Am. 1% 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1B9 
CatcHpole Gun Oub* 
1, and they even killed some birds that they could not tell 
ther they were wounded or not, to a certaintj'. The birds 
Wo LCOTT, V. Au^. 5. — The midsummer shooting tournament 
of the Catchpole Gun Club, held on Aug. 3 and 4, was a success 
in every way. The attendance was good, although some shooters 
who always attend the tournaments given by our club were de- 
tained by business matters. 
The weather was very fine for trap-shooting, and everything 
passed off like clockwork. There was as fine a lot of gefitlemen 
present as can be found in the State. Among them were Messrs. 
Tuttle, Knapp, Knox and Brigden, of Auburn, N. Y.; McCord, 
Mosher, Borst and Norton, of Rochester, N. Y. ; Denny, Whitney 
and Tallett of Watertown, N. Y.; Dalley and Morris, of Bald- 
M-insville, N. Y. ; Hunter, Chapman and Wayte, of Fulton, N. Y. ; 
Wride, of Sodus, N. Y,, and many others from adjoining towns. 
Mr. J. R. Hull, of Parker Bros., Meriden, Conn., came in after- 
noon of Friday, and shot finely in a few events. The programme 
called for eight events on Thursday, Aug. 3, and twelve events 
on Friday, Aug. 4. Event No. 8 on Friday was the merchandise 
event, of 20 targets. There were twenty-seven shooters entered in 
this event, and a list of thirty-two prizes was presented to the club 
by the business men, so every shooter was sure of capturing a 
prize. Mr. Chapman, of Fulton, N. Y"., was high, breaking 20 
straight, and had first choice, closely followed by Mr. Denny, 
of Watertown, N. Y., and Mr. Fowler, of the home club, with 
19 each to their credit. The targets were thrown hard from the 
magautrap, and the shooting was very even, Mr. F, McCord, of 
Rochester, was high man for the entire programme, closely fol- 
lowed by other shooters, as by referring to the averages as shown 
here one will see that among the ten shooters who shot through the 
entire programme there was only a difference of 24 targets from 
the leader to the lowest, or a difference of 9 per cent, shooting 
of the 2(i0 targets, the highest man breaking 229 out of 260 shot 
at, and the lowest breaking 205. 
Following is the general average of those who shot through 
the programme, also the full score: 
Dalley . . 
Denny , 
Knapp . 
Tuttle .. 
Events 
Targets 
Shot 
Shot 
Av. 
at. 
Broke. 
Av. 
at; 
Broke. 
.260 
229 
.880 
Wride . ... 
, ,260 
212 
.810 
260 
227 
.870 
260 
212 
,810 
260 
224 
.860 
Mosher 
260 
208 
.800 
, 260 
222 
.850 
260 
206 
.790 
260 
219 
.840 
Wadsworth . 
...260 
205 
.790 
12 3 
4 5 
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 
10 15 10 15 10 20 10 20 10 15 10 15 Shot at. Broke. 
Tuttle 8 13 8 11 10 16 10 IS 9 12 9 15 
Knapp 9 13 9 9 7 19 7 18 9 14 10 14 
Brigden 8 13 8 13 8 17 8 16 7 9 7 13 
Dalley 9 13 10 13 7 19 9 18 9 14 8 12 
Morris S 14 8 11 6 18 7 13 9 8 8 10 
Mosher - 8 12 7 13 8 15 8 14 7 11 10 12 
McCord 9 12 8 14 10 16 9 16 10 14 10 12 
Wayte 8 9 6 10 612 8 14 7 
Wride 9 12 10 13 7 IS 7 17 8 12 9 » 
Wadsworth 8 13 9 12 7 16 7 14 9 12 8 11 
Denny 9 12 10 13 8 16 9 19 8 13 8 13 
Tallett , 8 11 6 10 9 17 8 13 6 .. .. 
Whitnev 8 11 8 9 6 17 7 15 6 10 8 
Chapman 9 12 8 11 8 . . 9 20 9 . . 6 
Hunter 6 10 7 . . 5 . . S 14 8 . . 6 
7 7 19 7 . . 9 
5 
8 7 9 
7 19 
7 17 
3 12 
Hunter 6 10 
Fowler 7 .. 
Uncle Ben 9 .. 
