June 29, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
827 
The Grand American Handicap 
Springfield, Ill., June 18 to 21, 1912 
The thirteenth annual Grand American Handicap 
has passed into history, and should be recorded as one 
of the nicst successful of the series. The tournament 
was held at Springfield, Ill., June 18 to 21, inclusive, on 
the grounds of the Illinois Gun Club. This club is an 
active, up-to-date organization, whose officers have given 
unstintedly of their time in preparing for the big shoot 
of the year, and they were successful in providing ample 
accommodations for the convenience and comfort of 
shooters and spectators. The grounds are easy of access, 
being located about one block east of the end of the 
car line, and fifteen minutes’ ride from the city. 
A large pavilion tent was pitched back of traps 4 
and 5, in which were chairs for the .use of spectators 
and shooters, and sufficient number were provided, so 
that all could be supplied. In this tent was placed the 
bulletin board, around which a crowd was always col¬ 
lected, following the fortunes of some favorite in the 
different events. The dining tent was erected at the 
north end of the grounds back of traps 1 and 2. The 
dinners and lunches served were the best which have 
been had at any of the Grand Americans with which the 
v;riter is familiar, and received favorable comment from 
all the shooters. There were three Ideal-Leggett traps. 
Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and two Western McCreas, No. 4 and 5. 
The former were in charge of C. E. North, of Cleveland, 
and the latter in charge of H. E. Winans, of East Al¬ 
ton, Ill. It is needless to say that no delays were caused 
by any trap trouble. 
The office force consisted of Fred C. Whitney, Des 
Moines, who for the eleventh time acted as cashier, and 
performed his duties with his usual ability. Bernard 
Elsesser, York, Pa., for the eighth time fulfilled the 
cuties of compiler of scores to the satisfaction of every 
shooter on the grounds. The moneys were figured 
promptly, and what is of more importance, with perfect 
accuracy. To imagine “Bernie” making a mistake in 
this position is to imagine the impossible. Clerks, W. E. 
Hoffman. Chicago; T. Chalfont, Wilmington, Del., and 
D. H. Eaton, Cincinnati. Elmer E. Shaner was, of 
course, in charge, and it is superfluous to speak of his 
abilities in this position. The shooters have seen too 
many examples of his efficiency to need to have it re¬ 
called to their mind. His son, E. Reed Shaner, rendered 
him valuable assistance as his assistant manager, and 
was on the spot whenever his services were required. 
The field force, a necessary part qi the machinery of 
a big tournament, and an important one, was supplied 
by the club. The officers were fortunate in their selec¬ 
tion of the following men, whose intelligent performance 
of their duties was a real factor in the smoothness with 
which the tournament was run off: 
Trap No. 1.—Referee, Ed. Neer; scorer, A. Arm¬ 
strong; puller. Ward; trapper, W. Connor; hustler, 
Whipp. 
Trap No. 2.—Referee, J. L. Buerkett; scorer, James 
Martin; puller, Lon Burse; trapper. Brown; hustler, 
Gibson. 
Trap No. 3. — Referee, A. B. Cochran; scorer, H. 
Bennett; puller, Conberry; trapper, W. Emick; hustler, 
Thompson. 
Trap No. 4.—Referee, Levy Graham; scorer, Wilson; 
puller, N. B. Luther; trapper, L. Emick; hustler. Smith. 
Trap No. 5.—Referee, Briggs; scorer, Hickey; puller, 
Townsend; trapper, Scott; hustler, Devereux. 
Substitutes.—Referee, Mayberry; pullers, E Graham 
and Longeman; trappers, Talbot and Cheeseboro. 
The trade was well represented, not only on the 
firing line, but by numerous representatives, who cir¬ 
culated among the shooters, making friends for them¬ 
selves and their companies. 
Du Pont Powder Co.—J. T. Skelly, Walter Huff, L. 
S. German, D. D. Gross, C. O. Le Compte, L. J. Squier, 
H. J. Borden, H. W. Vietmeyer, W. D. Stannard, Edw. 
Banks, J. E. Dickey, Fred Gilbert, Art Killam, J. W. 
