Nov. ig, i8g8.] 
419 
Confabulations of the CadL— XflL 
The cothmitt'ee of the Egyptian Gun Club had repotted to the 
club proper, at a meeting held the previous day, called specially 
for the purpose of hearing the report, that it wis making progress, 
recommended about a hundred matters for tile clllb's considera- 
tion^ and asked fdr moi'e time to perfect sundry matters of un- 
finished business. It covered many pages of closely written fools- 
cap, and was chiefly devoted to a recountal of their many and 
arduous labors, their devotion and loyalty to the club's interests, 
and the thousand obstacles they were encountering at every attempt 
in arranging tournament matters. About three lines sufficed to 
recount what work the committee-had definitely accomplished. 
.Indeed, the members of the committee fell into the ways of expert 
committeemen with a deft ability which indicated an innate 
fitness for the work. 
The club waB fortunate in having members so enthusiastic and 
ardent in promoting its work; men whose esprit du corps was 
Cd great that they would let personal interests rest in abeyance 
^liile these' of the glltb were engaging their best effort. 
1* fae Stdrfci; 
. Several of the committee had ensconced themselves in the shade or 
Hi* lotlge. and assuaged their thirsts with several gulp'ings from the' 
blHer bucket while . waiting the arrival of Moke and Ephraim, 
jihe or ,th? Other of whom were Weeded to make a quorum. At: 
length Moke, arrived, looking much disturbed, lie walked straight 
to the bucket and,took a generous drink, which as to. size would 
not have been a discredit to a large,, thirsty farm mule. 
"You are very late, Moke," said the Cadi, in pleasant feb'hke, 
"and have kept the meeting waiting a long time on you aina 
Ephraim. We needed you to make a quorum, Punctuality is the 
very soul of business, my good friend. You may have a right 
to .squander your own time, but you have no right to squander 
your neighbor's. But where's Ephraim?" 
"He's hot eolVling to-day, Hor for several days, Cadi, Things 
lisi-e happened," Afbkfe replied iii toHes of sdrt'dw; 
"Somethitig serious has happened, I'tri stirS;" eorfiiileiltcd tliti 
Cadi; and Mis manner betrayed great eorie'erri over the absence 
of His friend and co-worker; "ft cartiiot Me that He Mas wearied 
bf cltib work? No; for there is pierity of cider oh haiid, arid 
tlifej-efbre— but What is the Matter, good Moke? Sp'eak out, ftiah." 
"Tile, storks have fconie," replied Moke seritentiousiy; 
"Oh," grunted the Cadi; 
"Oh," echoed Le Loup. 
"What! again?" queried Coxey, in indignant tones. 
"And when club matters are so much in need of attention, too," 
added Moke. 
• "Gentlemen," said the Cadi, in mild but firm tones, "the 
matters concerning the storks are not to be classified as ex- 
clamatory or interrogatory. They are not 'what-agains,' nor are 
they to be considered as preceding club matters in interest or 
importance. Each event of that kind is a distinct beneficent 
happening. It is, not to be considered as referring to the past, 
present or future events of a like kind. It is indeed a happy, 
happy day for our good friend Ephraim, and we will set aside a 
few minutes in which we all may rejoice at his good fortune. I 
wilt refill the cider bucket, and we will toast him many happy 
returns. Ah! happy, happy day! Good Ephraim! Fortunate 
Ephraim!" and the Cadi bustled away for the cider, warbling 
in a badly damaged voice; 
" 'She is a winsome wee thing, 
She is a handsome wee thing. 
She is a bonny wee thing, 
This sweet wee wife of mine,' 
"Beneficent happenings, indeed," commented 
tilted his nose scornfully in the air. "When a 
cook and dishwasher himself for several weeks, it's bad enough; 
add to that the duties of a nurse, and it's much worse. The 
Cadi doesn't know" as much about these matters as he might, for 
Hopie Jane never misses more than half an hour of time, and 
keeps on working just the same, storks or no storks. But 
here is the Cadi returning, and we must fall in with his humor, 
hoys, or there'll be a cut in the cider allowance." 
"Here is to the health of the young trap-shooter," exclaimed 
the Cadi, as he held the bucket aloft. 
"For a better understanding, I hasten to remark that it isn't 
a trap-shooter," interposed Moke. 
"Oh," said the Cadi, "that's different. 
