The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 11

TIIE KXAStlNEn. BAN FRANCISCO, fiATUBDAY MORNING. DECIPHER 2, 1S93. 11 Germain constitute tho walking club's com- distance a little long at that-the "Old Man let Hy. He swears and his follow clubmen back blm up In the statement that eight dropiied dead out of that (lock and LOS AN8ELESDUCK SLAYERS.

Big Killings Mads by the Crack Shots of tha Cerritoa Club. HOME OF THS ACMES An Oakland Club Which Houses Champions of all Description! PYRAMIDS MADE A SPECIALTY. time the boys obtained permission from Mrs, lr. Lafovre use the loft of a bnrn close by. The roof of this barn was so low that but one member could exercise at a time, and while he was busy twinglug clubs or two othora were boxing the rest of the club sat down and did their best to keep out of the way.

From this early stage the club progressed by atmuly growth uutil It was ablo to rent an old China washhouae at the corner of Km lull and Woostor streets. Hero the membership was iucraed by the ailmUstnn of Tim Scanlun, Ed Morwln, Hufus Hepburn, Ross Hardy and John P. Cunuurs. Thoo, with the original members, afterwards became charuir members when the Acme Aihlctio Club waa formed. From tbia time on the club grew rapidly, moving first to Celloge Hull, at lie corner of Twolftb and Harrison streets, and Inter to tlio old Synagogue building ou Fourteenth street, which had been especially fitted up fur the club's use.

It was loss than a year ago that the club moved into Its own bulldlnir, on Twelfth street, near Itroadway, aud ita progross since it was first organised bas been Utile abort of a marvel. One of the best features of the elub baa batlo band that form the pyramid tableaux. The members of this corps are Junk Kitchen and Jamus Fox, the club's two champion boxers; Charlie Andrews, champion wrnstlor; lUrry Maxwell, K. S. liiwdle, Willis Bharpe and Carlisle Coey.

These turn blurs have forms of pyramids thuy make with lightning rapidity. The men are all dressed in hi to, with powdered wigs, and on exhibition nights ttioy resemble ao many statues, so period is their work. Ono of tho most Interesting groups consists of Dowdla "doing a crab" on the bucks of bharpe and Kltcbeu, with the little Coey boy perchoj at the top of the group, and tho others grouped picturesquely around. Then there Is the "single strong man," in which Kitchen supports throo imm pyramid-wise, whllo tho others are grouped around la graceful attitudos. The "double strong man" Isalmllar to the latter, except that tho pyramid is supported by Kitchen and Hhnrpo.

Then thero is the regular pyramid, which ts built three mon bigh. There are nearly twenty of these tableaux, -mid all of thorn differ In some particular from the others. lake has boeome a veritable breeding ground, and tho quantity of mallards, can van-lacks, teal, widgeons, sprig and geuso is largely increasing oach year. Tho club shoots from aunken blinds over decoys, aud those shoots take place weekly, The shooting nils soiuon begun obout September 1st, and what is a rare thing the ducks were bred right thero, Up to date tho mnmbers have a record of some 7K or son birds to their credit and have an aggravating complacency in tmking about It that Is the wild despair of less fortunate sportsineu. The ducks from the north havo begun to arrive now.

In fact sumo avant couriers of tho miiiratory tribe put in an appearance a few weeks bko. along about tho lirst of tho month. Mallards, widgeon and teal are tho rds which will bi around the liilio from now on, and sprig will not sound their arrival until alonj In February. The club takes a pardonable prldo in the four doits which romprise the outfit now used. Mr.

Holmes Sr. uses an English sot-tor, "Mao," and ho a splendid follow. Ho Is one of tho best of retrinvnrs, steady and faithful. Ho bin accomplished some won- Thrift. (V How the Influential Amateor Org-eotse.

lion From email Haoliinlngs Heeanie Affair of Vail Importance Person. Bel of Those Who Have Achieved Fans In Different Departments of Sport Born Id a barn and matured In a Chines wash-house the Acme Athletic Club of Oakland baa risen to auch Importance that It la now able to produoe at leait a good atblotaa at those turned out by the famous Olympic Gub of San Francisco. Some of the Acmes I4KII FOX. PYRAMID championship mon have won their laurels from the Olympic cbampiona and the intervention of several years has not bean enough to regain for that organization its lost honors. The Acme Club of to-day has some remarkable athletes among its members.

