The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-09
BIRDS" OF CLAY
 WILL SUFFER TO-DAY

If the Audubon Society's protection extends to clay "birds'' that organi- zation should immediately get busy al Perry, Okla, for methinks many a poor, innocent clay birdie will be kill ed in that bustling little city during the next three days. The Oklahoma State trapshooting tournament begins there today, inaugurat1ng the season of State meets for the shotgun cracks their good eyes and QuickneSs of the trigger. Although no longer wild and woody, and many of it's cities are now real metrOpolii, with all modern in eonveniences,s Oklahoma has many pioneer sons who learned to shoot when ability and agility with the hardware" were assets protective ot be out in force at Perry to pit their prowess against the smart young ''city fellers' to whom shootin' is Just pleasing recreation. And right interesting pastime it is. although a sport more interesting to the partici- pants than to the spectators. Per- haps that is as it should be. for now adays too many Americans take their sports vicariously and by proxy.
 From now on there will be some thing doing nearly every week in the way of trap tournaments, somewhere in the United States or Canada The Louisiana tournament at New Orleans will. occupy the first three days ot next week, and a week from tomorrow the Kansas State meet begins at Wichita. On April 23 State shoots will begin in Mississippi, at Laurel. and in Washington, at Spokane, and both promise to be record breakers. the Western Connecticut tournament at Bethel, on the 4th; the Western Pennsylvania shoot at Pittsburgh, or the 7th; the West Virginia shoot al Fairmont, beginning the 14th. and the Delaware meet at Wilmington on the 2Sth. On May 14th to 18th there will also be held, at Columbus, Ga. the ern handicap tournament, the first ot the 1912 series of great sectional trap shooting events. Last year this shoot was held at Charlotte, N. C.. and was won by w. T. Leslie of Tuskegee Ala, whose score was 94 out Of 9 hundred.
 The Illinois shoot at Peoria, May 18th to 17th, will be another big event, with $1, 200 in cash prizes offered. Illinois also gets the thirteenth Grand Amer ican Handicap, to be held at Spring field, June 18th to 21st. Last years Grand American was held at Colum- bus, O., and was won by H. Dixon of
 
 100. c. c. Collins of A1dine, Ind. was the victor in the national amateur championship, score 196 ex 200. and l.. S. German of Aberdeen, Md, cap tured the national professional title with a score of 19S out of 200. The Eastern handicap goes this year to Bradford, Pa., July 9-11, and was won last year by Harry L. Davir of Phil adelphia, score 96 ex 100. The 1912 Western handicap has been awarded to Kansas City, Aug. 14-16, and was won last year by William Ridley of What Cheer, Ia., score 9S ex 100. The Pacific Coast handicap will wind up the season at Portland, Ore, Aug. 27- 29, and was won in 1911 by E. l.. Mitchell of Los Angeles, score 93 ex 1OO State shoots will be held during June at Mexico, Mo-, Syracuse, N. Y., Boise, Id., and Barre, Vt. Rocky Mountain sportsmen will have a big tournament in Denver late this sum- mer, and the second Simon Pure ama- teur shoot will be held in Kansas City in September.