"Quite different," assented Coxey. 
"Much different," added Moke. 
"We're glad anyhow," said the Cadi. "Here's to the young 
queen of some future trap-shooter's happy household." 
"It's two queens," said Moke. 
"Drat it!" said the Cadi. "Here's to ail young queens in num- 
ber from one to a dozen, and may Ephraim have many happy re- 
turns." 
Each member drank with much fervor, as would have been the 
ease whether they were drinking to a toast or to nothing, such 
was the excellent and durable quality of their thirsts. 
Demosthenes Brown. 
"We will now proceed with the business" of the meeting, my 
friends. The club is somewhat impatient over our slow prog- 
ress, and they hint that we are not working with due diligence. 
Come to order, gentlemen," and the Cadi rapped his pipe cn 
a log as a sign that he had on the -robes of office. 
"I move you, Cadi, that we appoint one of our members a sub- 
committee of one to solicit local advertisements," said Le 
Loup. 
"I second the motion, and nominate Mr. Le Loup," said 
Montague. 
"Gentlemen, I have so many business matters to look after that. 
I haven't the time to spare, even if I had the necessary ability. 
Our worthy secretary, Moke, is a man of great popularity, and 
has had great success in securing local advertising. I take great 
pleasure in giving^ this deserved testimony; and I nominate the 
good, sweet Moke in my place. 
"I thank Le Loup," exclaimed Moke, as he rose hastily, "for 
his high praise, and I would blush with pleasure if I were only 
able to blush at all; but I have so many business cares to 
engage my time and attention that, anxious as I am to serve the 
club, I am unable to do so in this matter. I take pleasure in 
nominating Mr. Coxey as a substitute for my own." 
"Gentlemen and ladies," said Coxey, "when there's any real hard 
work to do, I allow as how I'm just as busy as anybody else. 
I'm too busy to work for nothing, same as the rest of you. You 
all say in a nice way that you are sorry you can't do this work 
lor the club. You know you could give ninety-nine good excuses, 
and the hundredth one, which you all keep to yourselves, would 
be the truthful one. The truthful one is the one I'm a-tellin'. I 
don't want to do this here bard work for nothin', and I hain't 
a-goin' to do it neither. I'm awful sorry I can't. I'm just as 
sorry as you all are. I nominates the Cadi," and Coxey sat down 
grinning. 
Le Loup, as he 
fellow has to be 
"1 think," said the Cadi, "that the better way is to ifrake it ccrt- 
Irn'ct wltll Demosthenes Browii, advertising solicitor, and' gavft 
him 25 pel- cent, commission on all advertising secured, same as 
wc. did l,*ist year. i v he secretary Will give him a letter to every 
than In tb'wrf who is tiNore or less dependent on our patronage 
nni'l influence, asking him to do liis best for us. Irt that way the 
advertisers will he paying its for advertising; Md paying our 
agent at the same time. I ft tin's way yott will be promoting good 
sport in the usual good club manner, where the financial part 
includes manufacturers, manufacturers' agents, local traldesrhert, 
etc., as a source of revenue." 
"That's the right thing," said Moke. "Wc are sure of the hotel 
proprietors, for if they do not advertise we will influence the 
visiting sportsmen to go elsewhere. The same with the Soda 
water men, and the other concocters of bromo seltzer and other 
pleasant .summer morning drinks." 
"The motion is carried," ruled the Cadi. 
"What motion?" queried Le Loup. 
"May attention to the business of the meeting and you will 
jcttow whift the Motions «Sre f " retorted the Cadi, 
Tfargete. 
'%hit targets will we use?" queried Montague. 
"I. nave fully attended to that part," said Moke, Korrfewhat 
curtly. 
'"I'd like to knojv the name 67 ttit! target all the sairre, Moke," 
said Montague. 
"Tell us about it, Moke. There is nothing to tftnta&fl.- What 
target will we Use?" queried the Cadi. 
"I don't know,-" Moke retorted peevishly. 
"He has attended fully to' that part, mid he don't know anything 
about it! Very strange;" commented Montague, 
"If you must know, gentlemen*; I have wr'ilfelt to three different 
target manufacturers, telling them plainly thai w£ e'fcpee't them to 
furnish targets free for use in our tournament, f fWvfe' shown 
them that the advertising which their goods will thereby rec'e.'v^ 
will more that! repay them for the outlay. Out of the three I 
expeet one at least will comply with our demand. We will 
iisstire the shooters that the target we use is the best in the land. 