In athletic sports of all kinds as well as bicycling, acquatics and the more difficult pyramid building the symbol of the winged acorn has never had to take second place and the boys are determined that it never will. The early history of the olub Is as interesting as its later development Into the foremost athlotio organization in Alameda -n i A WELL FEATHERED LAKELET. drain-Fed Web-reel Which are Howled Ovr by While the Hassan I.asts-IIuutIng lings Whose Fama Is Known Throughout tha Hontharn Country-Fair to Middling Duck Mtnrlas Los Anoei.m, November 2fl. There Is a gun olub In Los Angeles called the Corrl-tos, which, though a small club, bas had a Jolly and effective cxlstouco for four years past. It was organized with four members and noi.Mxs SR.

CERRITOS GUN CLUB From has only takon la one new member since that time. The members aro all good shots and congonlal gentlemen, and they have laid the foundation for oontlnuod existence vory shrewdly. The club is essentially a duck shooting club, although thero has boon some leaning towards othor olassos of bird shooting. Among the charter members was E. Unger, of trap fame, who was one of the Southern California representatives In tha State club shoot at San Francisco two yoars ago, and who is also a fine bird shot.

W. H. Holmes is President of the club and a duck shooter of long standing. He uses a ten bore L. C.

Smith gun aud picks the birds from the clouds. E. B. Tufts is another of the ohartor members. He has boon identifiod with the shooting fraternity of Southern California for tho last seven years.

He is an enthusiastic sportsman and dog fancier. He uses in the Cerritos shooting a light ten-bore W. C. Scott Sons' hammerloss, and does good work with it. M.

Notman, the Scretary and Treasurer, is a coming man In the duck-shooting lino. Ho Is handicapped by the use of glasses, but still usos his heavy Smith mercllosBly upon the foatbored tribe when they approach. Whon the club was organized a fine bit of ground was picked out on the Corrl-tos ranch, about twenty miles southeast of Los Angeles and within easy reaching distance of the Los Angolos Terminal Railroad. The club loased 8,000 acres from the ranch-owners and procoodod to improve and extend an artificial lake, which is supplied by two immense artesian wells. Little by little the lake was brought up to noblo dimensions, until it is at presont something like two miles long and half a mile wido in places.

A clubhouse, a small but neat structure, containing several rooms, was built, the dog konnels being underneath. With a local habitation nnd a home the olub has become ono of the best in the south, and there are many sportsmon who envy the club men nnd would like to swoll tho membership. This has boen very carefully guarded against, howovor, and thoro is not Wr a I JIM CHABLIS AHDBKWa. rrcBiif. uimnry uopariuieiiu ThechuiiiuioiishlDllstof tha Acme Club becomes longer as eeer.

year goes by. From no time that Jack Kitchen captured the l'aultic Coast amateur heavy-weight cham-piouship to the present Hourly all the championships worthy of note have been taken by members of the club. Hilly" Gallagher, who was once the Acme's champion wolter-woight, is now a professional, so the club has had to drop his tiamo, but his picture still Las an honored place anioug those of the othor club members of note. Then thore is James Fox, tho Pacific Coast champion feather-weight boxer, and Eugene Van Court, tho club's light weight wrestler. or the wheelmen, George A.

Faulkner holds the 1'iii'inc Cout record for a twenty-five tulle road race. It. C. Lund, who rides an "ordinary," has the tstate championships for two, throe and live miles respectively, aud Grant Boll, another spcody wneoimau, nouis me Mate cbarapionsntp for flvo-mlle safotles. Edward Hartley, un to the time of tha advent of Dana Thompson, was tho Coast champion bull mile swimmer, doing his record in lo mlnutos and BUI seconds.

Thompson, who bids fair to bold the world record, is now the club's champion, having a record of 111 minutes and 47 seconds. The present officers of the Acme Club have done a great deal to make the organization the Important one that It is. M. A. Wbldden, Auditor of Alameda county, la the olub'a President George F.