Garrett, C. O. Newton. 
Peters Cartridge Co.—L. R. Myers, T. H. Keller, 
H. D. Freeman, C. A. Young, Woolfolk Henderson, J. 
S. Day, L. H. Fitzsimmons, H. W. Cadwallader, W. R. 
Chamberlain. 
Remington-U. M. C. — H. G. Taylor, G. W. Maxwell, 
E. S. Graham, W. H. Heer, R. O. Heikes, T. A. 
Marshall, F. B. Clark, J. L. Head, J. B. Warren, Louis 
Ebert, L. S. McCoy. 
A. H. Fox Gun Co. — A. R. Roll, J. L. Peden. 
Winchester Arms Co.—Ward Burton, F. G. Drew, 
Jules Grimmer, Ad. Topperwein, A. H. Amman, Jas. 
Lewis, C. F. Sylvester, C. G. Spencer, F. G. Bills, W. 
R. Crosby, J. R. Taylor. 
Hunter Arms Co.—H. McMurchy. 
Parker Eros.—S. A. Tucker. 
The weather during the week was not very bad, and 
could hardly be called good. Two showers delayed the 
shooting a short while, but there were no storms neces¬ 
sitating the postponement of any of the events, which 
were all finished on the date scheduled. The tempera¬ 
ture was rather low, but that can hardly be called a 
detriment, as every one felt more alive than if the 
mercury had stood at the top of the tube each day. 
The wind interfered somewhat with the flight of the 
targets on two or three days. 
The officers of the club are: Edmund Burke, President; 
A. C. Connor, Vice-President; Dr. J. R. Leib, Secretary- 
Treasurer, and Paul G. Burns, Field Captain. They all 
have put in much work in preparation for the tourna¬ 
ment, and everything in their power was done to have 
things in readiness. That they succeeded admirably is 
evidenced by the smoothness with which the shoot was 
run off. 
Praclice Day, June 17. 
The week’s sport opened, as usual, on IMonday, which 
was designated “practice day,’’ and on this day the con¬ 
testants were supposed to tune up for the great struggle 
before them. Then, too, it gives visiting shooters a 
chance to get used to the strange surroundings,^ see how 
the traps work, how the pullers respond to their call of 
“pull,” and get the hang of things generally. There is 
always a good number of shooters out on this day, some 
W. E. PHILLIPS, 
Winner Grand American Handicap, 1912. 
of them early in the morning, and others arriving on 
later trains, who get a chance in the afternoon only. 
This year was no exception, and the entry was very 
good, perhaps a little better than at Columbus in 1911. 
The weather prospects were far from favorable, those 
arriving on the early morning trains, walking to their 
hotels in a drizzling rain, which continued most of the 
morning. In the afternoon it partially cleared off, 
though the sky was still covered with heavy, low-lying 
clouds which threatened a downpour at any moment. A 
very heavy rainstorm on the Saturday previous had left 
the roads in not the best of condition, and the walk to 
the grounds, for a part of the way. introduced the 
strangers to the clinging qualities of Illinois soil when 
moistened. The light was not of the best, but there 
was no wind which interfered with the flight of the 
targets, and some good scores were made. The squads 
were not shot in sections, but each one took a trip 
down the line of five traps, three Ideal-Leggetts and 
two Western McCraes, all of which worked to a charm. 
The program consisted of five 20-target events in the 
morning, entries for which were closed about one o’clock, 
and the same dose for the afternoon. The mcrning 
events had 119 contestants, while enough new shooters 
reached the grounds to fill out an even thirty squads 
for the afternoon’s program. All stood at ISyds., as a 
preparation for the championship events to be held on 
the first day of the regular program. The first squad 
started the battle at about 9:30, and at 4:45 the last 
squad sheet was handed into the office, and “Bernie” 
and his assistants got busy with the figures. Good 
scores were the rule, the amateurs having a little the 
best of their professional brothers, and traveling in the 
same class with them to the finish. 