That is the way to have the simon-pure, sporty competition." 
"Suppose they all refuse?" Ventured Coxey. 
"They will Hot all refUfce," replied Moke, calmly. "If one 
of fhfc manttfaethrers does hot give us the targets outright, some 
one of the others will offer lis them at a very reduced rate; for 
the Sandbag and the boyfeott are bugaboos which are very 
potent. If they do not give vis the targets or niake us a rate 
at cost, we wo'uifl Buy the targets, but the bugaboos never fail." 
"I am glad to note that tournaments are ott s'Uch a sterling 
base of good sport," said Le Loup. "We sandbag the manu- 
facturers for merchandise and for advertising in otir prograntnie ; 
we assess their agents for the privilege of shooting; we sandbag 
the local tradesmen for their contributions, and we sandbag for 
free targets." 
"It is all very unlike Bret llarte's Heathen Chinee," said 
the Cadi, with an abstract air. "The Heathen Chinee was pe- 
culiar for tricks that are vain. All tricks are not vain. The Chinee 
has much to learn." 
In re Handicap. 
"Do you intend to take any action concerning a handicap, or 
will you run the tournament in the same old manner; that is to 
say, all shoot together on precisely the same terms, regardless 
of relative ability?" queried the Cadi. 
"I am in favor of running in the old manner," promptly re- 
sponded Le Loup. "If wc experiment with handicaps and other 
novelties of any kind, we may make some mistakes. At all 
events, we are sure to offend the most skillful shooters, for to 
them a handicap signifies impairment of their revenue. It is much 
better for them to have a small tournament with no handicaps 
than a big one with handicaps. One is a revenue to a certainty; 
the other is as it may happen. The business features must be 
considered before those of sport." 
"I think we might try some kind of a handicap which didn't 
make much change; for instance, place the professional amateurs — 
that is, the novices — at 14yds., the semi-experts at 16yds., and the 
experts at 18yds. What do you think of that, Gfidi?" Moke 
queried. 
"I don't think that makes much difference," the Cadi replied. 
"The average expert, after firing a few shots to get the range, will 
smash targets at 18yds. about as well as he will at 16. The differ- 
ence is not sufficient to add to the difficulties of his shooting to 
any appreciable extent, hence it practically amounts to nothing as 
a handicap. On the other hand, the novice, who cannot break 
targets at 16yds., cannot break them at 14. The mere change of 
a yard or two in distance in no.. wise compensates for the latter's 
lack of skill. There will be very little difference in the scores 
of a number of men, all standing at 16yds., when compared with 
scores made when they are divided up, some men standing at 
14yds., some at 16 and others at 18yds. On the other hand, all 
the men who are classed as experts at the 16yd. mark cannot be 
put back to the same distance, since some are slower shots than 
others, and the slower ones would not need to be set back far 
before the gun is handicapped instead of the man. 
"If you give each one of the weaker shooters a certain number 
of extra targets to shoot at, you then give no handicap at all. 
You merely give the shooter an opportunity to obtain a handicap, 
but then the handicap is contingent on his ability to take ad- 
vantage of the opportunity. Thus, two shooters whose shooting 
averaged alike might have five extra targets to shoot at in a cer- 
tain event. One might break the five; the other might miss the 
five; thus one had a handicap of five and the other, as it turned 
out, had no handicap at all. The handicap should be an arbitrary 
fixed "quantity. If five is to be given, let five misses count as 
five breaks. Give a handicap in reality. The weight a horse 
carries, the yards a sprinter has over his fellow competitors, etc., 
are all fixed arbitrarily, and count from the very beginning. There 
is a great deal of fallacy in the managements of handicaps as 
applied to target shooting. For instance, if a man is classed as 
being SO per cent, in skill, the handicapper is likely to give him 
20 extra targets to shoot at in a, let us say, 100-target race. At 
the first glance that appears fair. But the 80 per cent, man will 
get but 80 per cent, of the next 20; that is to say, he will break 
15, for he is only an 80 per cent, man in either instance. At best 
then he can get but 95 out of 100. Class your men according to 
their known ability as shown in several weeks of shooting, 
and give them a fixed number of misses as breaks. If 
you give him an extra number to shoot at you give him an oppor- 
tunity, but you do not give him a handicap. You are merely 
dangling the prizes a little closer, but still dangling them out of 
reach. 
