger than last year's list the Grand American Handicap could be de- 
cided in one day on the Elkwood Park grounds, Resultssbowihat this 
claim was well founded. Last .year there were 104 shooters, this^year 
there were 135; yet with this large increase in the number of shooters 
it was possible to-get to the end of the 21st round in one day Then 
again, instead of being able to start at 10 prompt, it was necessary to 
wait until the 8:30 train from New York city had arrived, or else run 
the risk of causing delay by having to shoot up some men after the 
affair had started Thus it was fully 10:20 before A. W. du Bray led 
off with the first kill In the Grand American of 1897. Later in the 
afternoon a squall of wind and rain made a further delay of at least 
ten minutes The slight rainfall at the start of the eventin the morn- 
ing also caused a cei-tain amount of slackness on the part of some 
shooters in getting to the score. On Thursday morning it took just 
about forty-five minutes to finish the event down to the ties. 
MONEYS DIVinWD AMONG THE TIES. 
Hon. T. A. Marshall stood alone with 25 straight and took the first 
prize of $500 Nine tied on 24 out of 25 and divided the next nine 
moneys-|l,89S.15— a total of $188.46 each. Eleven men tied for the 
next eleven moneys— $1,094.85— and divided without a shoot-cff, each 
man receiving i99.60. 
This disposed of twenty-one moneys and left the sum of $1S64 60 to 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
be fought for by the "three miss men." Every man who had missed 
three birds on the previous day had to withdraw, with a privilege of 
re-entermg provided he had a chance io win any of the money. Thus 
each of the 135 starters who had missed three birds— 114 in all- were 
entitled to shoot up for the five moneys until they missed again; in 
the latter case they dropped out again. Several shooters were not 
on the ground, but there were enough to make ihe shoot-off a very 
long matter. It was a shoot-off, praciically miss-and out, v ith S2S4 
at stake. Finally IS men scored 22 and divided the purse, receiving 
§19 55 each. . > o 
It is safe to assert that with forty-five minutes more time on 
Wednesday the Handicap would have been finished; and it is highly 
probable that there would have been no shooting up of the "three 
misr-s men"' had it been finished on one day. The strong northwest 
galeithat swept over the grounds on Thursday morning caused havoc 
among the scores. Dr. Carver and H. C. Koegel, two straight men, 
,T. A. H. IIRESSKL. 
President of the Interstate Association. 
both lost their 24th birds dead out of hounds, and both losses were 
directly attributable to the strong wind that carried the birds out of 
bounds. Mi.ises came so fast in other places that there was soon no 
question about a shoot up of the "possible 22s," 
ELMER SHANER AND HIS HELP. 
In order to run the shoot successfully and smoothly Manager 
Shaner had a small army of help. The referees were: No. 1 set of 
traps, Harold Wallack, of Long Branch; No. 2 set. Ed Taylor, of 
Laflin & Rand Powder Co.; No, 3 set, Paul North, of the Cleveland 
Target Co. The official scorers were: No. 1 set. J. Vone Emmons, of 
Long Branch, N, J.; No. 2 set, J. K. Starr, of Philadelphia; No. .8 set, 
Howard W. Gray, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The cashier's office was capa- 
bly officered I'y B H, Norton, of the Haza'd Powder Co., assisted by 
A." Meyerhoff, of Hartley & Graham. The duties of squad hustler 
and general utility man were handed over to Bill McCricbart, whose 
acquaintance with the shooters of this country is so vide that he is 
invaluable in such a position. His capacity for work has never yet 
been fathomed, and at the end of the three days he seemed as fresh 
as when he started on his arduous duties. 
A new position, created by the peculiar conditions of three sets of 
traps and "three misses out,-' was that of "Compiler of Scores" (the 
title was manufactured by Elmer Shaner; we are not to blame). In 
order that the duties of this official (the trap editor of Forest and 
Stream, by the way ) may be the better understood' , we shall have to 
still further explain the "method of conducting 
THE CLERICAL PART OF THE WORK. 
