Norwich bulletin., 1918-03-06


 shooting.
 Nearly 20 years ago began to hunt for some form of recreation best suit ed to the busy professional man that would offer the maximum amount of pleasure and relaxation from the steady grind and long hours of the busy doctor.
 The annual trip into the Big Woods" is certainly a life saver and many professional men look forward to this back to mature" jaunt with all the pleasure and anticipation and after such a trip feel rejuvenated and physically fit for some time.
 But two weeks isn't enough to keep one in good condition for a whole year, as l learned from experience; so 1 gave trapshooting a thorough trial, and l believe, after all these years, that truly it is the Sport Alluring" l am glad to note that doctors and business men are appearing at the traps in large numbers, and I know very well that they will stick" for once trap shooter, always a trapshooter
 Some time ago I was asked by a doctor friend to look him over" and jokingly, My wife says I appear all run down" Like many other profes- sional men, he was making a big effort to sell about Is hours of his time each day without the necessary relaxation, and as he started out with a pretty good body it required several years of continued effort before he discovered l that the human machine has it's limits.
 Can't Work All the Time.
 The old saying that "all work and | no play makes Jack a dull boy is a true one, and it applies to the grown up" as well as the boy
 This applies especially to the doctor 1 for the reason that, unkile the man of regular hours, he is on duty all hours of the day or night and complete re l taxation from professional duties as 1 denied him. unless he gets entirely away from his place of business and 1 selects some form of recreation that will absolutely make him forget that i he is physician, and only remind him that he is just man. Such is also true of the busy inclosed office man The one great thing that elevates man above the other animals is socia- 1 bility. and we very well know that the l man who lacks this element to very 1 marked degree is defective
 l Perhaps this is a long preamble be 1 fore introducing the subject, but it is { well sometimes to get down to funda- mentals.
 1 First of all, trapshooting and soeia. l bility are inseparable, and it is the sociability of competition, the friendly 1 striving to do as well a1 or a little | better than the other fellow. Secondly, trapshooting takes one ab- solutely and entirely away from any and all business, which affords com plete relaxation from business or pro fessional cares. and I know that thi: one thing alone is worth the price
 Trapshooting is an outdoor game | The shooting grounds are usually 10 cated a little out of town, in the open where lots of room and fresh air ar, assured. And there is a goodly amour of exercise connected with the game 1 The raising of an eight uond gun [, tht shoulder a hundred times, tn swing of the gun to follow the fligh of the swiftly flying target and the SC of the muscles against the recoil o the load, the telegraphic message iron i the eye to the target back to the braii and then to the trigger finger in tn smallest fraction Of a second mean exercise with a capital E. And one o
 the very first important valuable fact one learns early in the game is tha the nervous system must be in tune, l or as near perfect as is humanly pos sible
 Bad Habits Are Taboo.
 This is one sport that will make
 man cut out bad habits, when h learns (as he will) that bad habits an
 trapshooting cannot go together | I know men who train for a tourna
 ment just as carefully as does the priz
 fighter. They leave off alcohol, tea an
 coffee, cut down tobacco to the min
 imum amount and eat plain food, see
 ing particularly that the waste prod
 ucts of the body are eliminated, an
 when they step out on the firing lin
 they feel fit to ''break them all'
 This is the ideal condition, and no always possible for tflt doctor, wh
 may have been out all night on a
 obstetric case, or who has worried fo
 24 or AS hours over a seriously i'll pa tient, or the business or financial ma
 who is worried over big deal; but
 he has once tritd trapshooting, he wi find himself thinking of the subjee
 frequently, and will gradually adopt
 course that will give him the maxi mum amount of good health.
 Don't go out to the traps with light gun. Eight pounds*or over is tn . proper weight to take up some of tn , recoil.
 You should master the few rule usually posted in all club houses. an , then you need never think of accident I will venture to say that among tn
 800, 900 trapshooters in this countr there is not one accident in five war
 Tn fact, there is not as much dange
 as in baseball, football or other sport Age is no bar. I have known sey
 eral men well over 10 who could shoc
 around 90 per cent. through a two-da . tournament
 Try it; it will keep you physical . fit and make a better man of you i every respect,