The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-07-04

the gallery Of John s. Conlin, feats OF
pistol Workmanship which would make
any one OF the old-style off-hand shoot
ers stand In wonder. The marksman
Is Mr.. Frank H. Lord, the most expert
and finished pistol-shot In the country.
He IL young man Of 80, the Youngest
SON Of the late Thomas Lord. He Is an
athlete and gymnast. and about 1867
be began TO try his skill ~ . shot at the
old Conlin gallery. The feats Of Capt.
John Travers. now of Cleveland, had
become tradition, though when Sandy
Lawrence kept ten-pin alley on the
site Of the present Aston House, Trav-
ers's gallery attached TO Il saw some
wonderful exhibitions of steadiness and
skill with small arms. One Of Capt.
Travers's feats was to shoot away q sil-
yer three-cent bit placed between mis-
toes, and when Blondin crossed the Nj
agara he allowed Capt. Travers to put .
ball through his hat. From doubling
friend Capt. Travers won diamond
ring by putting q shot through the ring,
and his feat Of picking an orange from
his sons head was tried again and again.
Since Capt. Travers's time billiards
have driven out en-pins, and rifle
shooting at long distances has crowded
pistol-shooting at ~ PAGES into disuse.
Mr.. Lord, however, confines his sport
almost entirely to the smaller weapon,
though be is q fine rifie-shot. He Is .
member Of the New York Club, and his
bachelor chambers are adorned with .
curious stock Of pistols. In Paris he has
met Paul de Cassagnac and others Of
the French dueling clique, and aston
ished them with the certainty Of his aim.
The Forest and Stream, in an article en-
riched with drawings Of Mr.. Lords tar
gets, says:
For ten seasons past he has been
chosen by the English-speaking resi-
dents Of Paris as their champion, and .
well chosen representative has he prov
en-. On one occasion he performed
among other feats OF accurate marks
manship, the following: A cap of an
ordinary musket was placed upon the
neck of champagne bottle, and Mr..
Lord, standing at thirty-six feet, or
twelve PAGES, with an ordinary dueling
pistol picked on the cap without scratch
ing the glass. The same feat was re-
peated, but with the pistol transferred
from the right to the left hand. Two
more caps were picked of by the right
and left hand firing respectively, but in
these instances the pistol was held in .
reverse position, with the line OF sight
below instead of above the line Of fire.
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, picked OF the cap as before. The
last Of the six shots was made sitting In
a chair, again with back to target and
leaning back until the target could BE-
seen by the head and eyes bent back.
It Is q favorite feat to suspend his watch
"a fine imported piece, costing $3.50
and put shot after shot through the loop
at thirty-six feet. A match or wooden
toothpick laid across the opening of the
golden loop is cut cleanly through. and
though the watch has been under fire
scores and hundreds Of times. it still
ticks on toward 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 dueling, where the seconds cry
out, fare you ready" "Resdy!"
Fire-one-tw the shooter
being required to shoot between the
words fire" and "three," Mr.. Lord,
with dueling pistol at twelve PAGES,
struck down six einch bullets hung up
by threads. Such an adversary on the
field Of honor would satisfy the chival-
ric warnings of about any mortal. At
the word "one" Mr.. Lord fired ten con-
secutive shots into 1I-inch circle, same
distance.
In Paris, where fantastic shooting d
very much in vogue, he Is known e
"Le diable American" He has time
and again at fifteen PAGES put 100 shots
consecutively into space Of an ordina-
nv playing card. On recent date ~
showing his ability for long range fir.
ing with the pistol, he struck two caps
out OF three shots at distance Of sixty
feet. As the ordinary y.,usket cap 4
about one-eight of an ins b across the
mere seeing Of the mark WAS somewhat
Of feat, but to see and hit as well WA
something entirely beyond the common
Yet 1t was done At certain hour pre-
viously agreed upon before large mum
, Der Of marksmen, including many mem
bers Of the New York and Zettler Riff
Clubs. With Stevens 12-inch barre
, pistol, distance l25 feet, Mr.. Lord pick
,, ed off couple Of oinch bullets, using
,, right and left hand in turn. Three CON
. sccutive s.inch bullets fell at As fee
|, before shots from large-sized Smith 4
Wesson revolver, Russian model heav.
trigger pull.
|, Many attempts have been made y
bring together Mr.. Lord and Records
Hackett, and the clubmen have backe'
, these famous pistol-shots on several oc
| casions, but the Judge Is somewha
wary.