The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-07-15
A Marvellous PistOl-ShOt.

A Marvellous PistOl-ShOt.
Almost any evening may be seen, at
the gallery Of Jas S. Conlin, 1922
Broadway, feats Of pistol marksman-
ship which would mako any Of the old
style off-hand shooters stand in wonder.
The marksman is Mr.. Frank n. Lord,
the most expert and finished plstol-shot
In the country. He is young man Of
thrty-two, the youngest son OF the late
Thomas Lord. He is an athlete and
gymnast snd about 1867 began to try his
skill as shot at the old Conlin gallery.
The feats Of Capt. John Trayers, now Of
Cleveland, had become tradition,
though when Sandy Lawrence kept ten
pin alley on the site OF the present Astor
House, Travers' gallery attached to it,
saw some wonderful exhibitions Of steadi.
ness and skill with small arms. One Of
Captain Travers' fcats were to shoot
away a silver three-ceDt hit placed be-
tween his toes, and when Blondin eros
sed the Niagara he allowed Captain
Travers to put a hill through his hat.
From a doubling friend Captain Travers
won a dimond ring by putting shot
thr ougb the ring, and his feat OF picking
an orange from his sons head was tried
again and again. Since Captain Tray
er's time billiards has driven out ten
pins and riAc-shooting at long distances
has crowded pistol-shooting at twelve
PAGES into disuse. Mr Lord, however,
confines his sport almost entirely to the
smaller weapon, though be is fine rife
shot. He is member Of the New York
Club and his bachelor chamb bers ara adj
orned with curious stock Of pistols. In
Paris he has met Paul de Cassagpec u. a
others of the French duelling cliqnsn sY
astonished them by the certainty sV-la1h
aim. The Forest and Stream, in an ar
ticle enriched with drawings Of Mr..
Lords targets, says:
For ten seasons past he has been cho-
sen by the English-speaking residents of
Par is as their champion, and well-cho-
sen representative has he proven. On
one occasion be performed among other
feats OF accurate craftsmanship the fol-
lowing: A cap OF an ordinary musket
was placed upon the neck OF a cham
pagne- bottle, and Mr.. Lord standing OF
thirty-six feet, or twelve PAGES, with an
ordinary duelling pistol picked off the
cap without scratching the glass. The
same fest was repeated, but with the ps-
tol transferred from the right TO the lert
| nd
with right and left hard firing respec-
lively, but In these instances the pistol
was held in q reverse position, with the
line of sight below instead Of above the
line of fre. The next shot was fancy
one, Mr. Lord standing with back to the
object fred at, leaning far forward, and
then with pistol pointed back between his
legs picking of the cap as before. The
last Of the six shots were made sitting in
chair, again with back to target and
leaning back until the target could be
seen by the head and eyes back. 1t is a
favorite feat to SUSPEND his watch-a fine
imported piece, costing S25o-and put
shot after shot through the loop at thir-
ty-six feet. A match or wooden tooth
pick laid across the opening of the gol-
den loop is cut cleanly through, and
though the watch has been under fire
scores and hundreds of times, it still
ticks on towards the day which may
come when bullet fraction of an inch
out of the way may scatter the works in
shower of wheels and pinions.
In shooting at the word of command
as In duelling, where the second cry out
"Are you ready2" Ready" "Fire!
l-one-two-three," the shooter being
required to shoot between the words
"Flre" and etbree," Mr.. Lord, with Q
duelling pistol at twelve PAGES, lstruct
down six three-quartcr Inch bulleLs hung
up by threads. Such an adversary or
the field of honor would satisfy tn,
chivalric yearnings Of about any mortal
AT the word s'one' Mr.. Lord fred ter
consecutive shots into one and one
eighth-inch circle, same distance.
n In Paris, where fancy shooting il
! very much in vogue, he is known al
lie diable American" He has tim,
and again at ffteen PAGES put 100 shot
consecutively into space of an ordi
! nary playing card. On recent date, a
showing bis ability for long range iirinl
With the pistol, he struck two caps on
Of three shots at distance of sixt,
feet. As the ordinary musket cap i
t about one-eighth of an inch across, th
. mere seeing of the mark was somewha
of feat, but to see and hit as well wa
) something entirely beyond the common
Yet 1t was done at q certain hour previ
ously agreed upon before large numbe
of marksmen, including many member
of the New York and Zettler Rifle Club:
t With Stevens twelve-inch barred pis
: tol, distance l25 feet, Mr.. Lord pickle
t off couple of three-quarter-inch bu'
e lets, using right and left hand in turn
j Three consecutive three. quarter,inch bu
e lets fell at forty-fve feet before sho,
g from large-sized Smith & Weston rt
volver, Russian model, heavy triggs
}. pull.-N. Y. World.
II Dn,yc;nrr To orx,occ 4, nI;0