"As a general proposition, you will find that the experts are 
loth to give a handicap of'this kind, though cheerfully willing, if 
need be, to give the other handicaps, such as an extra target or 
two to shoot at, or an extra yard or two in distance. We are al- 
ways pleased to put bait on our hook6." 
"let us p'n't O'ff the fiSffdicap matter till some other time," said 
Jtoofce. "If we adopt a! handicap now, the semi-experts and -ex- 
perts, fftig.'i ( not com'e, and the novices -Would be sure to quit after 
a short time', regardless of who wo*. Lei iii stick to the faith of 
our daddies, and if tts efin't eat corn we can eat hay." 
"tt has taken a long tfftle to prove that the earth Is not flat," 
said the Cadi, sadly. "It isn't tally proved yet to the satisfaction 
of all people, and even if it was it WOMid not add a mite to their 
wisdoin or happiness. Let Us 'consider money matters, and then 
otir opinions will concur," and - the Cadi scratched his head 
thoughtfully; after the manner of 'the aboriginal ancestor. 
Droppers Barred. 
"I iftove you, Cadi, that dropping k>t place not be tolerated," 
said Coxey. 
"That is well thought of, Coxey. We came near forgetting that, 
It has a good, round, sonorous sound, significant of a rectitude 
which would withstand a cyclone of assault from all ihe wicked 
shooters in the world. A tournament which is evolved by us 
With so much business probity should not be marred by any 
sharp practices of the shooters. I don't know why dropping for 
place is wrong, but I do know that it is wrong to use the sand- 
bag and the boycott," said the Cadi. 
"It doesfl't matter in the least," said Le Loup, "whether we 
adopt it or not, so far as dropping for place is concerned. Men 
will drop U they wish to, and we will not know the difference. But 
it has a prelty srottnd, and gives a good flavoring to everything 
else, so f think We 1 shotfld adopt it. It denotes that we are not. 
as other men are." 
"MiAioh carried," said the Cadi. "We will now call on our good 
friend Ephfitiftf as a eofftrhittee of the whole, and condole with 
him. He thinks fhiit: 
" 'The booby father' drives a booby son, 
And by heaven's blessing thinks himself undone," 
hut we'll try to make him think different" 
BKRiiAJtD WATF,R», 
Toumafttent at Sinking Spring, Pa, 
Sinking Spring, Pa., 8fov. 3.— The annua! fall target tournament! 
of the Independent Gun Club, of* Sinking Spring, Pa., was heldl 
to-day on the club's shooting gronrcds, at Jf. W. Hainly's Motel',- 
.it this place. The weather was just !h'e kind wanted few targe* 
shooting, a light wind blowing over the trap's, which carried thci 
targets swiftly. The tournament was a grand success, and Betteid 
the club a handsome profit. The management was attended to 
by Arthur A. Eink. of Beading, Pa., who deserves credit for ih* 
fine manner in which all the events were run off. 
The principal event of the day' was the individual cbampj««ship 
of Berks and adjoining counties for a handsome silver Wptthj 
valued at $23, and donated by the Independent Gun Club. A 
lib. can of Gold Dust powder was also given for second and third' 
prizes, donated by the U. S. Smokeless Powder Company, of 
Batavia, New York. The winner of the trophy turned out to be 
Mr. Francis Yost, of the South End Gun Club, of Reading, Pa., 
who, after snooting a tie with T. W. Hainly, of Sinking Spring 
each breaking 40 out of 50, shot at 25 in a shoot-off, Yost hitting 
18 to Hainly's 17, and thus won the handsome trophy. Mr. Yost, 
although high in the seventies in years, can give the trap-shooters 
of this community a lesson both in trap and field shooting. At 
present Mr. Yost holds the office of captain of the South End Gun 
Club, of Reading, and besides this trophy holds several other 
individual prizes, which he has won at the trap. Among the 
Berks county shooters he is better known, as Pop Yost. 