Rich 
Cook < 9.15 6 12 
Compson 9 13 . . 17 9 . . 5 
Norton 14 6 13 5 4 . . 
Borst 17 8 12 8 13 
Reckman 9 15 7 11 10 
Knox 
Butk 
*Hull 
Ccsad 
Van Husen 
* Targets only. 
Events : 
Tuttle 
Knapp 
Brigden 7 10 10 14 
Dalley 
Morris 
Moshei 
McCori 
Wadsw 
Wride 
Wavte 
Uncle Ben ■v:^-' '7 • 
Whitney 
Denney ■ 
Tallett 
Kowler 8 12 
Burk 
Cosad 8 
There werefpilf iroii^ys; «ntrance 75 cents and ?> 
* TT' A WT A Til 
160 
160 
160 
160 
160 
160 
160 
120 
160 
160 
160 
120 
145 
110 
95 
85 
50 
85 
70 
70 
75 
90 
65 
134 
138 
125 
141 
125 
124 
140 
89 
131 
126 
138 
93 
117 
92 
64 
65 
38 
45 
47 
53 
42 
70 
52 
14 4 
30 
18 
.. 13 .. 
.30 
21 
18 .. 
9 14 
45 
41 
.. 10 .. 
20 
10 
, 9 ., 
20 
9 
1 
2 
3 4 5 
6 
7 
8 Shot at. Broke, 
H 
9 13 9 
12 
7 
15 
100 
85 
8 
12 
8 12 7 
13 
10 
14 
100 
84 
7 
10 10 14 9 
9 
9 
13 
100 
81 
7 
14 
8 13 10 
14 
9 
11 
100 
86 
8 
15 10 14 9 
12 
7 
12 
100 
87 
9 
13 
8 14 10 
9 
9 
12 
lOO 
84 
9 
15 
9 15 7 
11 
10 
13 
100 
89 
10 
11 
8 12 7 
11 
8 
12 
100 
79 
8 
11 
6 13 8 
14 
8 
13 
100 
81, 
8 
10 
5 11 6 
7 
9 
13 
100 
74 
9 
13 
7 13 8 
10 
75 
60 
6 
.. 9 .. 
8 
40 
30 
8 
9 11 8 
10 
'8 
13 
100 
73 
7 
14 
8 15 8 
13 
9 
12 
100 
86 
10 
14 
9 11 10 
11 
9 
12 
100 
86 
8 
12 
9 .. ,. 
10 
12 
60 
51 
8 
6 .. 8 
9 
40 
31 
8 
10 
S 
E. A. Wadsworth, Sec'y- 
Re Pigeon Shooting. 
There has been more or less agitation in the matter of cruelty 
In pigeon shooting, chiefly by members of prevention of cruelty 
societies, and in view of this, the following decisions, rendered 
bv able jurists, may be of interest and value to those who suffer 
from the mistaken zeal of such men as imagine that their personal 
whims and vagaries are true standards of what is cruel and what 
" The first case is from the records of the Quarter Sessions Court 
of Allegheny county. Pa., 1892. and was quite an important one, 
being the Commonwealth vs. Denny et al. The defendants were 
acquitted. The judge's charge was as follows: _ 
"Gentlemen: Each of these defendants is separately indicted 
for cruelty to animals, in that he did unlawfully and wantonly 
shoot, wound, abuse and ill-treat one pigeon each, belonging to 
said J. O'H. Denny and E. H. McWhorter. This was on the 
31st day of April last. The pigeon shooting was out in the 
Eighteenth or Nineteenth Ward of this city, m the rural part of 
the city. The case is founded on the Act of Assembly passed m 
1869, which I do not think very greatly differs from the one of 
1860. that 'Any person who shall, within this commonwealth, 
wantonly or cruelly ill-treat, overload, beat or otherwise abuse any 
animal, sh.il! be guilty of a misdemeanor.' It is a statute law 
providing against evils that are supposed to exist. A rule m the 
interpretation of statutes, and an old one, well established, is that 
in order to determine what a statute means you must know what 
the law was prior to the passage of the statute, and then see what 
evil was to be cured. Our common law is modified by the statute 
law very largely. There is a common law in regard to animals 
and their treatment by man that is very old, and it is of record 
in one of the oldest books that we have, and one of the best 
law books that we have. It was promulgated at the Garden of 
Eden to Adam and Eve: , _ , ' t. * -..r 1 j 
" 'God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and 
multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion 
over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every 
living thing that moves upon the earth.' 
