The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-02-28
MOST MARvEL0HS SH0nr1NG

rom the Sauuen IN. d J OehOcraC.
They had been talking about the re-
markable performances of DR.. Carver,
the marksman who shoots with q rifle
glass balls which are sent into the air as
fast as man can throw them. Present
ly Abner Byng, who was sitting by, said
That's nothing"
What is nothing?'
why, that shooting. Did you ever
know Tom Potters'
NO"
''Well, Potter was the best man with q
rife ever saw; beat this man Carver all
hollow. I'll tell you what I've seen
this man Potter do. You know, maybe,
| along there in the cherry season Mrs
| ries; so Tom would pick 'em for her,
and how do you think he'd stone 'em ~
81 don't know. How:"
''Why, he'd fill his gun with bird shot
and get boy to drop half bushel OF
cherries at one time from the roof of the
house. AS they came 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 of.
ten But he did bigger shooting than
that when he wanted to-"
What did he dos"
"Why, Jim Miller-did you know him :
No! Well, Tom made bet once with
Jim that he could shoot the button off of
his own coat tail by aiming in the Oppo-
site direction and Jim took HIM up"
did he do itg'
do it, he fixed himself in position
and aimed at a tree in front of him. The
ball hit the tree, caromed, hit the corner
of house, caromed, struck lamp post,
caromed and flew behind Tom and min
ped the button off as slick as whistle.
| You bet he did it.'
"That was fine shooting"
"Yes, but I've seen Tom Potter beat il.
I've seen a flock of wild pigeons, billions
ofthem coming like wind, and he kill 'em
so fast that the front of the flock never
passed given line but turned over and
fell down, so that it looked like kind of a
brown and feathery Niagara. Tom did
1t by having % breechlOading rifles and
boy to load 'em. He always shot with
that kind"
You say you saw him do this sort of
shOoting:"
Yes, sir; and better than that, too.
Why, I'll tell you what have seen Tom
Potter do. / saw him once set an India
rubber target at 800 feet and hit the
bulls eye p times minute with the
same ball! He would hit the target,
| the ball would bounce back right into
| the rifle barrel just as Tom had clapped
fresh charge of powder, and so he
kept her going backward and forward
until at last he happened to move his
gun and the bullet missed the muzzle of
the barrel. 1t was the biggest thing
ever saw; the very biggest-except one. "
What was that So
why, one day was out with him
when he was practicing and it came on
to rain. Tom didn't want to get wet,
and we had no umbrella, and what do
you think he did 50
"Whatf''
Now what do you think that man
did to keep dry:"
Il can't imagine"
well, sir, he got me to load his weapons
for him, and pledge you my word al.
though it began to rain hard he hit
every drop that came down so that the
ground for about eight feet around us
was as dry as punk. 1t was beautiful,
sIr-beautiful."
| And then the company rose up slowly
and passed out one by one, each man
eying Abner and looking solemn as he
went by; and when they had gone Alb
ner looked queerly for a moment, and
said to me:
There's nothing hate so much as q
liar. Give me man who is the friend
of the solid truth and I'll tie to him"