The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-12
TRAP AND FIELD
Were Very Successful on Trapshooting Trip
BY PETER P. CARNEY

A great many baseball players are ex- tremely skillful in the handling of a gun, and the great majority of the major league ball tossers of this age are first class target shooters. Trapshooting ap- peals to the ball players even more than baseball. If you don't believe this take trip to one of the gun clubs some day that ball team is In the city.
 To the ball player baseball is work, Trapshooting is a recreat tion so he gets to the traps at every possible chance. Like baseball trapshooting appeals to all those who enjoy life in the open, and with the playground movement spread Ing itself to every corner of the globe, there are few in these prosperous days who are not interested in the sports that take place in the great out O doors. Therefore, the recent trip of the base ball player trapshooters is of interest to many thousands of persons. Under the direction of Buck" Calvin, himself a noted shot, Harry Davis of the Athletics, Big Six Mathewson of the New York Giants, Chief" Bender, late of the Balti- ! more Federals, and Otis Crandall, better known as Doe" of the St. Louis Feds. have just completed the most interesting trip ever made by a target shooting com
 
 as it was unique.
 The quartet shot in F cities in 15 states inside of 20 days, and in order to get around they travelled something like 350( miles That is travelling some, but base ball players are used to travelling and this little jaunt didn't bother the play CTS one bit No one for a minute SUD- posed that the ball players were going tC defeat the cracks of the cities in which they competed, and no one was disap- pointed The ball players won two | matches of the IS shot, but in all the others they were very few targets in the rear The fact that they broke 7349 tar gets as against 7Si0 by the home clubs out of 5000 shows that they didn't get so far out of the running. i It was the first time that combina- ] tion of ball players ever made such 8 l tour. and thousands were interested ir | the matches outside of the cities in whict l the contests took place. More publicity l was given this tour by the newspapers than any tour arranged by sporting men 1 in years. Thousands turned out in every l city to witness the shooting. and the con | ditions were not of the best in many
 cities In St Louis snow was in tht
 air: the day was anything but desirable | but that didn't deter the bugs in the least. 1t was the same every place. Tho public didn't care much whether Bender ! broke a 100 straight or if Matty tried the ! fadeaw way on the target. They were more
 interested in seeing the players in action
 at the traps.
 To the ball players this was diver
 sion 1t was 0 social trip.
 They were out to make friends fol themselves and for trapshooting, ant they accomplished their purpose. Every place they were met by throngs just al if they were worlds series heroes re turning from the fray. This just give an indication of the increasing interest 1T 1 trapshooting throughout the country Tn
 trip was a revelation to the shooterr ant | to others who followed the trip closely l In each of the cities visited membe
 of the local gun club was added to tn | ball players team, and the secretary O the home club selected the five best sho | in the home club as the opposition to tn ball players. Twice women appeared il the teams against the ball players, onc' 1 in pittshurg and once in Detroit. Mrs Gala gher was on the Pittsburg tean
 and Mrs. l. c. Vogel on the Detroit team This gives an idea of the good will tha prevails among the target shooting fra
 ternity The trip began in Richmond
 Va. on November and wound up il
 Boston on November z7
 As was expected when the trip began
 Chief" Bender was the best tarse
 breaker on the ball players team. an
 the Indian had T little on all the shooter
 who opposed him. He averaged s2 ou
 of every 100 targets, for lS0o-which ism
 so bad under the conditions that wer
 met He broke 95 targets in suceessio
 in Syracuse, after missing his firth hiro