The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-14
SPORT AT BURL|NGAME,
Initial LiVe-Pigeon Shooting
Match at the Club
Grounds.
Much Interest Aroused In the Con-
tests, Which Are to Be Con-
tinued.

There was lot of sport yesterday at
Burlingame, that picturesque suburban
pleasure resort for the swell young men of
society. 1t was not in the polo grounds,
although there was a practice game
played there, nor in the tennis courts,
where the attraction was. No, it was a
new feature in the way of sport, and one
which promises to become quite popular
with the mem bers of the Burlingame Club.
The occasion was the initial live pigeon
shoot of the series which has been ar
ranged to take place at fortnightly inter
walls during the summer.
The spot chosen for the contest was a
pretty stretch of open ground up near the
hills which look down from the west upon
the handsome cottages and villas in the
main grounds.
There are many of Burlingame's young
me who are exceptionally handy with the
gun in the hunting field, but they were not
all present yesterday. Those who were on
the ground displayed excellent proficiency
and two did some surprisingly clever work.
These were Fred Webster and J. R. Carroll
of San Jose. The latter made a record of
thirty-eight birds without one miss.
Although there were only nine mem bers
participating in the contest, there were
any number of spectators, who displayed
keen interest in the proceedings.
The doughty sportsmen arrived early in
the day with their guns and all necessary
parahernalia. Following the drags and
vehicles which carried them and the spec
tators out to the field came a wagon with
three large crates containing in all thirty
dozen pigeons.
The field had already been staked out
and an American flag fioated from each
stake. There were four traps prepared and
the ranges were 26, % and 80 yards. From
start to finish everything worked smoothly.
There were no bitches in their operations
and the birds were a lively lot. With but
one or two exceptions they rose rapidly
and kept the men with the guns on the
jump. Very few of them escaped.
Robert Woodward, one of the contest
ants, spared the life of one bird because, as
he said, 1t "displayed such nerve" When
released from the trap, instead of winging
its way upward, the bird coolIy strutted
about the ground seeking something to
eat 1t took no notice of stones thrown at
1t, so finally one of the retrievers was sent
out to chase it away Woodward refused
to shoot 1t, and it was last seen flying over
the tree tops.
The best shooting, as stated, was done
by Fred Webster and Carroll of San jose
so evenly were they matched that they
were tied in the contest for the club trophy
ID handsome golQ ana silver cup.
Each made an average of II, and in
shooting the tie off Carroll only won by
one point, his score being 10 to Webster's
s. Webster has a very easy and graceful
motion in handling the gun. Edward
Donohoe, Richard Sprague, Rob" Wood
ward and Alex Hamilton were not far be-
hind the tie men in the prize contest
1t was o'clock before the trophy con-
test was ended, and Carroll was declared
the winner. The rest of the day was spent
in match shooting for small wagers. but
very few OF the spectators remained to wit
ness this, as interest had centered round
and eliminated in the prize contest.
Richard Carroll acted as referee and
scorer. and performed his labors in a COM
nendable manner. Altogether the Bur-
hngame boys were more than satisfied
with their initial shooting meeting, and
they will endeavor to have the next one,
which will come off two weeks hence, on a
more elaborate scale. Some of the hunters
OF the club, who are out OF town at present,
will have returned, and much larger at
tendance of contestants is expected. Only
I'll OF the lot of pigeons taken down yes
terday were killed
Following are the scores made yesterday
in the trophy contest: