New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-18

-. 100, oyarvhodv VINO once took It up stuck
TO It through thick and thin. inc more -
shooting they did The better they liked H. anu ','9
holds good TO the present day. man VINO JOINS
a gun club and gets infatuated with rap-shoo''ne
Will almost give up the sport uh'i' lie - "'
longer able physically to engage in IL
SUBSTITUTES FOR BIRDS.
pu, .-on.s,ooti,s when the only targets used
were live birds. was soon found 10 bs eApe"s"o
anuseu,ent-too much So in fact for the average
man who derived pleasure from the use OF the sio'-
gun-so the inventive genius OF the trap
was set at work Many ideas were aired ana
many experiments we're made.
Away back in the seventies numper oi nv,
lions we're brought out relating to trap-shootihg'
These included not only substitutes Tor HVe p''u
as targets. but devices TO thro" these ta'ee'
the air AT great speed and at dnereht aisies.
These latter inventions were called Unp'' a"'
among the first of these. II not the Ntsi' was w
seoysN clay pigeon. The trap was pecu'''' =
ing ARRANGEMENT, In which the OBJECT supposeu "
represent blackbird, was placed anu nv" 49,, A.,
by means OF a strong spring. Soon AFTER inns tue
cy-o ,,n n,eeon appeared This was a disk-shaped
oroir about as large IS a saucer. ana II "sS
thrown into the air from spring trap iHe
target consisted OF a lin rim in the centre Oh "i'o,
were ntted several small blocks or the same
When the shooter nit the tin pigeon the poVh'
were sunnosed TO fan out. The object OF the IN
with a target which could be used over again by
renlacing the blocks within the rim Inc ''n
pigeon failed TO make much OF success as son'e
times the blocks would not fall out wheh '"eS
were struck and the shot would naturaiiy NC
scored as a miss This was exceedingly discour-
aging TO the marksman, especlal! WIG" "e ~
competing in a match
GLASS BALLS TOO EASY
Captain Bogardus. the veteran Western SHOT
and plage
,oroets These were about large as bnharu-
halls and they were easily broken. one grain OF
shot was often sufficient TO break them ana '"e
shooters made such wonderful scores mat 'nc!
soon voted the glass balls too easy ana oeeah "
look about them for something more difhcu''
About this time the Ligowsky trap appeared III '''e
field This trap sent forth "A sauccr-shaped oo'ec'
made of red clay baked nard, and II was the oe'
ginning Of the so-caned clay or inanimate targets
which are used by The trap shooters AZ 'he P'e0
ent day.
The inventors In The mean while paid considerap'e
attention 10 improving the nve-brd uapS' anu '''e
clumsy soap-hox Affairs were finally replaced 10y
Ground trans Before these were brought about.
however there was such variety OF traps uieu
that Il would be impossible 10 describe nan Oh
them Many OF them were simple AFFAIRS ana ai'e'
the birds were placed In them the uoo's WIZ
pulled open with pieces OF cord The marhshle'
waited patiently for the pigeons TO take wing
sluggish birds fly Of instead OF walking out OF
the traps and gazing placidly at the marksmeh'
one OF these traps mad a spring bottom anu "HoN
Z, was uulled the Top OF the box few OF. ana the
spring bottom shot the surprised pigeon hlsh '''o
the air 1t was found that this way OF eVlc'he 'ne
bird did not help It's flight, so the tray was h"ah-
doned At last the ground trap was Invented, ana
this is the style Of trap used by most OF the
prominent gun clubs OF the present day. Ihis TRAP
Is n simple little AFFAIR just about large enough
- hold pigeon. When II is sprung II mercy 'H'IS
apart leaving the pigeon at liberty TO datt OH
The bird generally does so as last M MS "'"s'
will permit him.
STRINGENT CONDITIONS.
Shooting pigeons from traps In the olden times
yyns easy sport compared 20 what II II to-day be
cause the conditions governing the matches are
vastly different now from what they used TO De
In the good old days heavy ten-hoi guns were
used almost exclusively 10y the trap sno''rrS' ana
the rise was only twenty-one yards-tnai II. the
marksman stood only tweniy-one yards distant
from the traps II VAS not astonishing undoF We
circumstances that some Of the scores made should
have been large. The champion shots OF those
times like 20 dilate upon those scores even now
The conditions governing pigeon matches no"
are different The guns are limited 10 tweiVe-oore.
and u fairly good shooter would CONSIDER u re-
fiction upon his ability IL he were placed NJ less
than thirty yards from tho traps. There Is also
q deal OF difference In TIE birds used. and thcy
are handled with much more care and skil. In tho
early days OF pigeon matches. any KIND OF a
pigeon was thought 10 be good enough.
Now. however. all this IS changed Instead OF
the sluggish. heayy-nying pigeon. blue rocks are
bred and trained 10, the matches These BIRDS
are somewhat smaller than the old Hnd common
kind Of pigeons. and keener Of eye ana much
faster Of wing. Although the breed Of pigeons used
in most OF the important pigeon matches is much
better than the old-tme birds there IL yet room
for improvement. In Europe a small variety
OF pigeon Is used and these birds are handled
with the utmost care. They are not bundled TO
gether into crates and taken to the grounds az
the pigeons are IN this country but each bird has
n little wicker crate to itself. All the birds are
trained to perfection. So fast OF wing are these
and so difficult TO stop that many OF them De
come veterans Of dozen matches. having es-
capped the gunners \ all OF them without the
loss Of II single feather The other conditions gov
erning the pigeon matches In Europe are inucn
the same az they are IN this country.
VAST NUMBER OF CLUBS.
It appcars that no attempt has ever been mad,
TO gather statistics relating the number Of gun
clubs there are in the United States, or, II the AT
tempt was made. the result Of 1t was never maze
public Some idea may bo formed Of the number
when Il Is considered that there is hardly village
hamlet IN the whole country that has not one
or more clubs. The number OF clubs that nave
come into existence within the last ten years Is
marvellous. and ii may be said mat the invention
OF the clay pigeon and Of improved traps IS largely
responsible FOR 1t. Most OF the fashionab!e clubs
connno themselves to live bird shooting and there
are half dozen Of these clubs In this city
alone Among the best known In this ncighhor-
hood are the Westminster Kennel Club. which has
beautiful grounds at Babylon. Long Island the
Carteret Gun club. at Garden city: the Wcstches-
ter Country CLUB at Wcstchester. and the Tuxedo
Gun club Of Tuxedo Park. Philadelphia has a
number OF fashionable gun clubs also. Including
the Rivcrton and Philadelphia clubs. Baltimore.
Chicago Plitsburg and most Of the large cities.
especially those In the West. are well represented
by clubs.
Among the we-known chibmen who are crack
shots ut the traps George Work Lewis Thomp-
son and Frederick IIoey, who nave won many
prizes not only at home but abroad. captain
Money and J. Scavcr Page have also shot ut Mont
Carlo and other places across the water Other
good wing shots who have made the ability OF the
American marksmen recognized all over the world
are Edgar g. Murphy. Joseph i. Knapp. +. q.
Moore. Louis T. Duryea. Charles Manchester. w
w Watrous. j. X. Palmer w 5. Edey, ii. Edey.
G. DeForest Grant. II. T. Livingston. c; T. Brew
u n a "