April 3, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
279 
THE TROPHY. 
J. A. H. DRESSEL. 
President Interstate Association. 
As above mentioned, Fatten drew a corker from No. 1, and tlieti 
there were four.. 
Bender was shooting carefully and with great judgment, taking 
his shots quickljr or slowly, as the exigencies required, but his 
11th, seemingly iiot a difficult one, was lost, and then there were 
three. 
Jim Jones was shooting as one who would not be denied the cup. 
He centered his birds iti fine shape, but his 14th itiailaged to carry 
the lead out of bounds, and then there were two. 
The interest now had become intense. The shooting _ was 
watched with an earnestness which ignored all else. Some 
great second barrel kills had been made, and the quality of the 
contest was high enough to satisfy the most critical. Each con- 
testant had in turn been applauded after each successful effort, 
and a miss was received in sympathetic silence. There was no 
voice of exultation over the defeat of any one. No fairer treat- 
ment was possible, and in this connection it may be said that the 
same good fellowsliip and equity obtained throughout the tourna- 
ment. 
From the 15th bird onward to the 22d G. W. Loomis, of 
Omaha, and E. D. Fulford, of Utica, alternated at the traps, each 
killing with rare judgment and skillful execution, till it seemed 
to be ordained that they would go on killing birds all day with 
about the same ease and certainty that a rooster picks up com, 
but Loomis' 23d bird went over the boundary, and then there 
was one. 
E. D. Fulford was the man. There then was a surging of the 
crowd toward the gentle and quiet victor — he appeared suddenly 
above the heads of the crowd, and was carried bodily into the 
casino. Then in a few minutes he was taken out on the platform. 
Men were shaking hands with him right and left, atid otlier 
hands were reaching to liim on all sides, but he could not shake 
them all; he had but two handsj a number which did not tally 
with the hands extended around him. 
Then he was taken in liand, while Mr. Elmer E. Shaner in be- 
half of the Association turned over the beautiful silver trophy to 
him, a gem work of art, intrinsically valuable in itself, but more 
on account of the honors of which it was emblematic, and which 
it would commemorate. And then when the trophy was his by 
virtue of his skill and by actual possession the crowd must have 
a speech from him, so he was raised up, was this quiet, nervy 
and gentle man from Utica, and he must needs speak. He told 
in a few words how many years he had longed and tried for such 
honors, and how happy he felt at having won them at last, and 
how he thanked his friends — that is everyone present, for everyone 
was his friend — for the kindly good will manifested; and having 
said this he stepped down, whereupon three mighty cheers and 
a tiger were given for E. D. Fulford, after which he tried for 
some minutes to shake_ a dozen or so of hands, all offered at 
once.. Then for souvenirs he had to give out many samples of 
the shells he used, and write his autograph upon them, and- 
submit to being photographed, and after the great first enthusiastic 
tumult was over, there were smaller ones to meet till at length 
it all_ subsided to a quiet, pervading gladness. 
It is safe to say that there never was a more popular win. 
It would be to no purpose to attempt to tell of Mr. Fulford's 
doings at the trap in the past. Where trap-shooting is known 
Fulford_ is known. He has been in many great contests in the 
past, his greatest previous performance being in matches with 
Jack Brewer in 1891, killing 100 birds straight in one matcli and 
99 out of 100 in another. But he always shot well, and any one 
who may have doubted his nerve would doubt no more could such 
have seen the grand finish of the greatest trap-shooting event 
of America. 
The closing event has been described as a great contest between 
the East and the West. Such is a silly attempt to force a sectional 
importance to it. No sectional interest whatever was involved, 
and had Mr. Loomis won, it would have been simply the victory 
of a gentleman over his fellow gentleman in a contest. It was 
a meeting of gentlemen, not of provincials. 
The finishing struggle was well worthy of the great event. The 
closeness, skillfulness, nervy persistence and punctilious fairness 
of it were up to the standard of the most exacting. 
Every year each Handicao has surpassed its predecessor, but 
the one of 1898 will probably stand many year before it is brok-n. 
But as to that. Ouien sabe? 
