The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-25
Dean Brothers Near End
OF Career In Baseball
Ponder Smoke
By
Edmund McLaurin

Judging by the number of en-.
thusiastic fans who hape approach
ed me on behalf of the sport, there
seems to be considerable local inter-
est in the promotion of skeet shoot.
ing among those who seek their
sport with a shotgun. Many have
advanced the suggestion that the
Wilmington Rifle and Pistol club
should enlarge its program to IN
clude skeet; others, sharing my own
opinion, feel that the skeet shoot.
ers should organize a separate club
and operate independently Of t h e
rifle club unit; all share the COM
mon belief that Wilmington should
have a skeet club and field for those
shotgun enthusiasts who desire off
season practice under conditions
that closely simulate the shooting
of actual game.
AS a matter of truth, Whining
ton once boosted an active skeet
club, and since I had a hand in its
establishment I feel that I can Of
fer a few facts of possible interest
to those who candidly claim that
and the members of the Whining
ton Rifle and Pistol club should now
carry the torch on behalf Of the 10
cal shotgun shooters who would en-
joy shooting over t h e half-circle
course between hunting seasons.
Sometime about 1888 or 1884
when skeet shooting's wave O.
popularity was sweeping the state
members of the old Wilmington
Gun club, headed by the late CLAUDE
Howell, became imhued with the
possibilities of skeet and decided tt
introduce the sport locally. Though
1 seldom participated in trap sh, It
ing on a maintained active basis
simply because I found the expens'
of the sport more beyond my mean
than rifle and pistol shooting, /
nevertheless, followed the initia
plans with keen personal interest
and, to help out, arranged with on
Of the ammunition companies t.
send information on skeet to som
fifty individuals, my idea being t.
give skeet a fair chance to sell it
self On its own merits.
Those receiving the skeet book
lets must have been impressed wit
the sports possibilities, becaus
subsequent solicitation Of this mai
ing list for funds necessary to sci
up a skeet field met with favorabl
results.
In due course, proper equipmer
was purchased and installed at tn
Audubon range Of the old gun clul
and the club enjoyed considerabl
success and popularity until t h
sudden passing of Mr.. Howell
which at the same time sounded tn
death-nell of the club as Mr.. Howe
was both its leader and inspiration
Activities were suspended for quit
some months, and by the time tt
club boys decided to start owe
again, 4 fire had destroyed one
the trap houses and it's 500 I'm
and, according to my friend Franz
: lin Greer, n Of the skeet shooter
! someone broke into the other ira
! house and took French leave wit
! the remaining unit, also valued
500, F. o. Il. Such was the stu;
= ton SO recently as December, 1913
Now, I am going to offer a SUI
gestion that I believe is worthwhile
1t may not be exactly what is wan
ed or needed, but I feel that it wi
help to put the situation on a mo-
organized and Understandable basi
and, If interest justifies and pra
tical business sense prevails, pr
gress from that point should be re
sonably certain.
Briefly, I would suggest ths
first, some of the boys abandon tt
idea Of having the Wilmington Rit
and Pistol club sponsor a ske
shooting program. I admit that Il
riflenen and pistoleers are well {
ganized and financially sound, al
that it is logical to look to the
flor support, but the truth is tn
the two sports are of a technie
Continued on Page Nine).