Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-04-03
Anmarums department,
TALK ABOUT SHOOTING.

They had been talking about the remarka-
BILE performances of DR.. Carver, the marks.
man who shoots with rife, glass balls which
are sent into the air as fast as man can
throw them. Presently, Abner Byng who
was standing by said:
"That's nothing"
"What is nothing"
"Why, that shooting. Did you ever know
Tom Potter?'
"No."
"Well, Potter was the best hand with q
rife I ever saw: beat this man Carver all hol-
low. I'll tell you what I've saw this man
Potter do. You know, maybe, along there
in the cherry season, Mrs. Potter would want
to preserve some cherries so Tom would
pick EN- for her, and how do you think he'd
stone EN- ?"
"Why, he'd fill his gun with bird shot and
get boy to drop half bushel of cherries at
came down he'd fire and take the stone clear
out fevery cherry in the lot! It's positive
fact 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 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 opposite direction,
and Jim took him up"
"Did he do it?'
"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,
caromed, struck lamp post, caromed and
flew behind Tom and nipped the button off
as slick as whistle You bet he did it!
'That was fine shooting"
eyes, but 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
flock never passed given line, but turned
over and fell down, so that it looked like a
kind of brown, feathery Niagara. Tom did
it by having twenty-three breech-loading RI
fes and boy to load 'em. He always shot
with that kind"
"You say you saw him do this sort of
shooting"
eyes, sir; and better than that, too. Why,
I'll tell you what have seen Tom Potter do.
I saw him once set up an India rubber tar
get at three hundred feet and hit the bulls
eye twenty.seven times minute with the
same ball! He would hit the target, the ball
would bound back right into the rife barrel
just as Tom had clapped in a 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 gun. 1t was the biggest thing 1 ever
saw; the very biggest-except one"
"What was that?'
"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?"
"Whatw
"Now what do you think the man did to
keep dry?"
ri can't imagine?"
"Well, sir, he got me to load his weapons
for him, and I pledge you my word, although
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 cycling Alb
ner and looking solemn as he went by; and
when they were gone, Abner looked queerly
for moment and said to me
"There's nothing hate so much as a liar.
Give me man who is friend of the solid
truth, and I'll tie to him."