Neece Is Vice President, J. M. Polk Recording Secrotary, L. W. Hardle Treasurer, C.

H. Lutkey Financial Secretary, and the Board of Directors consists of H. H. French. J.

Kitchen Charles Hannan. James Shan- ley, O. A. Faulkner and J. W.

Finigan. CALIFORNIA RACING, Joe. Calra llmpsoa Raseots Attaoks oa tho "Old" Association, To th Editor of Krim(nr Sir: Ploase grant me permission to correct the false impressions provalont regarding the managemout and the poople oonneotod with tho l'aoifio Coast Blood Hone Association from the date of ita organization until a few years ago. Tho organization was perfected December, 1879, when constitution, bylaws and a coda of rules were adopted and the following Board of Truitoes olocted: Hon. Leland Stanford, Hon.

James McM. Shaftor, Hon. John M. Coghlan, E. J.

Baldwin, Theodore Winters, Hon. Caleb Dorsoy, Henry Sohwartx. The Presidents of the assoolatlon, E. J. Baldwin, Theodore Winters, James MoM.

Shaftor, James V. Coleman, Major J. L. Rathbone, Ariel Lathrop, D. MoClure, and in later years D.

M. Burns, H. I. Thornton and Thomas H. Williams J.

B. Hsggia, Goorge Hoarst, William Boots, H. I. Thornton, J. L.

Rathbone were momben of the Board of Trustees subsequent to the organization, and these names are luroly a guarantee of the respectability of the old association. Great stress has been laid on the fact that the mooting wore of short duration. The inaugural meeting was held at a time wbon thore wore comparatively fow race horsoa in California. In all probability there are fifty thoroughbreds in the Stale now to one fifteen yoars ago, but short moot! tigs were the rule then. Spring meeting, 1879, Jerome Park, fire days, the "grand summer carulval of racing" at Saratoga embraced sovon regular days, and though Brighton Beach had started on its career of buainoss racing the long con-tluued meetings of the present ora are of comparatively recent introduction.

And very many poople are of the opinion that the' prevalence of extended race meetings is tho greatest menace to tho future pros perity of the turf, reasoning from the antagonism already exhibited in some parts of tho country, thut the same cause will have 'a like effort unless the warning is accepted. Not long ago New Jersey demonstrated that when "track" aud "anti-track" were brought before the people the volo was emphatic in pronouncing condemnation. Track abuses would have been tho proper name, as sinoo New York passed a law restricting tho length of meetings, forbidding winter racing, as well as limiting tho days whon racing could be held over one course, Now Jersey has been the main field for pursuiug tho system. England is a great racing country and five days is the limit of any one mooting. Australia, inhabitod by pooplo who havo tho greatest fondness for outdoor sports, follows the same method.

France, with its big events, curtails to a like proportion, and the United States ia the only country where the contrary prevails, though Moxico, with a United States manager and with horses imported from this country, is to enjoy a long session of the sport. Therefore this much vaunted innovation on the methods of the old managers of the Blood Horse Association may not prove an unmixed benefit to the brooders of racehorses in California, and surely detrimental should it excite the opposition it has in other places. Tho charge has also been made that under the old management the big raoing stables of California toon no part in the moetings. That is far from being true. The horses of Palo Alto, J.

B. Haegln, Theodore Winters, E. J. Baldwin, George Hoarst, J. McM.

Shaftor, William Boots, 11. I. Thornton and others participated. It has boen asserted that Theodore Win tersdid not run his borsos under the old management, and that tho "racehorse of a century," El liio Hoy, never appeared on a California course. From the time of organization until two years ago Inst spring Mr.

