The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-01 00:00:00

PIGEON SHOOTING.

Gus CLun.—There was a large muster of gentlemen and
members of the club at their grounds at Shepherd's-bush
on Saturday last, and a great deal of shooting took place.
There were five one sov. sweepstakes and a match, under
the usual conditions, viz., five traps, and the winners of
each sweepstakes to stand back one yard. Mr. G. Batt-
cock, secretary of the club, threw the dice. J. Offer, of
Hammersmith, supplied some of his best blue rocks, and
they, aided by the high wind in many instances, tried well
tho merits of the shooters.

In the first sweepstakes at five birds each, Mr. Payne
26k, Major Longley 23, Lord Parker 27, Mr.
Gregory 27k, and Captain Ricardo 26}, killed four
birds out of :their five, and in shooting it off Capt. Ricardo
and Lord Parker missed their first, and Major Longley
failed in killing his fourth bird, so Mr. Payne and Mr.
Gregory divided.
The second sweepstakes, at three birds each, fell to the
lot of Mr. Rudd 23, after having tied with Mr. Norris,
Major Longley, and Lord Parker.
The third was divided between Captain Ricardo 261,
and Major Longley 23 ; Mr. Norris and Mr. Davis also
shot well in this sweepstakes.
In the fourth, Mr. Norris 27, Mr. Rudd 26, Mr. Gregory
27i, and Mr. Davis 26, all killed their three birds ; but in
shooting off Messrs. Gregory and Davis missed, so that
Mr. Norris and Mr. Rudd divided.

The fifth was won by Mr. Payne, who succeeded in
killing all three. Major Longley, however, shot well, but
failed to bring down his last bird.

After the above a match was made between Mr. Payne
and Mr. Phillips, tho former to stand at 30 yards, and the
latter at 25, for £lO, and to shoot at bird for bird. Mr.
Payne killed two, but Mr. Phillips failed to kill his se-
cond, so Mr. Payne won. The betting was heavy—seven
to four on the gun.

THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS.—On Friday last

the Warwickshire Hounds (Mr. Lucy, master) met at Ban-
bury Cross, a new structure erected in commemoration of
the marriage of the Princess Royal. The fixture was made
at the request of many of the inhabitants. The mayor,
town clerk, and the principal gentlemen of the town and
neighbourhood resolved to avail themselves of this oppor-
tunity for bringing together those who are in the habit of
hunting with the Warwickshire, Bicester, and Heythrop
packs. A luncheon was provided by Mr. Bishop, of
the Red Lion. The Mayor, Mr. Harrison, was in the chair,
and Mr. Munton, town clerk, occupied the vice-chair.
There were present—Mr. Lucy, the master of the Warwick-
shire; Hon. W. North, master of the Bicester; and Mr
Heythrop ; together with upwards of 200 of the gentlemen
and farmerowho are in the habit of hunting with these
packs. After the usual loyal toasts had been drunk, the
healths of the masters of hounds were given, which were
responded to respectively by the above-mentioned gentle-
men. A little before 12 o'clock nearly 400 horsemen assem-
bled around the cross, where the hounds had been waiting
for some time, surrounded by a large concourse of people
on foot and in carriages. The hounds were taken down
High-street and up Parsons-street for the gratification of
the inhabitants, and afterwards proceeded to draw Mr
Chamberlin's cover at Hardwick, about a mile and a half
from the town. The Bicestor Hounds are appointed to
meet at the Town Hall, Banbury, on Saturday next.
ATIILETIC SPORTS OF TIIE BARNES CLUB.—The
annual sports of the Barnes Foot-ball Club took place on
Saturday ; Mr. J. Johnston kindly granting permission for
them to come off over a portion of his property. The judges
were Messrs. R. W. Willis and D. Houseman, with Mr. E.
C. Mousey as starter. The flat race of 100 yards was won
by Mr. F. W. Smith. The high jump was won by Mr. R.
G. Graham, clearing five feet. The hurdle race of 220
yards, 10 flights, was w_m by Mr. Emery by two or three
yards. The 1,000 yards open handicap race was won by
Mr. Martin by three yards. The pole-leaping was won by
J. P. Moore. The mile race for members of the Barnes
Club was won by Mr. King. For the open steeplechase
(one mile) there were only three competitors—viz., Messrs.
Barker, Martin, and Jobbing. They had to go three times
round the course, and there were several good jumps to be
encountered. Between Messrs. Jobbing and Martin there
was a very excellent race but at the end of the second
round the judge fixed the tap 3, 4nd the two thinking it
was the end of the race, the referee decided they had run
a dead heat. Mr. Barker, however, went on and ran the
third lap and claimed the prize, which was awarded to him,
as he had run the mile. 0 wing to the unfortunate mistake
of the tape being fixed, the committee offered a cup for
Messrs. Martin and Jobbing to run off their dead heat for,
but they declined to do so.

The Pittsburg Republic, of February 23, says that
a lot of samples of Bloomfield iron were sent on that day
to Sir Frederick Bruce, the British Minister at Wash-
ington city, D.C., and consigned as a present to the
Board of Admiralty in London, for the purpose of
experimenting in the manufacture of " heavy ord-
nance." Wo believe that, heretofore, the British
Government has been unsuccessful in casting large guns
from metal purchased at home or elsewhere, and they now
desire to try the Bloomfield iron, which has stood the most
severe tests possible, and has as yet to succumb. The
large 15-inch rifled gun at Fortress Monroe was made from
this iron, and has already been fired 528 rounds-100
pounds of powder to the charge—and is to-day in as good
order and apparently as perfect as the first day she was
discharged. It is presumed that this gun will stand one
thousand firings before any perceptible change in the bore
will be noticed.