William Ridley, who stepped into the limelight at a 
former Grand American, took the lead in the morning 
events, going out with 98, one target ahead of the pro¬ 
fessionals, W. R. Crosby and \\ alter Huff, each of 
whom scored 97. Three amateurs, F. Wright, F. Stan¬ 
ton and Bart Lewis, tied for third place with the pro¬ 
fessionals, H. D. Freeman and H. G. Taylor on 96. Fred 
Gilbert had C. D. Henline as a companion in fourth 
place, each scoring 95. 
The afternoon brought out a larger field of shooters, 
and the improvement in the weather had its effects on 
the scores, making them climb, until nothing under 95 
caused any comment. The amateurs were still going 
with the experts, and at a good pace, J. S. Young get¬ 
ting in first place with the two professionals, C. G. 
Spencer and J. R. Taylor, on a score of 98; second 
place had two amateurs, Frank Stanton and G. T. Hal, 
tied with four professionals, C. A. Young, H. Clark, H. 
G. Taylor and George Maxwell, on 97; in third place 
were M. Arie and A. MacLach’an, amateurs, and the 
professionals, W. D. Stannard, W. Henderson and H. 
D. Freeman, each with 96 to his credit. High profes¬ 
sionals for the day were: C. G. Spencer and H. G. 
Taylor, 193; J. W. Garrett and H. D. Freeman, 192 
each; H. Clark, Ed. O’Brien, J. R. Taylor and W. R. 
Crosby, 191 each. The amateurs matched professionals, 
F. Stanton being high with 193; J. S. Young, 192, and 
B. Lewis, 191, Squad record for the day was made by 
No. 5, Barber, Garrett, Stannard, Kammerman and Huff, 
in event No. 5, when they left the firing line with only 
one goose-egg decorating the score sheet. During the 
day there were 26,900 targets trapped. The scores: 
Morning practice: 
*C 0 Le tompte... 
... 93 
’*W R Crosbv . 
.. 97 
Ira Galbraith . 
...86 
H D Freeman . 
.. 9i 
W Webster . 
... 8i 
*H J Borden . 
.. 90 
Ray Loring . 
... 87 
G E Crosby . 
.. 8S 
Lee R Kestner .. .. 
... 64 
W H France . 
.. 91 
*L S German . 
... 90 
Wm Ridley . 
.. 98 
F G Fuller . 
... 86 
C H Ditto . 
F M Edwards . 
.... 89 
Wm Wetleaf . 
.. 91 
R H Bruns . 
.... 89 
F Wright . 
.. 96 
*C A Young . 
.... 89 
J R Sharp . 
.. 84 
*J S Day . 
.... 92 
*E M Funk . 
.. 92 
M Arie . 
.... 92 
L Halverson . 
.. 83 
Bart Lewis . 
.... 96 
C B Eaton . 
.. 83 
O’Connell . 
.... 77 
J W Appleman . 
.. 88 
Nick Arie . 
.... 90 
A Lawrence . 
.. 85 
C E Orr . 
.... 89 
J G Martin . 
.. 81 
*Geo S Lewis . 
.... 80 
H W Kahler . 
.. 94 
Jesse Barker . 
.... 82 
K Dickey . 
.. 90 
*W E Grubb . 
.... 86 
P T Graham . 
.. 88 
Wm Jackson . 
.... 83 
■^H W Cadwallader .. 
.. 88 
*R R Barber . 
.... 87 
*F Gilbert . 
.. 95 
*J W Garrett . 
J A Prichtel . 
.. 86 
*W D Stannard .. 
.... 90 
Ed Massengale . 
.. 85 
J Kammermann .. 
.... 91 
W Bergman . 
.. SO 
*W Huff . 
.... 97 
H D Duckham . 
.. 89 
*W Henderson .... 
.... 87 
C H Wagner . 
.. 81 
*L R Myers . 
.... 70 
R L Dover . 