Winters rarely missed a meeting. Yo Tam-bien made her debut on the Bay District in May, 1891, and El liio Roy was brouglit there in 1890, but he was uot iu condition to run. His careor wa3 limited to thut one season, dlseaso putting an ond to his racing career the most brilliant display over mado by a two-year-old the certificate of his extraordinary merit Mr. Winters not ouly raced his horses, gave his time and attention to the affairs of the association, as at one of tho meetings ho addod 1 1,000 to ono stake, $500 to another, tho only instance of such liberality in tho history of tho society. Asain, thero is a claim that tho new regime has been so satisfactory that Eastern men are not ashamed to he associated with tho management," but if thero wore further explanations, that four of thoso named receive a salary of $100 per diom each, praise should be awarded the liberality of thoso who grant endowments rather than the recipients of big wages.

There appears to bo a general purpose to depreciate the efforts of tho people who did so much to roliove racing of the opprobrium which rested upon a great proportion of California racing, until this society rodeemed it, and however unworthy of praise the present officers may be it does not enhance their claims by casting unjust aspersions on their predecessors. Jos. Caikv Simpsox. Oakland, November 23, 1893. The Winners Ht llminli'g' Traolt.

Wasuingtov, December 1. Summaries of to-day's races at Bennlng's track: Fivo and a half furlongs Factotum won, Torchbearer second, Faustina colt third. Time. One imlo Milt young won, Lazotta sec ond, Kingstock third. Timo, 1 :45.

Fivo furlongs correction won, Miracle second, Tcrrilier third. Time, 1 Six furlongs west tiitio won. Artillery second, Play or Pay third. Time, 1 Four and oue naii luriongs Mcuonaia won, Kenmoro secona, one nuy inira. Timo, :58.

Four and one-nan iuriongs fepringie won, uoiden auey second, nouywooa tnird. Time, :57. me rest sailed on unhurt. The eight were killed, not wounded, aud were alone daa4 when they reached tho ground, and not feather waa touched upon any of the rest of the flock. The "Old Man" has not become so hardened yet as to olalm that be aimed to do Just what he did, but wait until next year aud soe bow this story toll then.

Tho "old man" was for a long time Prea Ident of tho Tuie Club of San Franc. too, and this womlorful killing of bis will be appreciated by any of the old members of thai once famous organization of sportsman who may chance to road this. Tho elub does considerable execution, among plover, as well as ducks and geose, nnd this season's shooting they think will go far ahead In ail kinds of gamo over any seiuon since its organization. it take quite a pretty penny from eacl) member of this unique artesian lake club d'lrtng the year, but they have splendid) sport to show for the cxmdituro. The grounds aro leased by the year and a keeper is constantly present to look after tliu in erosts of tho club and care for iu property.

There Is probably aot anothof gun club In this part of the State where tha grounds are suppllod with an artificial fresh-wator lake. All this and the coav fnrtable clubhouse have cost money, but the mombors of the organization would ba very willing to pay as much mora to hava such aa excellent preserve and auch finf sport THE DUCK HUNTERS. Illrrts Have Been Drive rroat tha Marshas br tha Heavy Rains. The past weok bas been one of general disappointment to the duck hunters. The few who braved tho storm for a couple of days' shooting on tho marshes returned with Indifferent bags, and in some (nstanoet they had nothing whatever to show for the time and discomfort.

Tho rain has bad tha usual effeot of teat tering the birds, most of them going souttt to the irrigating ditches and flat country about Fresno or to tho uplands in various' of tho State away from tho coast lino. A few teal and mallard, with here and thoro a canvasback, are tho only birds to) be found in the marshes. Tho widgeon havo entirely doserted the swampy low. lands, this bird having a ponchaot foF freshly spratitod grasses, which Just now can bo found ouly in the interior. What few mallard are loft are congregated it) "mallard holes" in the less frequented portions of the marshes and can only be) got at during the early morning hours.

Tho proiurrrs about Suisun and Cordelia) furnished tho best sporiof the week for tha olub mon who wont up from this oity. But oven these famous grounds were more or loss dopopulated and the birds so scattered that a bag of more than a couple of dozen was an exception to tho general rule. Bob Liddoll returned Monday from SuU sun and reports the marshes bare of birds. J. K.

