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The Sun.

THE LONG BRANCH PIGEON TOURNEY.

Champion Wing SHots Doing their Best-
Miss Oakly's Bad Luck.

The national pigeon shooting tournament, on the grounds of the West End Club, Long Branch, opened yesterday.

The entries embrace some of the finest shots in America. J. R. Stice is hard to beat in a sweepstakes, and his shooting yesterday demonstrated plainly that it would take a good man to get ahead of him in a regular match. He shot to kill. His first barrel was generally effective. He is six feet tall, and his shooting costume consisted of a broad-brim felt hat and dark corduroy coat, trousers in his boots, and red handkerchief around his neck. He made a run of twenty straight birds. C. W. Budd was the favorite at the outset, but having missed his second and seventeenth bird, he was two behind at the close of the day. The champion wing shot of England, W.C. Graham, seemed almost invincible. He came out with a clear score, George Cubberly, William Seiger, C. S. Wertsner, and J. Van Dyke also succeeded in killing twenty straight birds.

In shooting, the contestants had to face the sun, but it was the only disadvantage under which they labored. By unanimous consent Mr. Al. Hermitage ("Old Southpaw") of the Jersey City Heights Gun Club was referee. It was then decided that the contestants should shoot in turn, one bird at a time. Cubberly went first to the socre, and brought down a right quarterer from No. 4 trap. Miss Annie Oakly followed. She was dressed in a picturesque shooting costume of blue plaid, with a blue silk handkerchief around her shoulders. Two long braids of hair hung down her back, while a sombrero sat jauntily on her head. As the pretty Amazon answered to her name and stepped on the score mark she was the centre of attraction. Planting her dainty feet firmly on the mark, she called out in a pleasing, girlish voice: "Ready! Pull!" Simultaneously with the last word the trap opened and a driver from No. 4 sped across the grounds, wounded by both loads of shot from Miss Oakly's gun, and fell dead just outstde the boundary. Her second bird was also a driver from unlucky No. 4 trap. It also fell dead outs ide the line.

"Oh, did you ever see such luck?" she exclaimed.

Her third bird was a left quarterer from trap No. 3, and one barrel sufficed to end its career.

"Time I hit something," she said, as she handed the gun to her manager. The spectators applauded heartily her change of luck. She missed the next bird, but from that on made a clear score. Had she used as heavy a gun and charge as her contestants, she would not have lost any.