All score pads were issued by and returned to the Compiler of 
Scores, who had for his assistant John D, Regan, of Brooklyn, whose 
quickness and accuracy were of 'he greatest assistance when it came 
aown to getting out the score pads quickly. LToder the "three sets 
of traps" system it was necessary to keep close tab on the scores, so 
that there might be no delay caused by calling up a man who had 
dropped out. To explain this diflJculty better we would state that 
each man shot a bird at No. 1 set of traps, another bird at No. 2 set, 
and a third bird at No. 3 set. He then retired and waited until called 
up for his next series of 8 birds, to be shot at in similar order. Now, 
suppose that at the commencement of the 7lh round a man had lost 
3 birds, the scorers in their respective houses would not know of the 
fact, and would delay the game by calling him to the score. To ob- 
viate this delay, separate score sheets were provided for each round, 
and were returned to the office of Compiler of Scores as soon as com- 
pleted. Bach pad contained twenty-five names; thus, as there were 
over 125 shooters, six sets of these pads were needed, and were 
handled just .<ts if they were squad pads at a target tournament. 
As .=oon as each pad was re'urned Mr. Regan transferred the scores 
to a main .score sheet and filed the originals for reference in case of 
dispute. When a man was found to have missed three birds his 
name was dropped from the score pad sent out to the scorers when 
it came time for that squad to shoot. This dispensed with atl danger 
of delay so far as the soores at No 1 set of traps was concerned. 
The next point to be covered was that of a man who had two misses 
to his credit when he went to the score at either No 1 or No 2 sets of 
traps, and who might score his third miss at one or the other of these 
sets. This difflcultr was satisfactorily overcome by stationing 
officials at the entrances to No 1 and No. 3 sets, whose duty it was to 
ask each man who missed in the current round whether it was his 
third miss or not. If it happened to be the third miss a note was dis- 
patched by this official per messenger boy to the scorer at either No. 
2 or No 3 set of traps, or both, as the case might be, directing him or 
them to cross the shooter's name from the score pad. These officials 
were: At No. 1 set, E. H. Taylor, son of Ed Taylor; at No, 2 set, 
Jerome Smith. Their respective messenger bnys were: Firman 
Woolley and Arthur Hearne, boys who did their duty like little men. 
It is oniy just to the shooters themselves to state that their prompti- 
tude in answering the que-stions of these officials had much to do with 
the fmoothness with which the shoot was run. Fred Tahor was the 
messenger attached to the office of Compiler of Scores; his duty was 
to take out fresh score paas and bring in the others as soon as thej^ 
were completed. Thus the scoring department had quite a staff of 
helpers: (Compiler of Scores and his assistant, three official scorers, 
two officials to watch the misses at No?. 1 and 2 sets of traps, and 
three messengers; ten altogether, (If anybody will suggest a plan 
by which this number can he reduced Elmer Shaner will be delighted 
to bear of it,) 
REBATE TIOKBTS AND ORDERS ON THE CASHIER. 
In all the events on the programme it was a case of "birds extra." 
and "two" or "three misses out," as the case might be. Hence the 
same system of scoring as regards score pads was observed during 
the entire three days. When a shooter dropped out of an event he 
had to appl.v to the Compiler of Scores for a rebate ticket calling for 
the amount of cash due for birds not shot at; this ticker, was re- 
deemed at the cashier's office for cash or "no bird" tickets, at the 
holder's option. Orders on the cashier for each winner's share of the 
different purses were also issued from the office of the Compiler of 
Scores. All these small matters, while they simplified the running of 
the shoot, gave us lots of work (o do and also gave us lots of pointers 
as to how that work could be cut down at future tournaments under 
similar conditions. . 
HOTELS TO ORDER IN SIX DATS. 
