The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1879-07-04
Tom Potter's shots.

They had been talking about thu
remarkable performances OF DR.
Carver, the marksmau, who shoots
with u rifle, glass balls which ar,
sent Into the air as fast as u maI
can throw them. Presently Abnel
Bynug, who Was standing by, said
That's nothing
"What is nothing r
"Why, that shooting. Did you
ever kpo. Toa Potterr
"No.T
"Well, Potter Was the best hand
with = rite | ever saw ; beat this
man Carver all hollow. III tell
You what | SAN this man Potter do.
loa know, may be along there in
the cherry season, Mrs. Potter
would want To preserve some cher
ries; So TON would pick 'em for
her, and how DO you think he'd
stone em ~
IL dou'C know. How r
well, he'd ill his gun with bird
shot and get u boy TO drop half a
bushel cherries at m time from
the root of the house. AS they
came down he'd fire aud take the
stone clean out OF every cherry in
the lot! 1t is u positive fact! He
might occasionally miss one, but
rot often. But he did bigger
shooting than that when he wanted
tor
What did he dor
"Why, Jim Mlller-did you know
hint Net Well, Tom made a bet
once with jim that be could shoot
the button of his own coat tail by
aiming in the opposite direction,
and jim took him up"
"Did be do ii y
"Do it! He fixed himself in pc
sition and aimed at a tree in front
OF him. The ball hit the tree,
caromed, hit the corner of a house,
caromed, struck a lamp post, ca
romed, aud flew behind Tom and
uipped the button Oft as slick as a
whistle. 1ou bet he did II!
THAT was fine shooting"
"Yes, but I've seen Tom Potter
beat it. I've seen him stand under
a flock of wild pigeons, billions of
them coming like the wind, and kill
'em so fast that the flock never
passed a given line, but turned
over and fell down, so that it looked
like "a kind of brown teathery
Niagara. Tom did it by having
twenty-three breech-loading rifles
and a boy to load 'em. He always
shot with that kind.o
"You say you saw him do this
sort of shootingp
ayes, sir; and better than that
too. Why, I'll tell you what I've
seen Tom Potter do. | saw him
once set up an india rubber target
at three hundred feet and hit the
balls eye tWenty-seven times a
minute with the same ball! He
would hit the target, the ball would
pound right back into the rifle bar
eel just as Tom had clapped in a
'resh charge of powder, and so he
Kept her agOing backward and for
ward until at last he happened to
o move his gun, and the bullet
missed the muZzel of his gun. 1t
vas the biggest thing | ever saw;
he very biggest-eXcept one"
"What was that 7"
"Why, II day | was out with
i'm when he WAS practicing, and
t came on to rain. Tom didn't
rant to get wet, and he had no
Imbrella, aud what do you think he
ids
"What ~
"Nox what do you think that
nan diNto keep dry I"
81 can't imagine"
"Well, sir, he got me to load his
'eapons for him, and | pledge you
ny word, although it began to rain
ard, he hit every drop that came
own, so that the ground for about
light feet around US was AS dry
s punk. 1t was beautiful, sir,
eautiful."
And then the company rose up
and passed out u by one,
ach man cycling Abner, and look
lg sOlemnly as he went by and
Iheu they had gone Abner looking
ueerly for a moment and said to ,
lie:
"There's nothing | hate so much
s a liar. Give me a man who is a
riend of the solid truth, and rn