Arizona republican., 1920-06-13

Dld we ONermatch ourselves against f the English? The American press con- demned the apparent liberal contest [ concessions extended the Team Wing | shots of Great Britain. The English | press were liberal in semi sympathetic | publicity. claiming we did not have a ! look in, citing the impossibility for | success of the All-American Team of | Wingshots in the 1901 International | Trapshooting races. Newspaper de- | auctions were based upon handicaps | under which Americans were contest l ing, their trip across the ocean, violent | storms encountered. urging that 1t
 would require considerable time to re- gain our equilibrium and accompany | Ing 'p1lot-eye". Our sea legs. result 1 ing from continuous rolling of the yes | sei would induce high stepping, with | apparent uprising of sidewalks in front | Of Neptune's victims as we walked. 1 The fact that we were not familiar | With grounds, traps or manner of tar l get throwing under foreign rules. were l also advanced. Our generous conces- 1 slons made in the original articles gov 1 ernIng the prospective races permitted I our opposition to fire two shots at every largest thrown (Eng1ish ru1es) while the Yankees had the right to fire 1 but one shot (American rules). That we were out gunned. The excellence of English guns and ammunition, care and precision in their manufacture and
 eytended time in business. were all in-
 corporated as reasons why we were de-
 feated prior to firing a shot. The above
 fallacies we refuted by practical dem onstration little later.
 Our first visit to the grounds of the Middlesex~ Gun club. we found an as- sortment of chaotic building industry
 in evidence. They were getting ready
 for our races the following week. Sat- urday, it was stated, was the earliest date upon which we could schedule practice. The following Tuesday, the 1 first regular race of our series was | staged. Saturday afternoon we again
 arrived at the park for practice and to give surrounding conditions the "once over" We found the targets and traps branded Ely, but recognized them as
 American products. A long brick trench containing five trapshouses.
 each large enough for barn dance
 and located on a hillside, about three 1 feet below the score line from which
 we shot Three expert traps were per
 manently located in each group, set to throw straigh away. right and left | angles This constituted a battery of | 15 traps for us to shoot over, manned I by 15 ubiquitous kids. About 40 yards | to the right of traps number five was a
 shooting tower 50-foot high When a
 target dashed to the right angle, snap
 shooting became a necessity. If you 1 waited until the ''tar-hawk" passed the |
 shot.
 With trappers. pullers and scorers in line, we squared away for our first practice abroad. Traps were keyed to
 the limit, hurtling targets like a bat
 departing from perdition. The burning
 desire of all trappers was our downfall,
 and a smile of satisfaction overspread their Cheshire-cat faces as they fired
 targets out into space with which we
 were unable to connect. The score of every team member. our first practice
 day, was poor beyond computation.
 Expressed in the classic and carefully
 selected language of Frank Parmalee.
 They were rotten beyond belief" It seemed impossible that such scatter gun artists as TIeikes. Crosby, Gilbert Budd Elliott Merrill, Powers Tripp Parnaaiee, Tanning or Banks. could atl
 have gone so radically wrong It was pathetic. No especial target was fool ing us, 1t was every known angle. Few members of the opposing team were present but their reporting scouts were there in number. We shot until late. but failed to perceptibly tighten up. It was a puzzled crowd that later assem / bled in my hotel room, to talk it over.
 All team members were present. No index finger could be accusingly point ed at any one individual, we had col actively spilled our trapshooting beans. T. Bill Crosby was the man of the house. Assuming the expression of Q chicken hit in the head. with rock. he accurately spat at a bright spot on the oriental rug, then launched forth. We were shooting over those targets. a strong wind was on our backs, tar gets were thrown down hill and we failed to allow enough daylight under the target" Thus our enigma way taconically solved. That afternoon's s target fiasco explained, and the follow ing Monday practice confirmed Cros- by's solution.
 My next article will describe our try from the 60-foot tower.
 Copyrighted by Tom A. Marshall)