Orr, who has made some of the big. gost bags of the season, went to Suisun early in the week, but found that the storm had driven the birds away. He spent two days on the marsh, but met with very In. CNORH. THE LAKE CROP.

pho(o0rapn. different success. He predicts very poo? sport for December, or at least until tho ram ceases and the cold weather drives tha birds back from their feeding grounds im tho interior. Some very fair bags have been reported, by sportsmen returning from the Sonoma The birds are also said to be1 still plentiful around Staten Island, a district very littie frequented by Saa Fran( Cisco runners. The market hunters have met with aa, little success as the olub men, la spite of tho fact ttiat the holiday season has mads alivoly demand for the product of their guns.

Dealers say that ducks have not been so scarce at any time since tha iue of tho soason as they are now. The rain an equally bad effect oa tho quail and shlpe shooting. There is to much water in the marshes for sniper although with a oouple of weeks of dry weather some good sport in this line ma be expoctod. While tho rain lasts it la Impossible to got the quail from the covers. Even if thia wore not tho case the dripping bushes would soon dampen the ardor of the sportsman who was foolish enough to venture into the) covors.

With three or four day of aun. sbiuo tho quail shooting should be bettor than at any time since the season opened, as heretofore it has been too dry for good sport. Charles H. Ford and Will Parks went ta Mowrv's during tho week, but returned with only forty-two ducks to show for their two-days' campaigu in the rain. Herman W.

Hceth and three companiona went to Mount Eden Monday night, an! after tramping about In the rain for three days aud sloeping under a wagon one night they returned with only eight ducks be tween them. Walter N. Haskell has beea nursing cold during the past week, but contemplate a trip to the Suisun marshes to-morrow. Stanley Allen, the popular olerk of Judga Troutt's court, started for the Teal Club'a preserves at Salsun yesterday with a small trunk containing 500 shells. He expect to come back loaded down with ducks.

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL. Ladr Piayart to Have a Match at Can trot Park. To-morrow the Wanderers and Rangers will play a schedule gamo of assooiatioa football at Central Park. The teams will Hue up at 1 o'clock, and, as they are nearly on a par as regards talent the lovers ol Scotch football look for a hard-fought game. At 3 o'clock the newly formed team of ladr footballers, the "Scotca Lvsses" and the "Collean Bawns," will line up for their first game.

They have) been practicing hard for sovoral weeks, enl are said to be quite perfect in aU tho methods of the game. On Siuulav, December 10th, the Wander, ers aud Fort Masous will play an exbioU tion game of football at PeUluma. The prospects of aa association foo ball tournament in oonnecUoa with tho Midwinter Fair sports baa given the gtia4 an impetus. TUFTS. nOI.MES JR.

MEMBERS AFTER A SHOOT. pfiotovroph. dorful feats in bis lino, and it is told of the old follow that ho wont once half a mile in the water for a wounded sprig and stayed about twenty minutes for it beforo ho suo-eeedod in securing it and fetching it out. Nobody who desires to keep in tho good graces of Mr. Holmes dare say a word reflecting upon "Mac's" good qualities.

Mr. Notman has a fine English setter, NOTNUV. A PORTION OF From a Bruno, who does some exceptionally fine work, and Mr. Tufts a Jolly cockor spaniel callod Boss, who is everywhere and anywhere that he is wanted, and invariably fetches his bird. The last dog Is Lady, a water spanlol, with good pedigree and fino training.

With these four does the olub members are ex cellently served, and the canities are well cared for. Ono dav during lait vear's shooting sea son Messrs. Ungor, Holmes ond Tufts auo-ceedud in killing 171 ducks during the morning. This was the largest number killed during any one day since the club has boen organized, but littlo by little tho members aro storing up remiuiseenees, aud it will not be many years before they will tell stories which will partake of the marvelous. Already one of these yarns, which is vouched for by each individual member as strictly correct and tho way these clubmen stand together against tho world is a caution has found its way to the outsido.

Tho "Old Man." as Holmes Sr. is fondly designated bv his fellow-members, was shootiug one morning. It was a crisp day and the birds wore flying pretty briskly. A Hock of ducks approached aud whoa within HJrUU-l CABLTL1 oobt. IVBKITT DOWDLB.