FINAL, I FOR 
Ties on 85, miss-and-otit; 
4 
J A Elliott, S1....0 ■ J 
1 2 4 3 2 3, B a 1 S. 
Walters, 27 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 
1 4 1 3 4 2 5, 5.4 a 1 a 1 1 2-3 I S E.3;5 3i* 
, . /<-j"4.-*?/'->jr4.4./'4.+-*-N-+/-»->-^\'V 
E Dt FullDirdi 28i, ,2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2. 
6 3 5 5 4 4 4 1 3. 4 5 
U F Bender, 27.. ..2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0. 
1 22135534 53 53514 5 341151 
G W LpbmiS, 28.. 2222122222222222222222 a 
Jim Jones, ^7. 
3233 4 222122244 
,1 212212122222Q 
5 
..0 
W Wagner, 27. 
4 15 4 • 
R O Ileikes, ,S0....2 2 2 * 
12-41214 
T P Lailin, 28 1 2 2 2 2 2 0 I, 
DEAD OUT OF BOUNDS. 
E- D. Fulford's win was a. most thoiroughly popular one. For 
several years E. D. has tried liard to get hito the front rank at 
the Grand American Handicap, and Inis year, by means of a 
maguiiiccnt run of 48 straight, he has achieved his desire, and 
has .captured the handsome silver trophy offered by the inter- 
state Association to the winner in 1898. He also received . $412.65 
as his share of the nine first moneys, so his trip to Elkwood Park 
this year was not without success in the financial line, let alone 
the honor of beating out 190 other shooters. He shot a Rem- 
ington gun and Schultze powder in, factory-loaded U. M. C. trarp 
shells. 
Messrs. Parker Bros., of Meriden, Conn., also gave a trophy to 
. the winner this year. The souvenir was in the shape of a solid' 
gold lapel button of Tiffany's best and most artistic manufacture, 
in the center was a bluerock pigeon in enamel, and around the 
rim was the inscription: "Winner o£ the Grand American Handi- 
cap, 1898." On the reverse side was an inscription stating 
Uiat the button was donated by Messrs. Parker Bros. The choice 
of this souvenir reflects considerable credit on the Meriden gun 
firm. 
George W. Loomis, the runner-up in the Gt^nd American, hails 
from Omaha, Neb., and is a notable member of the trilie of "In- 
dians," who have made themselves famous by their skill with 
the shotgun. Loomis* title is "Chief No-Talk," sawing wood 
in preference to oratory being his chief characteristic when at 
a shooting match, or elsewhere, for the matter of tliat. He shot 
JOHN L. LEQUIN. 
S«creta*y-Treasurei: Interstate Association. 
cliiefs of his tribe will hold a pow-wow, and cfiange his title 
from "No-Talk" to "Heap-Shoot." Tlie pow-wow will probably 
be held at Clear Lake, la., next August, during the "wolf shoot." 
He shot a Parker gun, Schultze powder atid factory-loaded trap 
shells. 
"Jim Jones," the modest sobriquet under which Mr. Junius H. 
Davis, of the Riverton Gun Club, of Philadelphia, hides his 
identity, shot very strongly from the 27yds. mark. In the miss- 
and-out for the cup on Friday morning he ran 13 straiglit before 
losing a bird, and thus earned the honorable position of third in 
tlie .Grand American Handicap of 1898. ■ 
U. F. Bender, a young shooter from the city of New York, 
was the fourth man this year. Bender scored many a haxd driver, 
and earned several hearty rounds of applause by his skill and 
coolness. The calm, collected manner in which he stepped to 
the score and grassed bird after bird in the' miss-and-out gives 
promise of many another hot race in which he wiU be a factor. 
He lost a bird in the Uth round that it was no disgrace for 
anybody to have missed. 
"Walters" or rather "Wally" Patten, of Pleasure Bay, N. J., 
shot a race that made him hosts of new friends and admirers! 
