The Portland daily press., 1894-04-16
THE FIELD OF SPORTS.
A New Rifle Ciub-Good Shooting by
Portland Man Slaughter of Crows.

Portland Man Slaughter of Crows.
An effort is being made to establish a
rife club in this. city. The present gun
club is an association of shot gun
marksmen. The promoters of this new
club are Miles Standish and ]. W. Lewis.
The following subscription paper has
been circulated, and signed, and ex-
plains itself.
We, the undersigned, do agree to pay
on demand the sum of So, said money to
be used for the erecting of a range for
rife and pistol practice and matches,
the above not to be paid until the sum
of S25 or more has been subscribed,
and then only to person authorized to
receive It,
Miles Standish,J W. Lewis, Fred Goth,
W.. Storer, Charles Baker, M. S. Fol-
kins, L. l.. Shaw. l.. Cobb, T.B. Davis
Arms Company, George FL. Pierce, E.
A. Jones, W. B. barton, C.L. Jewell, G.
H. Cooper, John K. Marks.
Negotiations are now in progress for a
suitable place in Deering wherein to To-
cate the range
He Tied the Winnie +.
Mr.W. W. Cookson of this city, who
frequently attends the weekly rifle
matches at Walnut Hill, Mass, made
good score there Saturday week. The
match was at 30 yards, standing. He
made four bulls-eyes. the first four shots,
ana then a FOUR making the high
score of "a out of a possible 25. The next
five shots were not quite SO good, his to
tai score being As out of a possible So
l The winner of that event also made 43,
but his score outranked Mr.. Cookson's
because the latter made one three,
which threw him out, althoughshe made
the most bulls-eyes. Mr.. Cookson is one
of the best shots in the state. and has
long been prominent in military cir.
cles.
A wild goose was shot at ssDuck Pond
last week, and on. Peaks Island Mr.. ssHol-
ly Brackett shot one out of flock that
was flying over.
Fifty Dead Bodies.
A stroll on the outer shores of Peaks
Island Saturday, revealed the extraordi-
nary slaughter of-crows that has been
going on there recently, close to large
p9nd,n so-called, just opposite White
head. On the top of the knoll, near the
pond, and on the slope and in the
water, the black-feathered dead bodies
were strewn SO thickly that it was pos
,sibIe to- stand in one spot and count
nearly so Of them. Every spring and fall
the migrating crows fly over that little
poad on the ocean shore, on their jour
neys north and south. They apparently
have regularly travelled route through
the wind blows about right, as it
has lately, the crows fly over, and the
opportunity for wing shooting is excep-
tional. The island sportsman and others
from the city take advantage of it, Hun
dreds of crows have been shot there this
spring. One man shot 80 in one day
there some years ago, and it was pro-
fitable sport, for he could get 10 cents
bounty on each bird then. 1t would
seem as If the sly crows would learn
to change their migrating route, but.
they don't seem to do so, and fail to re-.
mem Der for six months that that is
dangerous place.
Wheeling Notes.
On Fast Day the wheel club will
open the season with a run to Coal Kiln
Corner. The start will be made from
the club house, ). $40 1-2..Congress street,
at 10 a. m. sharp. Dinner will be served
soon after arrival. Potato race, sack race,
obstacle race, 100 yards dash, three-leg-
ged race. and putting the shot, will be
among the am usements. A silver badge
will be given as first prize in all the
events. Base ball and football games
will fill in the gaps. All members of the
club are requested to participate, and
make this an occasion long to be remem-
bered.
The VIII cling division of the Athletic
Club has adopted colors of gold and
red, and the club pin is gold, with red
feur de lys The sweater is to be of old
gold.
The Cape Elizabeth wheelmen will
hold their last assembly Of the season
in the Union Opera House, South ort-
land, next Thursday evening. Good
music will be provided. No postpone
menu Oh dCCCOuub VI WOdGuSS.
Baseball Notes,
The season will be open in this city
on Fast Day, when the Portlands and
Bowdoins will play.
The Portland players are all expected
to be here. Carey, Cannon, Kelley and
Daniels will do the pitching, and Casey
and Mackey will do the catching. Slater
will cover first base, Shumway third,
Cook left field, Hill centre field, and
one of the battery players right field.
The position OF second base and short
stop are yet incomplete, but men will
be found for them by Thursday. The
game will begin at o'cock. Grand
stand seats can be secured at r. f. Som