Parkers at the 1898 GAH at Live Birds

[Drew Hause]

Forest & Stream, April 2, 1898 “Grand American Handicap”
https://books.google.com/books?id=EkkhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA276

April 2, 1898 Sporting Life
https://digital.la84.org/digital/col...oll17/id/45659
ON THURSDAY MORNING the sport began before 10 o’clock, as Manager Shaner allowed those who had shot but nine birds in the previous day to commence shooting before the regular hour. The day was no improvement over the previous one, as the air was damp and chilly and a fair wind came from the west, which helped the birds but slightly. The straight men continued to fall out and the number dwindled down until at the end of the twenty-fourth round but ten men had a chance of killing straight. Of these all but one, W. P. Shattuck, finished their last bird.
They were J.A.R. Elliott (Winchester Repeater) at 31 yds., Walter Patten (unknown) at 27 yds., E.D. Fulford (Remington) at 29 yds., W.E. Bender (unknown) at 27 yds., G.W. Loomis (Parker) at 28 yds., "Jim Jones" Davis (Greener) at 27 yds., Heikes (Winchester Repeater) at 30 yds., T.P. Laflin (Parker) at 28 yds. and W. Wagner (Parker) at 27 yds.
By the time the last bird had been disposed of darkness was drawing and by consent of the men tied the shoot-off for the handsome cup, offered by the Interstate Association, was put over until the following morning. The nine men who killed straight divided the first nine moneys. which gave each one $412.60. The men who killed 24 out of 25 received $61.85 apiece and were the following: E.M. Cooper (Daly), 28 yds.; E.A. Leach (Cashmore), 28 yds.; A.W. Money (Greener), 28 yds.; A. Doty (Parker), 28 yds.; George Roll (Smith), 29 yds.; J.B. Savage (Parker), 27 yds.; F. Schwartz Jr. (Parker), 26 yds.; J.S. Fanning (Smith), 30 yds.; Jay Snell (Colt), 26 yds.; Sim Glover (Parker), 30 yds.; T.J. Laughrey (Parker), 27 yds.; R.A. Welsh (Purdey), 30 yds.; Dr. D.B. Mosher (Francotte), 26 yds.; William “Adolph” (Parker), 27 yds.; H. "Donly" (Parker), 27 yds.; "Capt. Bunk" (Parker), 26 yds.; Allen Willey (Francotte), 27 yds.; J.M. Thompson (Smith), 26 yds.; E.C. Burkhardt (Smith), 27 yds.; E.S. Rice (Stannard), 25 yds.; W.P. Shattuck (Smith), 27 yds. and Lee Huckins (Francotte), 28 yds.
THE MOST EXCITING FINISH of a grand pigeon shoot was witnessed on Friday morning, when the nine straight men shot off, miss and out, for the cup, which was valued at $250 and became absolute property of the winner. All the birds were shot from the centre or No. 2 set of traps. The first one to the score was J.A.R. Elliott, who disappointed his friends by losing his first bird, a fast driver. "Walters" (Walter Patten), of Long Branch, came next. He grassed a driver and his Long Branch friends gave a great cheer. E.D. Fulford, of Utica, N. Y., then grassed a bird, and W.E. Bender, of New York; Geo. Loomis, of Omaha, Neb.; "J. Jones" (Junius Davis), of Philadelphia; R.O. Heikes, of Dayton, O., and Tom Laflin, of Rock Island, Ill., followed suit. Wm. Wagner, of Washington, D. C., missed his first bird, a fast driver. Then the shooting became more exciting, and as the men continued to bring down bird after bird cheers of encouragement and applause greeted every kill. On the fourth round Heikes drew a fast bird, which was brought down, but before the dog reached the spot it recovered and flew over the boundary. "Walters" was shooting finely, and his sixth kill on a fast zig-zag driver was a clever one. On the same round Fulford made one of the sensational shots of the day. It was a very fast towering outgoer, and was brought down with a beautiful second shot when nearly out of bounds. It was one of those remarkable kills which happen once or twice in a thousand shots. On the seventh round Laflin lost a very fast right quarterer dead out of bounds. Bender was bringing down some good ones and displayed a cool nerve. His eleventh bird was brought to the ground, but recovered sufficiently to fly away and leave him out of the race. "Jim Jones" promised to bring the cup to Philadelphia and made several fine kills, but his fourteenth bird, a rather easy left quarterer from No. 4 trap, was badly misjudged, and he parted with his claim on the prize.
THIS LEFT FULFORD, representing the East, and Loomis representing the West, to fight it out. Loomis was shooting well and displaying cool judgment. His sixteenth bird was finely killed and his twenty-second was a clever shot. Fulford made a good stop of a fast driver on the sixteenth round and was shooting in the old-time form that gave him such a wide reputation a few years ago. He killed his twenty-third bird and Loomis went to the score. He drew a fast, low driver which he hit lightly, but it flew away in safety, and Fulford became winner of the Grand American Handicap of 1898.
E.D. Fulford, the winner, needs no introduction to the shooting men of this country. He has been at the traps as a professional shot for five or six years, during which time he has won many honors. He claims an unofficial record of over 400 live birds killed without a miss. He is at present a shooting representative of the Remington Arms Co., and used a Remington hammerless gun weighing 7 3/4 lbs., 3 1/2 Schultze powder in U.M.C. Trap shells, three inches in length; 1 1/4 oz. No. 7 shot; a Union Metallic Cartridge Co. factory load.



Summary of guns used
https://digital.la84.org/digital/col...oll17/id/45662
Parker - 56, Smith - 42, Greener - 20, Francotte - 17, Remington - 11, Cashmore - 9, Lefever - 8, Scott - 8, Daly - 6, Winchester - 5, Colt - 4, Purdey - 2, Richards - 2, Churchill, Baker, Hollenbeck, Forehand and Stannard - 1 each.

Parker Bros. Tiffany & Co. award