The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-04-27

no chances" was his motto and slo-
gan. Afield, the stars were his signal
lamps. the touch of tree give him
direction, the darkest night was an
open box to him. Louey was my
ideal. he taught me to shoot. hunt and
hsh. Explained the secrets of the
forest and introduced me to Dame
Nature. He was the moving spirit
that put me in the shooting world.
My First Victory.
My first special trap success was
the winning of the Mercer county, ILL.,,
championship in 1876. I still have
that trophy and prize it highly l
have never won cup since that
looked as large to me although the
height was only about 4 inches. After
that date was in many tournaments,
shooting tame and wild pigeons, glass
beds. Ligowski clay pigeons, Peoria
Black birds, etc. In 1891, as a mem
Der OF the Northern team I toured the
South, visiting the principal cities,
and returned indicated. E. S. Rice,
of Chicago, in 1897 organized a team
OF twelve western shooters and en-
tered them in the Grand American
Handicap (the premier shooting event
York. No western team had ever won
this annual contest. His team we're
DR.. Carve, Grimm. Williamson, Dun
nell, Merrill, Powers, Vorhis, Bling
ham, Budd, Gilbert, Stannard and my
self. 1t required three days to finish
the shoot. From start to finish the
western contingent were in evidence
At the conclusion, had Won the pre-
mier event and was the only con-
testant to turn in a perfect score
The following year Q89S) the event
was captured by Mr Ed Fulford of
New York who won the honors of the
east. Mr.. E. S. Rice in 1899 organ
lied a second party with 65 shooters
in line to again attempt the capture
of the Grand American Championship
Winning the Championship.
| was also member of this party
This was another 3 day affair, with
263 contestants facing the traps. Eight
men tied for first place. of which was
one. The tie was shot off on a miss
and-out race. The honors again fell
to my share on the 33rd bird. | had
captured the premier trapshooting
event of the world for the second time
No other shooter has ever duplicated
this performance. In 1901, The All
American Team were sent abroad by
the American people to compete in
the International shoots. It was my
honor to be elected Captain of the
to America with an uninterrupted sue
cession Of victories. OF this trip l
will write more later.
Since my return with the All Amer
lean Team I have been and am at the
present writing, actively engaged in
the trapshooting game. Attending all
of the Interstate and many of the State
Tournaments. Am personally acquaint-
ed with the major portion of the trap
shooters, who have been connected
with this sport for any length of time,
many of them I have not met in recent
years. I now desire to extend the
glad hand of good fellowship through
the columns of this paper to all of my
old and prospective friends.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Question-Is trap-shooting being at
tempted on the battleships? Is it pos
sible for man to shoot with any accu-
racy aboard ship?
JAMES BURMINISTER.
Answer-Yes, there is great deal
of interest manifested in the navy in
the sport Of trapshooting. Many ships
have formed teams and some holly
contested races have been pulled off.
Officers are encouraging the men to
adopt this sport, as it engenders aceu-
racy.
1t is possible for man to shoot ac-
curately from the deck of a boat.
When the All-American team was
abroad we shot race in midocean at
theh request of the captain of our boat,
for the entertainment of the passen-
gers. 1t was little confusing for the
first five or six shots, but the team
soon caught on and calculated the
swing Of the vessel so closely that ex-
cellent scores were made.
Almost every United States steamer
carries a hand trap. There recently
was a race in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
under the auspices of the Red Cross
Gun Club of the United States steam