The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-14
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
vprroRIAL OPINIONS or THE LRADnzG JOURNALS
UPoE CURRENT ToPIcs-CoMPILRD EVERY
DAY ron THE EVENING TELEGRAPH.
A Dead shot.

BYOhl Ge TST6une
The telegraph brought us, last week, an in
terostine item from Washington, to the effect
That the President visited the grounds of the
Gorman sbsrpshooters during their recent
pr;ze festival. and having been provided with
n magnificent rifle, fred three times in success
,;or az tbe bull'seye, hitting it every time.
Some Of the newspapers, wishing to make his
acouracy appear still more remarkable, add to
tho br,ef report of the telegraph the informa-
,ion darived from special sources, that Mr..
Johnson. before he hit the bulls-eye, had i'm
bibod several glasses of lager, and that after
bo had done shooting he was loudly oheered,
and pelted with innumerable bouquets. SO
far from disappearing of any part of these
proceedings, we cordially approve the whole
performance.
President taking anything so weak, and
though, with a politeness that does it credit
4be telegraph says nothing of how near the
amiable sportsman was to the bull 's.eye when
ba hit IT, we are so pleased with the oonde-
soension of the thing that we will express no
Tnde doubts as to his skill. With magnif-
cent rifle in his hands, his spirits genially ex-
cited by few glasses OF lager, very large
bulls-eye placed comfortably near, and an
admiring world at gaze, we think the spectacle
of the President hitting the mark three times
in succession picture that ought at once to
be consecrated by the talent of Mr.. POWELL
and set up in whatever vacant space Mr.. Leutze
may have left in the Capitol.
And vet, we cannot but contrast the Presi-
dents success in hitting this particular bulls
eve. with the lamentable failures he has made
whenever he has tried to hit anything else.
He has fred off innumerable guns, pop-guns,
and squirts, but the mortifying result has
uniformly been that the only game he has
brought down has been himself. The recoil of
his piece has fioored him without fail. He
has repeatedly been hoist with own petard.
First, he tried his hand at Congress; but that
obdurate body, so far from being afraid of
him, seems to have concluded that the safest
place for it to stand was directly in front OF
his rifles muzzle, as twas plain whatever he
aimed at he was sure to miss.
Then there is Phil. Sheridan. The President
has failed so signally to hit that bulls-eye that
ii makes his success at the German Festival
seem either miraculous or accidental. Sheri-
dan is splendid target to aim at; there is no
reason, apparently, why the President should
not hit him. Congress has left sufficiently
magnificent rifle within his reach, if it did not
actually put it in his hands. No doubt he has
taken plenty of lager, if not something else,
while, If he should once hit that shining mark,
no one can doubt that he would be showered
with Rebel bouquets in plenty. But, thus far,
he has done nothing but put his rifle to his
shoulder, and bring it down again. Some say
he is afraid; others say that Grant won't let
him fire; but, whatever may be his reason, that
bulps-eye is yet to be hit.
The last mark the President has missed has
been Mr.. Stanton, whom he has at last hit,
but with only the most ludicrous result. There
stands the target-our venerable marksman
walks straight up to it with confident air.
and takes aim at it with the sublimest assu-
rance of success. But alas as the smoke
clears away, a very different spectacle is pre-
sented from what his admirers hoped. 1t is
not Mr.. Stanton who is sprawling in the dust,
but the valiant Tennesseean himself, who,
though apparently ignorant that he is shot,
will sooner or later feel the wound.