The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-08-07
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a WBNDERFUL MARKSMAN.

DR.. Cnrver's stonndasfSen win n hiho'
A New York paper says: Dr.. W. F.
Carver, the man who car putuS bullet
through q silver quarter while tEe~eaiin
is flying through the air, is an enlarged
and revised edition Of Buffalo Bill and
Texas Jack. Being fresh from the broad
plains of the untrammeled West, he has
that delightful air of unconventionality
to be found only in the land of the set
ting sun. A p~ale-face, to him, is an OBJ
iect of pity. The aboriginal inhabitant
of the primeval forest is his prey. he
must dote on blood; and he can bring it
out of a wasp's wing at forty yards.
DR.. Carver is, no doubt, the best
sh%ort-range marksman in the world. He
gave his second exhibition at Deerfoot
Park, and astonished everybody who
saw him. He is as fine a specimen OF
fully-developed manhood as ever walked
on Manhattan Island. More than six
feet high, every part of his body is built
to correspond. His chest is so deep that
it would take a powerful rifle to send a
bullet through it. His shoulders are
broad and high, and altogether, he is
exactly the man hat ordinary people
wouldn't put themselves out of the way
to pick a quarrel with.
The scene of the shooting is worthy OF
description. A small wooden shed, with
a bar in one corner; in front of this q
table, on which were four rifles, several
boxes of cartridges, and half a dozen
score.books. Fifteen or twenty feet IN
front of this, again, a barrel and a man,
the man taking the glass balls out OF
the barrel and throwing them in the air,
and DR.. Carver breaking them with the
bullets as fast al they appeared. Some
body was always at work loading a rifle.
The marksman could fire them faster
than the leaders could load. And they
were the most remarkable rifes-breech-
loaders, of course. When they were
opened at the end one cartridge was
showed in after another, till it seemed as
if the first one must surely be some
where up by the muzzle.
DR.. Carver's costume has nothing to
do with his mari -manship, and his shoot
ing is strictly business. He seldom
misses what he fires at. Most of the
time was taken up in shooting glass
balls, filled with feathers. The balls
we're of the thinnest film of glass, slight
ly tinted, so as to be seen easily in the
air, and, when they broke, the feathers
scattered in every direction. The balls
were thrown about twenty feet into the
air, and the marksman was not more
than fifteen yards from them at any
time. It was noticeable that the shot
was invariably fred just as the upward
impetus of the glass ball ceased and it
was about to begin ats fall. This close
glass ball shooting did not give the idea
Of remarkable skill, probably on account
of the short distance, even though the
average was nine hit out OF every ten.
It looked much more wonderful when
the assistant threw the glass balls as far
as he could and DR.. Carver broke each
one as it flew, the distance being not
less than one hundred yards. Several
coins we're -sAet straight through the
centers6 SIS they whirled through the air.
-~One of the most astounding OF DR..
Carver's feats was his hitting q bell
metal ball when it was almost out OF
sight up in theair. The ball is 30 made
that when the bullet strikes it it rings like
a small gong. The assistant threw this
ball many times as high az he could
throw it, till, sometimes, it could hardly
be seen, but every time the marksman
brought the sound out of it. He also
cut 10 two all the lead pencils he could
induce the spectators to throw into the
air, and he fred successfully at q large
number of unused cartridges. When
the assistant threw two glass balls up at
the same time the rifeman, with q
double-barre' weapon, first broke one
and then the other, without making a
single failure.
The two requisites for good shooting
are, of course, an immovable rest for the
gun-stock and q steady hand and arm
for the barrel. The secret Of DR.. Car
ver's wonderful craftsmanship may be
in his immense and perfectly. balanced
body, which stands firm as q rock. With
a steady hand also, such a man may do
almost incomprehensible things with a
good rifle. His body seems able to with
stand any attacks of ne kousness; yet
when he misses a shot he y very likely
to miss the two or three succeeding
ones, a sure sign hat the miss aurries
him. Another of his peculiarities is
that he aims with both eyes open-so
that he can keep an eye on the Indians,
he says, while he is firing at a buffalo.
DR.. Carver's shooting has astonished
New York. Nothing to equal it has ever
been seen here before. Whether OF not
he would be able to cope with some OF
the Creedmoor marksmen on their long
ranges, is an interesting question.