One of the greatest features about this year's Grand American 
Handicap was the annex with twenty rooms, added to the Elkwood 
Inn for the accommodation of those shooters who preferred to stop 
near the grounds to going into New York or being quartered a mile 
or two from the scene of the shoot. Accustomed as our Western 
brethren are to seeing towns spring up in a few days, they were 
rather astonished at finding that Messrs, Daly & Chanfrau, managers 
of the Elkwood Park grounds, were capable of building hotels to 
order in six days, 
A little more than a week prior to the commencement of the shoot, 
Messrs, Daly & Ohanfrau found that there was some difficuliy in 
regard to adequate accommodation for shooters in the neighbor- 
[AraiL 8, 1897. 
hood. To obviate this an annex: containing twenty rooms was 
planned, built and ready for occupation in six days from the time 
that the foundations were first started. Running water, lavatories, 
with the best of plumbing; electric lights in every roona and hall- 
ways: electric buttons to call the bell boys or to send m a notice to 
the office that hot water, ice water or other liquids were needed, graced 
the walls of each room. It was, in short, a hotel built to order In 
less than a week! So much for Jersey enterprise. 
THE WESTERN CONTINGENT. 
From Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and from Iowa came a group of 
shooters, evei-y one of whom was well calculated to uphold the honor 
of his respective State. From Iowa came Charlie Budd, of Des 
Moines; Charlie Grimm, of Clear Lake, the holder of the cast iron 
championship; Fred Gilbert, of Spirit Lake, the ex-champion of the 
world at targets, and for about twelve months the holder of the Du 
Pont championship at live birds. There's a trio for you Wisconsin 
was responsible for two shooters of far more than ordinary caliber: 
Dick Merrill and Dr. J. L. Williamson, both from Milwaukee. In- 
diana was worthily represented by Ed Voris, of Crawfordsville. 
But to Illinois we must give the' palm. Her representatives were 
ten in number. First and foremost comes Hon. Thos. A. Marshall, for 
the past twelve years mayor of his city - Keithsburg, III.— the winner 
of the Grand American Handicap of 1897, the only shooter to score 
within bounds the total of 25 straight. Dr. W, F. Carver comes next; 
he showed wh«t he could do from the 33yds. mark by scoring 23 
straight before losing a bird, his 24th falling dead out" of bounds. 
(This item is referred to later ) The brothers, W. and H. Dunnell, 
from Nippersink; Eddie Bingham, formerly with Montgomery Ward 
& Co., but now with Mr. E. S. Rice in the employ of the Da Spntand 
Hazard powder companies; W. L. Shepard, of Chicago; W. D- Stan- 
nard, of Montgomery Ward & Co ; J. Qlbver, of Chicago; C. M. 
Powers, of Decatur, one of the very best shots in a State that boasts 
a large number of crackerjacks; and E. S Rice himself, the leader of 
the Western contingent and general agent for the Du Pont and Haz- 
ard powder companies in the Western States. 
BUT THERE WERE OTHERS. 
Ohio was well represented. She could claim several of the shooters 
as her sons: RoUa O. Heikes, champion of the world at targets and 
holder of the E. C. Powder Co.'s championship cup; and E. D. Rike, 
also from Dayton ; R, S, Waddell, the Du Pont and Hassard companies' 
general agent for the Opntral States, from Cincinnati; D. A. Upson, 
E. Dallas and C, T. Bodie, Cleveland; F, D, Alkire, Woedlyn. 
Pennsylvania had more representatives than any o her State ex- 
cept perhaps New York or New Jersey, the city of Pittsburg being 
responsible for fourteen entries; 'The Herron Hill Gun Club sent a 
very strong delegation : Charlie Painter, president of the club, who 
shoots under tlie name of C. A. May; Alex. King and Will King. J. E. 
(Bessemer) England, B. F. (Fargo) Jones, C. 8. (Strong) Guthrie, J. 
(Hamilton) Anderson. A. O. L, Hofmeister, J, G, Messner (winner of 
the Grand American Handicap in 1895). Sandy McPherson, Theodore 
Hostetter and the club's secretary, L Lautenslager. Old Hoss, too, 
of the Pittsburg Gun Club, was another entry from Pittsburg. 