.. 79 
*W R Chamberlain 
.... 95 
I N Price . 
.. 88 
Wm Shattuck . 
.... 91 
R C Rains . 
.. 74 
J K Holder . 
.... 93 
*J R Taylor . 
.. 93 
T S Young . 
.... 94 
Kneussl . 
..91 
Geo McDermott ... 
.... 93 
J Gray . 
.. 90 
J B Barto . 
.... 90 
*A Killam . 
.. 90 
A V ance . 
.... 87 
C D Henline . 
,..95 
*H Clark . 
.... 94 
C F Moore . 
..92 
B Dunnell . 
.... 90 
’‘'E S Graham . 
...93 
H Dunnell . 
.... 91 
T E Graham . 
...91 
A F Wilcox . 
.... 77 
A McLachlin . 
..93 
C C Collins . 
.... 87 
J F Wulf . 
...89 
Wm Clegg . 
.... 80 
F Stanton . 
...96 
R F Appleman . 
.... 93 
C D Coburn . 
...84 
R Gerstell . 
_94 
E Hammerschmidt 
...84 
W Weidebusch ... 
.... 83 
H R Irwin . 
...79 
*C G Spencer . 
.... 95 
A C Connors . 
...91 
W T Merriwether 
.... 61 
E T Myers . 
...87 
*Mrs. Topperwein . 
. 93 
*H G Taylor . 
...95 
*C K Goodrich 
. 94 
*T A Marshall . 
...90 
C A Cochran . 
. 84 
C A Edmonson . 
...86 
C A Galbraith .. 
. 91 
R L Hamilton . 
...84 
Jno Noel . 
. 89 
G W Ball . 
...90 
*Ed O’Brien . 
.98 
*L J Squier . 
...87 
G K Mackie . 
.92 
J Morley . 
...91 
H Dixon . 
.91 
*T H Keller . 
...82 
M K Neville ... 
.80 
A C Buckles . 
...91 
J B Moncravie ... 
.79 
E Hendrick . 
...91 
*F G Bills . 
.93 
R L Flanagan . 
...59 
J C Famechon .... 
.83 
J D Martin . 
... 83 
Dan 'Vorhees . 
.84 
T P Sousa . 
...83 
’*R W Clancy . 
.94 
E S Rogers . 
...82 
O P Goode . 
.84 
Afternoon practice: 
*C O LeCorapte . 
.92 
*E S Graham . 
...91 
R Loring . 
.90 
T E Graham . 
...85 
C E Orr . 
.89 
A F McLachlan ... 
...96 
*G S Lewis . 
.80 
T F Wulf . 
...81 
J Barker . 
.87 
F Stanton . 
...97 
S German . 
.90 
’’’A Killan . 
...86 
F A Fuller . 
.85 
Hammerschmidt .... 
...86 
F M Edwards ... 
.93 
H R Irwin . 
...91 
R H Bruns . 
. 83 
.■\ C Connors . 
...90 
*C A Young . 
.97 
F W King . 
...83 
*J S Day . 
.88 
E T Mvers . 
... 86 
M Arie . 
.96 
’“H E Taylor . 
...97 
B Lewis . 
.95 
C W Venable . 
...84 
D O’Connell . 
.85 
*T A Marshall . 
...91 
.93 
... 90 
T S Young . 
.94 
E W Varner . 
... 94 
G McDermott .... 
.88 
P Kimball . 
... 83 
J B Barto . 
.93 
H E Snyder . 
.... 89 
A Vance . 
91 
’"Geo Maxwell . 
.... 97 
*H Clark . 
.97 
’"D D Gross . 
.... 89 
*R R Barber . 
.91 
T F Breitenstein ., 
*J W Garrett ... 
.97 
*0 R Dickey . 
.... 9! 
* W D Stannard . 
.96 
A C Buckles . 
.... 85 
J Kammermann . 
. 90 
A R McCosher . 
.... 84 
*W Huff . 
. 93 
R L Flanagan .... 
.... 59 
