Trap-shooting stars at an indoor match, Madison Square Garden, New York City Why Is Trap-Shooting? V An Explanation of the Great Rival of Baseball ARIOUS reasons have been advanced in explanation of the rapid growth of trap-shooting, but one that seems to have been overlooked is that it is a sport for the individual. That is also the reason why it is primarily an amateur sport. Baseball, with its highly scientific team work, must of necessity ever remain a professional sport. Of course there are thousands of amateur teams, but the best of these are largely made up of semiprofessional players. Football, cricket and polo are all team games and, at their best, can only be enjoyed, from the player's standpoint, by college students and country club members who can afford to give almost unlimited time to practice and play. By SAMUEL WESLEY LONG 86 These conditions put such sports beyond the average man. They are distinctly games for the well-to-do and exclusives. On the other hand, trap-shooting is "everyman's" sport and is more broadly democratic and, therefore, American than other outdoor pastimes. Professionalism in trap-shooting is limited almost entirely to representatives of those interested in the development of the sport for business reasons. The amateur never finds a professional shooter pitted against him in contests for trophies or prize moneys. Professional events are held at all big shooting meets, with entries limited to those who make a profession of trapshooting. These demonstrations of skill (Continued on page 88.)
88 THE BASEBALL MAGAZINE Contra Costa (California) Gun Club Members Ready for the "Slaughter" of the Clay "Birds" are big drawing cards and are thoroughly enjoyed by the crowds that always attend. Much of the time of professional shooters is devoted to the free instruction of novices. In this particular, trapshooting offers advantages to the amateur unequalled by any other sport. In direct contrast is the necessity of paying "club professionals" in learning golf. The one weakness of trap-shooting, if it may be so designated, is the tendency of shooters to overindulgence in their hobby. And, while this is a strong indication of the hold the sport has on its devotees, those who have the interest of the game at heart encourage undershooting rather than over-shooting. For this reason qualification scores are steadily being reduced in all but the biggest of meets. To what extent the trap-shooter will go to make more shooting possible is indicated not only in the increasing number of important shoots, conducted under regular conditions, but also in the number of "inventions" of a novel character. The first of these innovations was the breaking of the clay "birds" at the seashore, where the targets are thrown over the water from traps located on piers. This requires quick action on the part of the shooters to "kill" the "pigeons" before they are lost in the ocean. The great event in this line is the annual meet of the Westy Hogans, a commercial men's gun club, which is held at Atlantic City. The burning of Young's Pier left this "homeless" club homeless indeed. But the Hogans are a resourceful lot of sportsmen and will, no doubt, make arrangements for their big tournament. Other clubs have adopted the oceanshoot feature. Indoor shooting by daylight and electric light is now a fixture of the annual Sportsmen's Show in Madison Square Garden, New York. This "gunning" in the heart of the metropolis was the premier feature of the exhibition held in March of this year. During the eight days of the show, over 400 shooters from all over the United States and a number from abroad toed the mark. The number of targets trapped approximated 25,000. Probably 100 sportsmen were denied the privilege of entering the lists because every program was filled to the (Continued on page 94.)
94 limit. Not even the lure of "The Great White Way," but one block distant, was sufficient to attract visitors from the traps. As this was a "sportsmen's show" it would be natural to suppose that living and stuffed game, camping outfits and exhibits of the guides would be given the most attention. But trap-shooting was the thing that most attracted all the visitors at the show. With the first shot the crowds flocked to the trap-shooting section, and there they remained until the finish of the event. Only during the interim between the shooting numbers were these people around the sixty or more exhibits. The scores of the trapshooters were as anxiously watched as are the baseball bulletins when topnotchers are opposed to each other. Eclipsing even the novelty of indoor shooting is "midnight" shooting out of doors. To the Crescent Athletic Club of New York belongs the credit for the introduction of this form of the sport. The first "midnight" shoot was held on the club's grounds at Bay Ridge, on the night of January 27, this year. Calcium lights were so placed that the stream of light followed the line of travel of the targets which, in this instance, were thrown at a "known angle." The targets were painted white, and as they streaked along the flood of light at express speed they appeared like big balls of fire. When a well-aimed load overtook and pulverized a "pigeon" the minute fragments fell like a rain of myriad stars. The event consisted of 25 targets per man, and when the final "bird" had been trapped, three shooters F. B. Stephenson, John H. Hendrickson and W. C. Damron had tied with scores of 20 targets broken. In the shoot-off Hendrickson won with a score of 25 breaks to his credit, thereby becoming the winner of the first contest of this class in the entire history of trap-shooting. The conditions under which the shoot was conducted were most unfavorable, the night being bitterly cold and with a high wind that whirled snow flurries across the trap and into the faces of the shooters. This is an instance of the persistence of the follower of "The Sport (Continued on page 96.)
