The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-06-06
Initial Move For One
Made Last
Night.
new FEATURES PROPOSED.
No Intention Of Running
in Opposition to Pres
ent Organizations.

The initial move in the formation Of
a new gun club was made last night,
when a dozen of Worcester's most
prominent trapshooters met in the par
Tors Of the United States Hotel and
delegated Jay N. Smell to select suit
able grounds and figure the cost of a
modern plant.
When this is done probably next
Week, another meeting will be held,
and. according to the present plan. a
permanent organization will be formed
and steps taken to operate traps be-
fore the LIST of July.
The debate last night was long and
serious. Plans and projects were dis
cussed. and when the meeting closed,
a definite plan of procedure was out
lined
The club intends to secure suitable
grounds, probably on the line of the
AIillbury line of electric cars, on ac-
count Of desire to accommodate
Whitinsville and UXbridge shooters
who have no grounds and who number
in their ranks a good quota of trap
enthusiasts. The grounds will be laid
out along original lines. II is the in
fention to have the traps set in such
a manner in the trench that cover
can be raised from each trap forming
the shield behind which the trappers
may work. These hoods will be locked
and every member will have a key. so
that the traps will be always available
Tor individual shooters who want to
visit the traps at any time at their
pressure This will be a feature un-
known to any Worcester county club.
Ior according to the plan now fol-
lowed the traps are available only at
shoots as prescribed by the secretary
while the man who wants a little ouiet
sport or practice with the claws, is en-
Lirely ignored.
rive traps will be set if the present
pan IS followed and these will be placed
IN 6O-toOt trench " ide enough 10
shelter at least 5000 targets and house
1hem comfortably. The idea of storing
the targets in the trench is original and
Will save at least twice handling fine
fragile clays ana consequent breakage
For the present a tent or other shelter
VIII be erected and a suitable club
house will come with the prosperity of
the club. The plan is to hold shoots
IN the good old-fashioned way or anv
other way that pleases the shooters.
Inc Scheme is to give the men who do
the shooting plenty Of sport in the form
that best pleases them
There Will be no salaried officials. ac-
. cording to the plan, outlined last night.
and If the figuring Of the promoters
ana enthusiasts who are out for the
new club is not radically wrong. targets
will be thrown cheaper than at any
other club in the east. For club mem
bers the clays will be thrown at the IN
precedentedly low cost of one-half cent
apiece.
This is the initial cost Of birds, with
out counting the additional expense of
trapping and running of the club but
for the additional revenue to cover all
this the club will rely on three or four
tournaments, when targets viii be
thrown at the usual price. two cents
each. From these the club will reap
enough revenue to cover any deficit not
made up from the profit Of pickups
The intention is to make the club
shoots social good time as in the good
old days of trapshooting when a score
of guns were cracking away at every
shoot of Worcester Sportsmen's Club at
the Coal Mine brook range. The one
man-up system and small sweepstakes
viii be followed largely and prize ana
handicap events will be sedulously
avoided. In the two latter features of
TrapshOoting 5 conducted by the pres
ent clubs the organizers of the new
movement recognize the root of all evil
According to the statement of one of
WOrcester's most prominent followers
of the traps as expressed to a represen-
tative of The Spy after the meeting last
night. these are the bane Of the sport
as at present conducted. According to
his statement, these events have done
more to drive from the traps the men
who do the greater part of the shooting
and hence support the club than all 9TH
err causes combined. When handicaps
are arranged if the low gun wins a
trophy or a merchandise prize the 30
per cent. shooter feels he has been rob
bed.
In the present handicap series now
being contested by the Worcester Gun
Club, ne says he has figured that by
the added bird systemthere practiced, he
could never win if he were to break ev-