WILLI! tHIRFB. HBHRT MAXWELL. CLASS OF THE ACME CLUB OF From a photograph. been ita selection of officers. It always has had progressive men to direct it Whon the club became important enough to have a boxing master of its own Walter Watson of England, who hold the rank of champion boxer of America at the time, waa Installed In that all-important position.

Watson also taught the young men of the Olymplo Club bow to defend themselves, and on every Acme class night Watson brought an Olympic pupil of bis across the bay to box with the Acme men. The records yet fall to show an occasion on which sn Olymplo boxer wont borne victorious. It was those matches with the Olympics that gave the Acme Club its first standing in tho community, and ever since that timo the two clubs havejbeld many an Interesting tournament together. It was at one of these tournaments that Jack Kitchen of the Acme Club became the first champion tho club ever had. Ho won from the Olympic Club the title of amateur heavyweight champion boxer of the Pacific Coast Kitchen has held this title for about throe years, and since thai timo chumninn-ships have been liberally distributed among tho club members, until now tho walls of tho clubrooms ore literally lined with life-size photographs of champions, who havo won fame in ovory branch of athletics, from tests of strength in gymnasium and Hold to feats of endurance in a swimming tank.

One of the club's most interesting features, and which never fails to afford pleasure to its lady visitors, is the acro- jack OAKLAND. The Asms Bicycle Club has done Its part to keep up the record of the club. The club has over one. hundred members, and has the following oftloors: De Witt Vancourt, Captain Georgo F. Neeoe.

First lieutenant; Theodore Schlouter, Second Lteutonant; O. L. Pickard, Bugler. The bicycle annex was organized in June, 1891, and at a public meet pi to on Novem ber 28, 1891, all tho previous l'aoifio Coast record were lowored. Waller, trio pho uomenal long distance ridor who was brought out by the Acmo Club, one day suggested that be gucssod be would break tho world's record for twenty-four hours.

A short while after, on June 10, 1893, he started at the- Alameda track aud succeeded in establishing the world's record for that distance with case. His distance for twentv-four hours was 863 miles and 1,490 yards. Tho Acme's bicycle team which won the Examiner trophy in the relay race of last May consisted of ten men who rode from San Francisco to Oakland in 6 hours 48 minutes and 51 seconds. The ton mon wore J. A.

Sampson, H. A. Maxwell, M. F. Koso, Grant Bell, J.

A. Howard, George A. Faulkner, A. Belding, Theodore Schlueter, J. B.

Harris and Georgo F. Noece. The Trampers' Anuox is the name by which the club's cross country club is known. J. W.

Finigan is Captain of this organization; J. Williamson, First Lieu-tent; J. M. Polk, Second Lieutenant, and James Shanley, C. H.

Lutkev and Harry ikiiilin ii i stewimwi til 111 ill 1 I ti ll i1 ill fi" M1!" iEMWP ONE OF THE MANY PYRAMIDAL COMBINATIONS IN WHICH THE ACMES EXCEL. From a jihotr.giraph. THE DUCK THAT NEVER CAME UP. Reproduced from "Forest and Strrom." county. Way back In the fall of 1881 a handful of younp men living in the vicinity Of Sixth and Alice streets with nothing to occupy their time after school rigged up a swinging trapeze in an oak tree in DeWitt Van Court's back yard, and this broom-handle traprzo, together with an ancient pair of boxing gloves, were the only apparatus the club owned.

The members of tho club at that time were: DeWitt C. Van Court, Eugene Van Court, O. C. MuBser, George Faulkner and J. M.

PolK. all being noighbors and living within a few blocks of the Van Court residence. The early meetings of the club were held In the Van Court back yard whenever the rain permitted. In course of much prospect that the rule will be changed. The members are all men of means and form really an ideal amateur organization.

During the season the big kiiliugs are all distributed among tho friends of the members, and they derivo health und rare sport from the hunting upon their littie lake. Tho club preserves mako an admirable feeding Rround und rest ng-place for ducks and peeso of ovory description. Large numbers of ducks have been killed this year, an unusual number of canvas-backs being includod, which until this year were very scarce. But by feeding from five to six tons of wheat and the protection afforded during the breeding season the.