Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1918 — SHOOTERS USED GLASS BALLS [ARTICLE]

SHOOTERS USED GLASS BALLS

Trapshooting of Today Differs Materially From That Sport of •- r • Days Gone By. Back in the early eighties, when American sportsmen began to demand a between season outlet for their gunning enthusiasm, some bright genius conceived the idea of the glass ball as a fitting target to try the prowess of the marksman, and the object whs projected at unknown angles from a mechanical contrivance known as a trap. The name of Bogardus, in connection with glass-ball shooting, is not only historical, but still alive and dominant in the reminiscences of old timers, a , goodly percentage of whom still follow the trapshooting sport. Trapshooting today, however, differs materially from that sport of bygone days; the traps are more scientifically constructed, the target, Instead of being globular in form, is saucer-shaped, and besides covering its.so-yard flight with the speed of an arrow, rotates as well. . It has become customary for writers to refer to the clay pigeons as “the inanimate target.” So long as they remain packed in barrels or stacked In the traphouse this is quite proper. But were you to ask any of the 500,000 active trap shooters in the country for his personal opinion he would unhesitatingly say that immediately following its release from the trap it becomes just about as animated as devilish ingenuity could conceive.