"There are passages of the same general import that have been 
governing mankind ever since. The fish of the sea and the fowl 
of the air and the beasts of the earth are for man, rather than 
man for the beasts. They are to be used for his sustenance, to 
aid him, for his comfort and his pleasure. Now in usuing them 
he m.ust not unnecessarily cruelly treat them. The act of As- 
sembly is intended to prevent brutal men and women from un- 
necesarily and wantonly causing pain, where it is not necessary 
in the using of animals for legitimate purposes. ' ' 
"These defendants are sportsmen belonging, as I understand, 
to an association; and at this particular time they were shooting, 
as a test of skill, to see who could kill the most birds, each 
having 50 shots at 50 birds. That was a legitimate, lawful use 
of the birds. The pigeons were put in a trap one at a time, and let 
out and they would shoot them on the wing. If there were need 
of an authority, and I do not think it ought even to have required 
one the Supreme Court has decided that that is a legitimate use 
of pigeons; that it is not cruel to shoot them for sport or as a 
test of skill. The Commonwealth concedes that the defendants 
cannot be convicted simply because they shot the pigeons in this 
wav for this purpose, but alleges that they were guilty of cruelty 
in this case because certain birds, or a bird shot by each of these 
dfeiendants separately, did not fall before it got beyond the limits 
of their bounds of 50 or 60yds. awav, and that it was cruelty not 
to have it brought in at once and killed. The defendants allege, 
on the other hand, that was done, and that every reasonable ar- 
li'igement was made for getting the wounded birds and killing 
them 
wheth 
were brought in and were intended to be used for food. But 
assuming for the purposes of this case that Mr. O'Brien's in- 
ferences were all correct, that there was no such provision as 
the defendants testified to, I am disposed to think, and so 
instruct you, that it is not the cruelty that is intended 
in the act of Assembly, for them to neglect to kill these birds that 
had escaped. I know that a great many humafltarians, and es- 
pecially professional humantarians, regard it as their duty I0 kill 
a wounded animal at once. If a horse gets a leg broken, it is to 
have no chance of being cured, but must be shot; and if 
a bird is wounded it mixst be killed immediately! I have 
never yet heard any well-authenticated case of a man or 
association having communication with horses or pigeons or 
chickens to know whether or not they desire to be shot at once; 
and I find myself often wondering when I see accounts of these 
summary proceedings, and the manner in which, as a matter of 
humanity, animals are put out of the way when injured, whether 
the horse could not sit in judgment over a wounded or crippled 
man, or an old man that has become infirm and incapacitated 
from doing anything and taking care of himself, and decide that 
he should be killed! I am rather inclined to think that, when 
a bird has gotten away a reasonable distance, it is not necessary 
to assume that it will, as a matter of course die, and it is a great 
relief to it and a great advantage to it and a piece of humanity 
to at once put it out of its pain. We do not know whether a 
wounded bird wants to be put out of its jjain and existence or not. • 
I do not think it does, but I do not know; neither do these 
gentlemen know. The matter depends a great deal on sentimen- 
tality, on whim, on education, and on what we have been ac- 
customed to. 
"I instruct you, gentlemen, that your verdict in each of tbese 
cases should be for the defendants. It is a misdemeanor, and you 
have the right to say who shall pay the costs. It is your duty to 
say who shall pay the costs, and you will determine whether the 
county, the prosecutor or the denfendants shall pay them, 
or the prosecutor and defendants, and in what proportion. I 
might suggest this to you, that in this case, which has been 
brought as a test case, I have no doubt the prosecutor and those 
around him, and those whom he represents, honestly think that 
this is cruelty. I do not. I do not think you would, if 1 were to 
submit the matter to you; but it was brought as a test case and 
upon good motives, and I suggest to you that the costs should 
not be put on the prosecutor; and I do not think they ought to 
be put on the defendants, because they have not been guilty of 
of .$5 imposed on Mr. Lewis. From this came the present appeal, 
Judge Paxton, as Chief Justice, delivered the opinion of ths! 