It would be really impossible to go through the long list of entries 
and apportion each man to his own State without taking up too much 
of the space available for the description of the Grand American 
Handicap tournament. We must, however, not forget to mention 
that among those from a distance were: .1. M. Browning, of Ogden, 
Utah; Jack Fanning, of Ban Francisco; Frank Parmelee and G. F. 
Brucker, of Omaha, Neb,; J. A R. Elliott, Kansas City, Mo., and 
John J. Sumpter, Jr., the Arkansas Traveler of to day. 
With the explanation that runs at the beginning of the above para- 
graph we must tack on an apology for those not mentioned in the 
list. It is sufficient to say that never before in the history of this 
country, and maybe of any country, was such an aggregation of 
shooters gathered together under one roof as in the Elkwood Park 
Casino on Wednesday, March 24, the date of the Grand American 
Handicap of 1897. 
THE APPOINTMENTS OF THE CLUB HOUSE. 
If there is anything lacking to make the appointments of the Elk- 
wood Park Casino absolutely perfect w© have yet to learn of it. The 
J. L, LEQUIN. 
Secretary-Treasurer, Interstate Association. 
number of shooters was far in excess of what the managers of the 
shooting grounds had figured on when drawing up plans for the club 
house, yet there was room for all. Rain or shine, the shpot went on 
just the same, except for a period of ten minutes or so on Wednesday 
afternoon, when a miniature waterspout bur=it over the grounds. . 
Shooters rotated from No 1 to No. 2 and on to No. 3 sets of traps with- 
out a scop. They were not bothered or hampered by a crowd at the 
score, while the underground system of trapping the birds made 
rapid shooting, particularly when there was a miss ; the waiting 
shooter then had nothing to do except to step to the score and 
call "Pull." The trap was filled while, he was putting shells In his 
gun. 
The right wing of the Casino was reserved for shooters exclu8lvel.7, 
the left wing was ooen to friends of the shooters and men waiting 
their turn at the score. The central haU was open to everybody, with . 
the exception of the space reserved for the members of the press, 
the telegraph clerks, and the office of the Compiler of Scores. Up. 
stairs was the caf6, where a hot lunch was served every day. 
Outside the Casino there was no need for a shooter or a spectator 
to step off the board walks, It is an ideal shootiug park, and we 
cannot see how the grounds and their appointments could be im- 
proved. There may be other places similar to Elkwood Park at some 
future date, but at present there is but one perfect shooting ground 
in the country. 
THE BIRDS WERE EXCELLENT. 
The pigeons were furnished and handled by Messrs Gilbert, of 
Philadelphia, and were of the very best class. The "cuUa" shot at 
on Tuesday were a fast lot, but the cream were reserved for the 
Grand American Handicap on Wednesday. Of course the windj 
helped them, but without a breath of air to start them we would' 
guarantee a fast lot of birds anyhow. At times the wind rose to ai 
gale, particularly on Thursday morning; then the birds were terrors.' 
We cannot speak of them from any sec of traps save No 2, but we 
know tbat very many shooters have a great respect for the flying 
qualities of many a dozen birds that left ttie traps on the middle sec 
of grounds. 
The birds were trapped from the Mott disappearing traps, and 
there is no question, but what these traps. with fast birds are harder 
than any other set of traps under simfiar circumstances These traps 
and the automatic pulling apparatus worked like a charm aU through, 
the shoot. 
THE BAEBTNG OP J. L. BREWER. 
The only unpleasant feature of the whole tournament was thJ 
necessity, as the Tournament Committee considered it, of barring J. 
L Brewer from competing at this tournament. It is conceded hj 
almost all shooters, and we ourselves huve often so stated it, thai 
John L. Brewer is without a peer in the trap shooting world as t 
handler of a gun; and although we concur emphatically in indorsini 