On the morning of the shoot-ofl^, as on the two days of the Grand 
American Handicap, Mr. Patten had scores of local rooters who 
made themselves heard as he stopped his bird in each success- 
ive round, until he struck a snag in the 10th round of the 
shoot-ofT, and retired with a total of 34 straight as his record 
in the great event of 1S98. Out of all the southpaw shooters 
entered in the event Mr. Patten was the only one to survive until 
the shoot-off.. , 
T. P. Laflin, a Western man, was the solitary representative 
of the uniformed contingent from the West who managed to 
survive the 25th round of the Handicap. In the shoot-off Mr. 
Laflin showed excellent judgment on some good hard birds that 
he drew, but he got no further than the 7th round, gaining a 
record of 31 straight in the race for chief honors. Mr. Lailin^s 
first barrel is a most deadly one, and he is undoubtedly an an- 
tagonist worthy of the reputation of many better known men 
This was his first visit to Elkwood Park, and the first time he 
has shot in the Grand American. It is to be hoped the entry 
list for 1S99 may find him among the entries. 
Rplla 0. Heikes, "the daddy o' them all," scored his 25 
straight in fine style, and took part in the division of the first nine 
moneys in conjunction with eight otliers who made clean scores 
He was looked upon as a most dangerous antagonist in the miss- 
and-out for the cup, but the fourth round was fatal to his chances 
In that round he drew a good driver that was well centered 
with the first shell, being knocked apparently stone dead to the 
ground; almost before it struck the ground Rolla's second shell 
was pumped at it, but was not in the right place; the bird mor- 
tally wounded, struck the ground with great force, then rose a 
foot or so from the ground, and made for the boundary, just 
managing to clear the wire fence before dropping dead. A mo- 
ment's delay with that second shell might have made the result 
of the shoot-off somewhat different, but — who can tell? 
Billy Wagner and .Tim Elliott never got any furtlier than the 
first round of the miss-and-out. Elliott's bird was not a particu- 
larly hard one, but .Tim's bad luck with his first bird in any match 
is p'roverbial, and this shoot-off proved no exception to the rule 
Wagner's bird was a nasty towerer that went of¥ to the fence 
on the right like a black duck. Wagner's eyes are none of the 
strongest, and the glare of the sixn on his spectacles may have 
had something to do with his undershooting the bird. Popular 
as Mr. Wagner is with shooters of every class, he received sym- 
pathy enough to help to heal any regrets he may have feft at 
dropping out of the race so early in the game. 
We never remember to have seen so much enthusiasm and gen- 
nme interest displayed in anv shoot as was manifested at Elkwood 
Park on Friday morning. Every shot was applauded more or le'is 
loudly, according to the quality of the bird killed. Misses were 
received with a silence that was all the more impressive when 
rompared with the uproar that greeted some particularly f>-ood 
kill. So far as we were able to observe, there was not the 
slisrhtest sectionalism shown when it came down to a finish be- 
tween the West and the East, viz., Loomis, of Omaha Neb and 
Fulford, of Utica, N. Y. The cheers for Loomis when he scored 
h'rd after bird were every bit as hearty as those that fell to the lot 
<'f the Utica man. The shoot-off was a fitting close to the p1eas- 
.•'iitest and most srjccessful shoot ever held by the Interstate A=- 
snriatiort. 
Exclusive of the 94 birds trapped in the shoot-ofT for the cup 
on KridcTy morning, 4,122 birds, not counting "no birds " were 
required to complete the Grand American Handicap. On Tues- 
day 9S3 pigeons were trapped in the Elkwood Park Introductory 
n 7-bird race, with 89 entries; 1,414 pigeons were trapped in the 
Nitro Powder Handicap on the same dav, the event bein" at 
15 birds, with 130 .entries. Thus a total of 6,519 pigeons were 
trapped on the three days of the meeting, an average of over 700 
birds a dav for each set of traps. Shooting commenced each 
day at 10 A. M.. and was over about ^-.7^) P. M. on Tuesday 
and Wednesday, and at 4:30 P. M. on Thursday. With S9 en- 
tries in the Elkwood Park Introductory, 1.30 in the Nitro Powder 
Handicap, and 197 shooters in the Grand American Handicap 
the above figures on the trapping show that the management had 
things running very smoothly indeed. During part of 'the second 
day, too, the retrieving had to be done by boys, the dogs plavine 
out after the gruelling they had received on the previous dav 
owmg to the heavy rain that fell all dav. 
