The Democratic advocate., 1884-05-24
wonderful Feats of Marksmanship

PittSb,Tg Pa, Post.
Rev. w. l.. McGrew, a young Methodist
minister of Somerset county, was in Pitts
burg recently on visit to friends. He
was the guest of Rev. Riley, of the South
Side. On Thursday evening he went to
Finleyville, Washington county, on visit.
Rev. Mr.. McGrew is well known in Wes-
tern Pennsylvania He is native of West
Elizabeth, in this county. He has been a
member of the Methodist ministry for prob
ably twelve or fifteen years, maybe longer:
1t is not of his ability as minister, but OF
briefhis marvellous skill in shooting that this
article will treat Many of his acquaintance
do not know that he is probably the finest
marksman in America, not excepting Car
yer and Bogardus. From boyhOod he has
been passionately fond of firearms, and the
expertness, celerity and accuracy with
which he can handle a revolver, shotgun
or rifle, entitle him to rank in their use
without known equal. He has never
sought to make any display of his acquire
ments iu this respect, because he has not
coveted notoriety Target shooting has
been pursued as pleasant pastime in his
hours of recreation, and with no thought
or desire of ever being brought to public
notice by it. But the feats which he ac-
complishes with ease are so incredible that
the Post is certain he will pardon its rela-
ton of some of them purely as matter Of
interest to its readers.
Bogardus and Carver have never accom-
plished anything with shotgun or rifle which
Rev. McGrew has not been able to dupli-
cate. But he can teach them feats which,
whether they can execute them or not,
they have never attempted. One of these
is the breaking with arepeating rife of two
ordinary glass drinking goblets thrown into
the air together before either falls to the
ground. He cuts one Of the goblets in
twain at the stem, lowers his rife to his
hip to throw out the empty shell and reload,
and then break the globe of the other.
He admits his inability to break both at
the stems, but is serene under the knowl-
edge that he has never heard fany one able
to duplicate even this feat.
Another thing he does is to shoot through
the mouth of pop-bottle thrown up in the
air and knock the bottom out The bottle
is thrown so that at every revolution the
mouth is presented to him. He shoots
with rife through the mouth and knocks
the bottom out 1t takes a quick eye,
steady nerves and accurate judgement, but
Rev. McGrew does it.
These feats, he says, are comparatively ly
easy of accomplishment. One that is still
more difficult is to shoot with repeating II
fe two glass balls thrown in opposite direc-
tions from trap. At the county fair
last fall at Somerset he was invited to give
public exhibition of his skill He con-
scnted to do so, provided the event should
not be surrounded with any circumstances
that would detract from the dignity of his
calling On that occasion he first broke
thirty single balls thrown from trap, hit
ting everyone at the first fire. Then he
tried his hand at fifteen double balls, and
and broke every pair. Of the sixty balls
he did not miss one. All this was done
with a rife Ex-Governor Hoyt was a
witness of the exhibition, and pronounced
the most phenomenal display of marks
RShip he had ever seen.
\ are only few illustrations of the
Apf Rev. McGrew in this line.
tn revolver and shotgun are as
those with the rife