Supreme Court, which is as follows: "The specific charge in the 
indictment was that the defcndent did 'unlawfully,, wantonly and 
cruelly shoot, wound, torture, abuse and ill-treat a certain pigeon, 
etc. The jury found a special verdict, upon which the court below 
entered judgment for the Commonwealth. We are, therefore, 
limited to the facts as found. From the verdict we learn 'that 
the defcndent was a member of the association called the Phila- 
delphia Gun Club; that on Dec. 14, 1887, he attended a pigeon 
shooting match and fired with a gun upon certain pigeons 
liberated from a trap, killing one and wounding another. The 
bird so wounded alighted upon a tree, and as soon as its 
wounded condition was discovered it was killed by a member of 
said club for and on behalf of said defendant, according to the 
custom of said club in regard to wounded birds. The birds so 
killed were immediately sold for food, according to the rule and 
custom of said club.' 
"We have thus the finding of the jury that the object of this 
Association was to test the skill of its members in marksmansliip. 
In other words, it was a training school for sportsmen, in which 
they could acquire skill in shooting on the wing. This being the 
object of the association, the jury further found that the de-' 
fcndant attended for the purposes aforesaid. It was conceded 
that had he killed his bird he would not have been liable under 
the act of 1869, But having merely wounded it, he was guilty of 
cruelty under said act. So that the crime consisted, not in the 
fact of the shooting, but in wounding instead of instantly killing it. 
From the facta found by the jury-, the defendant has merely been 
punished for want of skill. 
"It is doutbless true that much pain and suffering is often 
caused to different kinds of game by this unskillfulness of sports- 
men. A squirrel badly wounded may yet crawl to its hole and 
suffer for many hours and days and die. It was not pretended that 
the act applied to such cases. The sportsman in the woods is not 
responsible for the accuracy of his aim under the act of 1869. At 
the same time it is manifest that much suffering would be spared 
wild game if sportsmen were better trained. Skill in shooting 
upon the wing can only be gained by practice. It is not so with 
inanimate objects. There accuracv of aim can be acquired by 
shooting at a mark. It is conceded that the sportsman in the 
woods may test his skill by shooting at wild birds. Wlov, then, 
may he not do the same with a bird confined in a cage and let out 
for that purpose? Is the bird in the cage any better or has it any 
higher rights than the bird in the woods? Both were placed here 
by the Almighty for the use of man. They were not given to him 
THE CATCHPOLE GUN CLUB. 
anything that was unusual or anything that has been declared a 
crime, and I suggest that in this case you put the costs upon 
the county. It is able to bear them." 
The following is a reprint from Forest and Stream of Feb, 
'26, 1S91, and as the matter will show, it deals with a case of 
special importance and significance, as follows: 
In 1887. at which time A. Nelson Lewis, a member of the Phila- 
delphia Gun Club, was indicted before the Bucks County Court 
under the act of March 29, 1869, which makes it a misdemeanor to 
wantonly or cruelly kill or ill-treat, overload, beat or otherwise 
abuse anv animal. 
On Dec. 14, 1887, the Philadelphia Gun Club held a pigeon 
shooting match at their grounds on the "Old Brinkley Home- 
stead," Andalusia, the other contcstrmts being the Tuxedo Gun 
Club, the Westminster Kennel Club and the Riverton Gun 
Club. The club members and their friends went to the grounds 
by way of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Upon the same train from 
Broad Street Station were two uniformed officers of the Woman's 
Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, 
who openly avowed their intention of making arrests if the matcfi 
should take place. 
The grounds were filled with people, the contest became very e,x- 
o.iting and a large amount was staked on the result. Shortly after 
the shooting began the officers of the woman's society approached 
the gates and were met by members of the club, who stated that 
they had intended to meet the issue, and would allow an arrest to 
be made. They did not raise any question as to the right of the 
officers to enter the grounds, because it would not be agreeable 
had any of the visitors or members of the club been arrested. In 
that case, as far as all present were concerned, the day would 
have ended in disappointment. 
