The daily gazette., 1878-09-17
SECOND. EDITION
The Bow and Arrow.
WHAT DOCTOR CARVER, THE GREAT
RIFLE SHOT KNOWS OF ARCHERY.


WHAT DOCTOR CARVER, THE GREAT
RIFLE SHOT KNOWS OF ARCHERY.
"You see," said Dr. Carver, as he de-
posted a whole sheaf of brightly feather
ed arrows on the table, took off his um-
brageous felt and drew up chair, "I
must be shooting something or other all
the time. If it fsn't Winchester it's
bow and arrow. Pretty they are, but
most too fine. Fancy things these arrows
for handsome young ladies' to shoot on
grass plats at straw targets. Now an
Indian arrow Is good bit longer maybe
thirty-twO inches, and when a Sioux
draws 1t chock up to the bow it fairly
huns when he lets it fly. An Indian ar
| row has grooves cut in it behind the barb,
that is to say, the ones they use in hunting
so that the blood can flow, otherwise the
wood would spoil and swell The fight
ing arrews are nasty things The barb is
| you the steel, or old hoop iron, stays in
the flesh when you go to pull out the ar
row. Dear sakes what ugly wounds l
have seen them make. An Indian boy
begins to handle lighJ bow when he
toddles, maybe four or five years. His
bow is taller than he is. He shoots at most
anything around the camp. When he is
twelve he uses sharp arrows. A boy
must be strong at eighteen to use a mans
Indian bow for the first time has all he
can do to bend it. 1t wants some strength
| but more knack. The bow Is made
straight. When it is strung the cord, even
when in tension, almost touches the bow.
1t is thick, some four and half to five
feet long, that is their hunting bow, and
has extra stiffening by having sinews
pasted on it. | have seen We-shes sa-has-
ka, that's the long man, and he was the
best of the Ogalla Sioux, kill an antelope
with his arrow at 125 yards. We-shessa-
has-ka was nearly seven feet tall and a
good Indian.
On horseback, broadside to buffalo, 1
have more than once known that Indian
to send an arrow through a big cow
| The arrow hung out on the other side.
The bow for horseback and for war is a
tnhe shorter and may be stiffer. You do
not draw the arrow to the eye, but catch
aim as do when shooting from the hip.
That can only be acquired by long prac-
tice. The string is drawn by the clutch
OF the whole fingers, though some of the
tribes use the thumb and three fingers,
The long man could shoot an arrow in
the air out of sight and so can 1 (the doc
tor pointed to an arrow buried up to the
feather in the ceiling of our office, his
| own peculiar ornamentatlon of the Forest
and Stream sanctum)
81 think that in couple of months /
could get into perfect practice, for used
to hold my own with any Indian on the
lplains. Sometimes after / had been
shooting with my Winchester, an Indian
would come up and show his bow, and
tell me his bow was 'nuchee good;' but
then used to take his own bow and beat
him at it. To pass away the time when
l was at the Brooklyn Driving Park i
bought an English bow and arrow of
Holberton, and soon got into the trick of.
L hit blocks of wood thrown into the air
quite as often as l missed them. The
| English bows and arrows are fancy, but
good. I would rather have an old Sioux
one, made of hickory or ash, but the boss
bow l ever owned was made of buffalo
ribs. An Indian carries his quiver of
arrows quickly. When he has discharged
one arrow (the Doctor pronounces arrow
with single letter; he Calls it an RI with
the same motion as he uses in pulling
the string he clutches another arrow. If
he shoots one hundred yards he has
three or four arrows in the air, all going
| at the same time. It's great fun shooting
at bird with long tail that flies over
the prairie. Knock out his tai and his
steering. apparatus is gone. l have
knocked the tail out of many a one and
SO caught him in my hands when he
/ tumbled.
See here. Talking about these things
just makes me long to be back again on
the plains. New York Is mighty good
place, and have made lots of friends;
but somehow L want horse and big
| held, with miles on miles before me to
gallop over and buffalo just a showing
on the divide" And here DR.. Carver shut
his eyes and seemed lost for while in
the visions of rolling prairies in the far
off Western wilderness.-ForeSt ind
| Stream