Among the shooters present were Fred Coleman, of Hegins, 
Pa.; W. T. Irwin, of Pottstown ; Jack, Greener, Francis Yost and 
Mart. Eshelman, of the South End Gun Club, of Reading; L 
Wertz, of Limekiln P. O.; also Hainlv, Spatz, Huntsicker, Young' 
Rautner, and Ruth, of the Independent Gun Club, of Sinking 
Spring. 
The scores were as follows: 
Events: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 IB 
Targets: 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 10 10 10 10 
Irwin 6 6 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 6 12 8 S 6 4 
Coleman 6 5 7 8 6 7 9 7 7 6 7 11 6 8 6 S 
Jack, 7 6 7 9 9 8 9 8 10 4 
Hainly 6 7 6 8 6 6 7.. 5 7 
Greener 8 8 S 8 8 8 3 65 
Spatz 7 8 7 7 fi 6 .. .. 7 7 .. ,. 7 4 '.. 
Wertz 8 9 8 6 8 5 0 9 0.. 8 
Yost 7 9 6 .. ..ii „ 
Huntsicker 5 8 5 8 5 . . . , . , 6 
Eshelman !. 6 7 
Young 6 .. .. 'fj .. .. .. 
The scores of the individual championship follow : 
Event 10, individual championship of Berks and adjoining 
counties, 50 targets, $1.50 entrance, first prize, a handsome silver 
trophy, valued at $25; second prize, a lib. can of Gold Dust 
powder; third prize, a lib. can of Gold Dust powder: 
Jack, of Reading, 32; Greener, of Reading, 36; Coleman, of 
Hegins, 33; Yost, of Reading, 40; Irwin, of Pottstown, 37; Hainly, 
oi Sinking Spring, 40; Wertz, of Limekiln, 38; Young, of Sinking 
-Spring, 35; Spatz, of Sinking Spring, 31; Eshelman, of Reading, 
34. 
Shoot-off, to decide first between Yost and Hainly at 25 targets 
each: Yost 18, Hainly 17. 
The Independent Gun Club after the tournament held a 
business meeting, and decided to engage manager Arthur A. Fink 
to maaage another shoot, to be held at the same place, under 
the auspices of the Independent Gun Club, some time in Decem- 
ber, the date to be selected later on. Duster. 
A Grab Bag Shoot. 
New York, Nov. 5.— Editor Forest and' Stream: Paul North 
dropped into my office yesterday afternoon to say "good-by" 
prior to his starting on a two months' trip to England and the 
continent of Europe. While discussing our views as to the 
coming Grand American Handicap— which, by the way, are 
precisely similar — Mr. North told me of a new scheme for a 
sociable shoot. It had been introduced into Cleveland by Mr. 
Alexander Forrester, of the 'Audubon Gun Club, of Buffalo. N. Y. 
The scheme is such a good one, particularly for a holiday shoot^ 
that I think it worth while making it public. Here it is: 
An event is arranged at 50 targets, entrance $1 (price of targets), 
with an additional condition that each entrant must bring a prize 
with him, the value of the said prize not to be more than $1. 
As each man makes his entrance good for the 50-target event, he 
hands to the cashier or committee his prize, carefully done up in 
paper and tagged with the donor's name in full. When the 
entrances are all made, the prizes are numbered by the committee 
or cashier. 
After the event has been shot out, numbers corresponding t© 
those on the prizes are put into a hat, the high man having 
the first draw out of the hat; the second highest, the second 
draw; and so on. Low man takes the number left in the hat. 
Everybody gets a prize. 
Then the fun begins. The prizes are allotted according to the 
numbers drawn by the contestants, and sometimes a man °-ets 
his own prize. He naturally gets roasted with something like the 
following: "Serves you right for bringing such a measly old 
prize. 
Of course there's no money to be made in the shoot for the 
shooters; but if they're out for fun, they'll get it, and their full 
money's worth. Edward Banks. 
Lincoln Interstate in \ 899. 
Lincoln, Neb., Nov, 9.— Editor Forest and Stream: On April 
19, 20 and 21, last, we held out first tournament, adding $225 to 
the purses. The shooters in this trans-Mississippi valley seemed 
to appreciate our effort to the extent that we immediately decided 
to make our tournament, an annual affair, and at that time 
claimed out dates for 1899, when we will add $500 to the purses 
We will therefore ask you to insert in Forest and Stream 
fixtures our claim for April 18, 19 and 20. 
Lincoln Gun Ct,ufl ; 