96 Alluring" a term which is being universally adopted as best descriptive of the fascination of the game and its hold on its devotees. More trap-shooting is being done this year than ever before. In addition to thousands of practice and club qualification shoots being held weekly and, in some cases, semi-weekly, there are intercity and inter-club tournaments galore. The schedule of the Interstate Association, an organization bearing the same relation to trap-shooting as do the American and National League managements to baseball, shows 200 "registered" tournaments and 400 "unregistered" ones. In trap-shooting "registered" shoots correspond to "major league" games of baseball, and "unregistered" events to "minor league" games, respectively. Practically every State will have an annual shoot. The schedule for June and July follows : Missouri Faber, Mo., June 4, 5 and 6; Ohio Dayton, O., June 4, 5, 6 and 7; South Dakota -Webster, S. D., June 4, 5, 6 and 7; Maine Haines Landing, Me., June 3, 4, 5 and 6; New Jersey Newark, N. J., June 6, 7 and 8; New York Syracuse, N. Y., June 10, 11, 12 and 13; Colorado Salida, Col., June 17, 18 and 19; Vermont Barre, Vt., June 18 and 19; Iowa Fort Dodge, Ia., July 9, 10 and 11; Arkansas Little Rock, Ark., July 9, 10 and 11; North Dakota Fargo, N. D., July 14 and 15; North Carolina Wilmington, N. C., July 17 and 18; Minnesota Warroad, Minn., July 25 and 26. All of these are "registered" with the Interstate Association. The biggest meets are the "Handicaps." One of these, the Southern Handicap, was held at Columbus, Georgia, May 14, 15 and 16. Others will be the Grand American Handicap, Springfield, Illinois, June 18, 19, 20 and 21; the Eastern Handicap, Bradford, Pennsylvania, July 9, 10 and 11 ; the Western Handicap, Kansas City, Missouri, August 14, 15 and 16; the Pacific Coast Handicap, Portland, Oregon, August 27, 28 and 29. Second only to the Handicaps is the Post-Season Tournament, October 15, 16, 17 and 18. The place has not yet been decided, but will likely be at some point in the Middle West. (Continued on page 100.)
100 The number of shooters at the State shoots will likely average close to 100, while the sectional handicaps show entry lists of 150 or more, and the Grand American Handicap a field of at least 500. Certainly no other sport can equal these figures in the number of "players." Trap-shooting appeals to sportsmen of every kind, but it seems to have a peculiar fascination for the professional ball player, and many of the best-known ball yard artists are crack gun shots. A likely reason for this is that, in point of science, trap-shooting is rivaled only by baseball, or the reverse, if you prefer it. The determining of leads, angles, etc., and the nice and instant judgment of allowance for interference and other conditions require a high degree of science. In much the same manner that the Leagues keep records of ball players' averages, etc., the Interstate Association keeps records of trap-shooters' averages. This data is used in handicapping participants in the several "registered" shoots, and makes possible fair competition between shooters of differing degrees of skill. The conditions for the computing averages for this year are here given: First The original contest will be based on 1,200 or more single targets shot from the 16-yard mark at registered tournaments held prior to October 1st, 1912, and apply to all amateurs who have made an average of not less than 88 per cent. at said number of targets. Second All amateurs who qualify in the original contest must further contest at 800 single targets shot from the 16- yard mark at the Post-Season Tournament. Third All amateurs who contest at the Post-Season Tournament will start on an equal footing in the yearly averages, regardless of the percentages made by them in the original qualifying contest. The yearly averages for professionals will be computed as follows: Not less than 2,000 single targets must be shot from the 16-yard mark, and this only at the Southern Handicap, Grand American Handicap, Eastern Handicap, Western Handicap, Pacific Coast Handicap and post-season tournaments given by the Interstate Association.