Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-23
LINING UP FOR KANSAS CITY
Nebraska Shooters Getting Ready for Great
American Handicap.
OMAHA WILL START WITH TWENTY-FIVE
sDecisI Car VIII BE Loaded Here
with spOrtsmen who Will
Take Part In Classic
Events.

NJ SsNV ueAt SUNDAY morning q epeclal
carload Of jolly Nebraska trap shooters will
go south over the Burlington railroad to
Kansas City, where they will participate in
the greatest shooting event that has ever
been held in this country. The indications
now are that about fifty entries from Ne
braska will attend the Grand American
Handicap, and that about twenty-five Of
these will go from Omaha proper. Many Of
the outsiders will come to this city to take
the trip with the Omaha men.
Though there is still a week to elapse be-
fore the beginning Of festivities, almost
everything is already prepared at Blue
River Shooting park, where the events will
occur. Equipment, paraphernalia and com
forts will be complete In every particular.
The traps used will be as good a series as
was ever set up and there will be four sets
Of them, FIVE to a set. Unusual provisions
have been made for the spectators. II the
weather is fair they will. Of course, prefer
to be in the open air and watch the shoot
ing at as close range as possible. But IL II
rains or SHOWS, they will find ample facili-
ties for witnessing the sport from q COM
Portable position. for the management has
had constructed houses with glass sides and
fronts, where the enthusiasts can ensconee
themselves in warmth and dryness and
watch the proceedings.
It is probable that very few people out
side of those especially interested in shoot
ing have any idea of what an enormous
affair the one at Kansas City in April will
be. The money, energy and skill expended
there will be something vast and the total
accumulation OF wealth and value in equip
ment alone will mount very high.
For instance, 400 shooters are expected
there. Say there are only 300. The guns
which these men will carry will average at
a low estimate a value Of $3.50 each. A few
Will have cheap guns, worth less than 500,
but many will show weapons which $500
would not buy. Then many of the shooters
will carry more than one weapon. But
counting on 300 as the low limit, those guns
will be worth $45, 900. Shooting toys, gun
cases, cleaning equipment and all the vari-
Gus paraphernalla that goes along with
shooting and caring for a gun will make
easily 10000 more.
An enormous expense will be found in the
amount Of money shot away in powder and
shot and shells. A few figures will illus
trate this. 1t will cost one man about 26O
rounds of ammunition to shoot through all
the events. Thus 300 shooters will consume
rs, 200 cartridges in that brief week or ten
days. These will cost an average of 32.75
- ASb1bAg SNNAs WV " NhSAA go
be handmade. and some will be worth as
much as $3.50 a hundred. The total amount
OF money that will actually go up in smoke
will thus be something between 1900 and
$500.
These same shells will all be loaded prac-
tically alike. Each will carry three and a
quarter drachms of powder, or more than
1000 pounds in all. This is over a ton and
would fill forty or fifty good-sized powder
kegs. All the powder Is smokeless.
Then in the matter Of shot the size will
not vary to any extent. The great quantity
of shot hurled at the birds at Kansas City
will be No. 7. There will be an ounce and
o quarter of such shot In each cartridge.
The schedule says that with chilled shot
there are 294 OF the pellets In an ounce.
That makes about S67 to the she'll. So APP
proximaiely 2S. 900, 900 shot will have a
chance to spread" during that week. They
will all fall around near the same place,
too, and one would think that there would
be so many they would form a leaden car
pet over the ground.
Carrying the speculation further. the most
expensive single item in the tournament
will be the birds. These pigeons will cost
a little more than $3.50 a dozen on the av-
erage, or about 10 cents apiece. There are
in all 125 birds offered to each shooter who
runs the card through. That would make
81, 500 pigeons loosed for 800 marksmen.
This flock If punched would cast a shadow
over a big plot Of ground on this earth and
would weigh easily twenty tons. Their cost
will be about $4,000.
These figures are based merely on the
events as regularly billed in the program
and on the superstition that 800 men will
enter. There may be more or less and there
will doubtless be many extra events, such
as miss-and-o out affairs and little clique
shoots with a few comrades participating,
all Of which will swell the totals given,
though not to a vast extent.
Local sportsmen in the shooting line,
meanwhile, can think OF nothing else but
the grand event. There has not been enough
shooting going on around here for two
weeks past to keep one gun hot, for every
thing looks forward to next week at Kan
sas City. More than ever the shots are
gathering in groups at all hours In THEN
different haunts discussing chances, COM
p~etitors, weather and everything else that
pertains to the grand American handicap.
Regular entries for the handicap closed
last night. Post entries will be allowed W
till the time on the morning OF Wednes-
day. April 2. when the last man has shot
at his first bird in the great event. Twenty
ave dollars was charged for a regular en-
try and the post entry fee is SO additional
The regular entries made in omaha
through the Townsend Gun company, are:
w. D.. Townsend, Charles Lewis, G.. F
Brocker, Fred Goodrich, r. R. Kimball, T
r. Kimball. C. W. Loomis. E. Hafer, JohI
J. Hardin. II. S. Mcdonald. all of Omaha
Dan Bray, Syracuse; C. c.. Beverage, FIRE.
mont; G. A, Schroeder. Columbus; J. f
Baird. Herman; James Terryberry. Louis.
Vile; George l. Carter. North Bend; A
A. Glade, North Platte; George B. simp.
! kins. Lincoln; DR.. Hungats. Weeping
Water; Dick Linderman, Weeping Water.
f. A. weatherhead. Glenwood. la.
. SQUASH GIVES WAY TO GOLF
. Racquet Club Members Eager for
Open Fields Rather Than
/, Indoor sport.