Then came the question of who would allow himself to be ar- 
rested. None cared to come up to the scratch, although several 
were approached. Finally General Grubb, the president of the 
club, expressed his determination to throw himself into the 
breach if no one else could be found courageous enough to do so, 
was appealed to. Without a moment's hesitation he gave his 
This, for several reasons, was undesirable, and A. Nelson Lewis 
consent, resolving to be sacrificed in friendship to his club mem- 
bers, and that the purpose and pleasure of the guests might not 
be marred. 
Mr. Lewis was then technically arrested and taken before a jus- 
tice of the peace. He was defended by General Dechert. Subse- 
quently the club presented him with a resolution of thanks, highly 
extolling him for the way in which he had stood up for the in- 
terests of the club. 
The late Lewis C. Cassidy was to have defended Mr, Lewis, but 
died before the case came to trial. On the trial the jury returned 
a special verdict, in which they found that it was the custom of 
the Association to hold matches for skill in marksmanship, that 
Mr. Lewis participated in the match in December, 1887, and "for 
the purpose aforesaid fired with a gun upon certain pigeons, liber- 
ated from a trap, killing one and wounding another. The bird 
so wounded alighted -upon a tree, and as soon as its wounded 
condition was discovered it was killed by a member of said club, 
for and on behalf of said defendant, according to the custom of 
said club in regard to wounded birds. The bird so killed was 
immediately sold for food, according to the rule and custom of 
said club." 
Judgment was entered in favor of the Commonwealth and a fine 
to be needlessly and cruelly tortured, and were there anything in 
the finding of the jury to show that the object of this association 
was to torture pigeons we would not hesitate to sustain the judg- 
ment of the court below. But no such pujrpose appears, nor is 
there any finding that the defe.ndant was guilty of needless and 
wanton cruelty. The bird was immediately killed as soon as its 
condition wa.i discovered. 
"A distinction was pressed upon the argument between the case 
of a captive bird and one at large in the woods. In the latter in- 
stance there is a necessity to shoot it in order to capture it for 
food or other lawful purpose; and if wounding results, it is an 
unavoidable incident; while in the case of a captive bird, no 
necessity exists for putting it to death in this way. Som_e force 
may be conceded to this as an abstract proposition, but we do not 
see its application to the facts of this case. The right to kill the 
pigeon was and must be conceded, and there is no finding of the 
jury that its suffering was greater because of the manner of its 
death than if it had been killed in some other way. This is a 
scientific question which I do not feel myself competent to pass 
upon. Nor do I think the average juryman is any better qualified 
to do so. It may be_ that science in the future will discover the 
method of killing a pigeon with the least possible pain. So far as 
other animals are concerned, it is, perhaps, an open question, and 
the attempt of well-meaning humanitarians in a sister State to 
reduce the sufferings of condemned criminals by putting them to 
death by electricity instead of by hanging has produced a lotig 
controversy which can be hardly regarded as settled. An attempt 
has been made, so far unsuccessfully, to show it is unconstitu- 
tional because of its cruelty. 
"We do not say there might not be a violation of the act of 1869 
at a shooting match, but in our view the facts found by the jury 
do not bring this case within it. The judgment is reversed." — 
Philadelphia Tim es, Feb. 23. 
Omaha Gun Cltib. 
Omaha, Neb., Aug. 8. — ^In the weekly shoot of the Omaha Gun 
Club to-day Townsend was high with 19, Bersheim second with IS. 
The scores: 
Kenvon 11101100001001111110--12 
Grant 11111111111111111110—19 
Farm el ee 1111111111 11110] 0101— 1 7 
Bates 11101101101111111011—16 
T own sen d lUinilllllUlll 101— 1 9 
Burgess 10111011111111101101—16 
Job annes 11111111111011011110—17 
M cFarlane , m-, i i 11110100100011101111—1.3 
Loomis .i ; . = 11111110100111111011—16 
Bersheim , • 01111111011111111111—18 
Grant shot at 160 targets and scored 155. 
E G Cop. 
New Y^ork. Aug, IX.— Editor Forest and Stream: I have to-day 
received from Mr, J, A, R, Elliott his acceptance of Mr, Crosby's 
challenge for the E C cup, representing the inanimate target 
championship, 
Mr. Elliott names Atlantic City. N. J., Aug. 23. 11:30 A. M., as 
the place, date and time for holding the match. 
Edward Banks, 
See'y American E C & SchuHze Gunpowder Co., Ltd. 
