The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-12-22
THE DAILY GAZETTE
=oIsToI SHOOTING MATCH FOR
$1,000 A SIDE.

rha great pistol shooting ihasEh 'oi
a. l 400 . side, between John Travis
.as .as samuel A. Suyadam. which has
:. wv several weeks past kept the sport.
!" ~, world on the qui sivs, came Oh
y ~ Tuesday evening AT Academy Hall,
p,osdwsy, 10 the presence Of from six
hundred 70 eight hundred persons. :.
I.n Imouv those present were many Of
~ A suoting gentry and the personal
t t.;snJs Of Travis and Suydam. At
.hs S end of the stage was placed q large
~ ;,on plstc, on which was drawn the
~" ,r,insry sized figure OF q man. In q
sv minutes after the hour announced
Sr M the commencement Of the sport,
he parties with their judges appeared
man M the stage, and were received with
,oui applause. The distance, ten
nae, NICE, having been measured, the terms
e The match we're announced. Each
o.rt, was TO have forty shots, and the
one making the mos. hits at the target
"a be 'ihe Winner. They were no. TO
Mise the pistol till the word fire"
and moi shoot / Il after the word s'one. !"
The preliiainaries having been arrang'
d, each party fired six shots, BY the
x,y Of getting his hand in and getting
q knowledge Of the pistols to bs USED
on the occasion. These shots, on both
,jdes, we're excellent and received ap.
plsuse. The great match was then
ccommenced--Messrs. Lawrence and
Brep, acting as Judges, the former for
suydam and the latter for Travis
Gen. Wheat OF Tennessee, acted as
rsferree. Mr.. Travis took his position
and amid almost breathless silence,
John Britton gave tho word, Are you
nadyf' Fire" "One!" Thus the
frt twenty shots were fred, only
nineteen oi which were counted as
hits. the twentieth having been ruled
ont as alter time. After a brief res.
pite Mr.. Travis fred his second round
putting every shot on the target. On
this round he rang the bel on the
twelfth and fourteenth shots, and plac-
ed four shots on the line" His success
was greeted with tunultous applause.
Mr.. Suyjam next took his position,
and fired his first twenty shots, one
teipg of the target, was OF course rul-
I'd out, and the judges announced the
parties as even on the first round
-Four ofthe shots were on the line
Loud applause greeted his success,
After The lapse OF = few minutes,
Osdsr was again restored, and Mr.. 5.
gunmencenced his second round ia
vurab.,. On the fourth shot he rang
The ball and was applauded. The
9Th shot not hitting the target, ne
handed the pistol to the ''losder," and
tod the judges that he did not desire
to shoot any more. Thus the match
terminated. and the judges announced
NJ, Travis as the winner. The firing
vas made thus rapid on account ofthe
great skill and proficiency OF the par.
tics with this patent weapon-the
hair trigger duslling pistol, The
match was one ofthe unusual interest,
ocsh parties being Acknowledged as
among the very bes, pistol shots in
the country. Travis is q professor OF
The art, and for near twenty years has
prscticsd it, having giving lessons to
thousands ofpupils. He has perform.
ed themost daring scats, ~ that Of
shooting an orange Of a mans head.
suydam isa very rapid and dextrous
shot. Some three years since he shot
amatch for 81 900 that he would hit
The ordinary Fixed figure ola man at
ten PAGES, ninety consecutive shots a,
the word fire. "One!" and he won
i. Alter the ninety shots were fired,
hs bet $l00 on each shot that he
would complete 300, bu, missed on
sne va, though he succeeded in hit
'lng the targe, 80 times in 100 shots