Of the three days of the meeting Wednesday alone was anvthino- 
like a pleasant one. The attendance on that dav showed ' iust 
'.vhat might have been looked for in the shape of a crowd had 
IRBY BENNETT. 
Vice-President and Chairman of Executive and Tournament Comfl- 
mittees, Interstate Association. 
the weather bffen really spring-like instead of resembling days tliat 
characterize the month of November. On Wednesday the sprink^ 
ling of ladies among the hundreds of male spectators gave thfe' 
Casino and its grounds a very taking appearance, the spring toilets; 
being especially attractive. 
The three sets of traps at Elkwood Park .■show totally different 
features fi-om each otlicr. On No. I set of traps the ground slopes, 
gradually from the shooter; he shoots, in fact, slightly down hi|l,. 
On No, 2 tlie slope of the ground is from right to left, right 
quarterers climbing tlic rise, while left quarterers from No. 11 
trap slip ofi' down liill at an alarming rate wdien a northwes* 
wind is blowing. On No. 3 it is a case of shooting rather up- 
hill. Each of *hese peculiarities Iiad their effect on different 
men, and consequently many different opinions were expressed as., 
to the relative "hardness' of the three sets of trap's. The follow- 
ing figures will, therefore, be read witli interest by tliose whO' 
took part in the great event: On Wednesday 87 birds were- 
scored lost on No. 1 set, 105 on No. 2, and 103 on No.. 3. On 
Thursday, up to and including the 24tli round of the Grand' 
American Handicap, SO birds were lost at No. 1 set of traps, 84 
at No. 2, S7 at No. 3. The totals for the two days were: ITS', 
at No. 1, 189 at No. 2, and 190 at No. 3. As on these two days" 
4,122 birds were shot at, the percentage of kills was just 86.6 per 
cent., a remarkably high average considering the number of 
shooters engaged in the contest. In the 25th round shot on 
No. 1 set of traps, 13 of the 85 shooters left in th.e race lost 
their last birds. 
The birds were an excellent lot, but were handicapped very 
severely by the absence of wind to aid them. They were just 
the birds on w^hich to make a score, starting freely and going 
off without as many twists and turns as would have been the case 
had there been the same gale of wind blowing at Elkwood Park 
that favored the birds on tlie last day in 1897. 
We made arrangements for a photograph of Mr. E, D. Fulford, 
taken with his Remington C. E. gun (one, by the way, of the $95 
list), and also taken with the Grarid American Handicap tropliy. 
all of which would liave been very apropos to the occasion, but 
the photograph failed to arrive, so we had to use the portrait of 
him which we publish in tliesc* columns. 
The entries which forfeited were Messrs. J. G. Messner, G. K. 
Dodd, L. T. Durvea, John Barker. H. Ilar/ison. F. C. M., J. N, 
Crossland, J. J. Sumpter, Jr., T, P. Latham and Dr. Nesixier, 
Clearview Gun Clab. 
Philadelphia, March 19.— The scores made by members of the 
Clearview Gun Club at their second monthly practice shoot to- 
day. Most of us are "greenhorns" at the traps> but on looking 
over the scores I think "we will grow." 
All targets were thrqwii at unknown angles from unknown traps: 
Miller fV, . , 1110111011011111101111111—21 
Carr - . , 1111111101101011101111101-20 
Johnson 1110011011110111010111111—19 
Simons, 1 1001100110110011101111011— Ifi 
Fisher : 0100010101001111111101111—16 
Scott 0100111010111010101101100—14 
Hawkins 1011011011010111010010010—14 
Simons, W 0111100111010011100110001—14 
Daricott 0101010111011100100000111—13 
Harps 1100000101101110011100100—12 
Paulson 1101011010000001111011000-12 
El well 1 001101101000110000001001 —10 
Wellings 0100010100001010011100010— 9 
SiJi .a . . . H. G. Miller, 
ELMER E. SHANh^R. 
•Manager Inter,state\Aasociation. 
