The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-02-25
TOM POTTER'S FEiTS.
as N2!"sed by a Per on Who Was a
Friend TO Solid Truth.

,., t'""'''eH >-'. u. DeHtOCrut.1
I1cy bud been talking about the
Iemarkabie performances Of DR..
Carver, the murksman, who shoots
with a rifle glass balls which arc
sent into the air as fast as a man
can throw them. Presently Abner
Bylng' who was sitting by, said:
"rhat's nothing.'
"What is nollling?"
"Why, that shooting. Did you
ever know Tom Potter ?"
"No."
"Wcll, Potter was the best hand
with the rifle 1 ever saw; beat this
man Carver all hollow. I'll toll
you what I've seen this man Potter
40. You know, .noybo, along there
IN cherry season Mrs. Potter would
want to preserve some cherries, SO
Tom wou!d pick 'em for her, and
how do you think he'd stone emf"
Il don't know. How?"
"Whv, he'd fill his gun with bird
shot and get boy to drop half
bushel of cherries ut one time from
the roof Of house. AS they cumo
down he'd fire and take the stone
clean out of every cherry in the
lot It's a positive factl He
might occasionally miss one, but
not often. But he did bigger
shooting than that when he wanted
to"
"What did he do?"
"Why, Jim AIiller-did you know
him? No. Well, Tom made a bot
once with Jim that he could shoot
the button off his own coat. tail by
shining in the opposite direction,
and Jim took him up"
did he do it 2"
"Do it! He fixed himself in
position and aimed at tree in
front of him. The ball hit the
tree, caromed, hit the corner of
house. chromed, struck a lamp post,
caromed, and flew behind Tom and
nlpped the button off as slick rs Il
whistle. You bet he did it,"
"That was fine shooting"
Eyes, and I've seen Tom Potter
beat it. I've seen him stand under
flock Of wild pigeons, billions of
them coming like the wind, and kill
en- SO fast that the front OF the
flock mover passed a given line, but
turned over and fell down, so that
it looked like kind Of brown and
feathery Niagara. Tom did it by
having twenty-threo breech- loading
rifles and a boy to load 'em. He
always shot with that kind"
"You say you SAW him do this
sort Of shooting 2"
yes, sir ; and better than that,
too. Why, I'll tell you what I have
seen Tom Potter do. I saw him
once set up ali India rubber target
at three hundred feet and hit the
bulls eye twenty seven times u
minute with the slme ball. flo
wonld hit the target, the ball would
bound right back into the rifle
barrel just as Tom h;t.t clappod in
fresh charge Of powder, and so he
kept her going backward and for
ward until ct last ho happened to
move his gun and the bullet missed
the muzz!e Of the gun. 1t was the
biggest thing I ever saw; the very
ggcst-except one"
"Whut was that?'
"Why, one day I was out with
him when he was practising, and it
came to rain. Tom didn't want to
get wet, and we had no umbrella,
and what do you think he did ?"
"What 2"
''Now what do you think that
man done to keep dry 2"
81 can't imagine"
"Well, sir, he got me to load his
weapons for him. and plodge you
my word, although it began to rain
hard, he hit every drop that came
down, so that the ground for about
eight feot around us was us dry us
punk. 1t was beautiful, sir
beautiful"
And then the company rose up
slowly and passed out one by one,
each man cycling Abner and looking
solemn rs he went by; and when
they had gone Abner looked queerc
ly for O moment and said to mo:
"There's nothing I hate so much
as a liar. Give me man who is a
friend of the solid truth, and I'll
tie to him.
Senator Thurman has just promis
ed to deliver the address before the
literary societies of the University
of North Carolina at the commence