Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-05-02
A sPoRTsMANrs TROPHIES.
Mr. Ven der wettern's Collection Of Dee
Horns, Guns, Ete.

hoFuAS 0aueS htr-
Mr.. W. Won der Wettern, Sr., who re-
sides at No. 413 West Saratoga street, is
one Of the best posted sportsmen in Bal
timore. He was originally a forester IN
Germany. The rife is his choicegun.
and, while he is fond of small game
shooting, large game has been his favor
tie sport. That he is master hand at
rife shooting case Of twenty gold med
ais attests.
Like all ardent sportsmen Mr.. Won der
Wettern has preserved many trophies OF
the chase, his collection of deer and
other horns being one Of the finest, II
not the finest, in this country. The
horns number over 300 pair, and are val
ued at over $4,000 They were all beau
tifuIly mounted by Mr.. Won der Wet
tern, and, as he keeps them for his own
pleasure, the immense amount of work
which he has spent on them has been q
source of pleasure. 81
On reaching the fourth floor of Mr..
Won der Wettern's dwelling the visitor
finds himself confronted by passage,
the walls of which are studded with
mounted horns, under which are a lot of
cages filled with song birds. The horns
are of all kinds and so arranged above
and about the cages as to remind the
locker on of rose bush with its thorns
guarding the roses In two rooms lead
ing from the passage are neatly and sys-
tematically arranged nearly 300 pairs Of
horns. Tho mounting is artistic. Each
pair is a true pair. being attached by the
frontal bone OF the animal to which they
belonged. BY the means Of screws pass
ing through this bone the horns are at
tached to the shield shaped wooden
panels, the size of the panels being in
conformity with the horns. The panels
are attached to the walls by hooks, SO
that they may be easily handled
There are horns that would have been
the pride Of old hunters in the days when
rifles were loaded from horns and
pouches: horns that would adorn the
halls of mansion; horns that the dude
would give up his last dollar for. SO that
his cane and umbrella handle might be
the envy Of his fellow chappies; horns,
big and little, straight and crooked, of
normal and abnormal growth from for
eign shores and different parts of Ameri-
ca, some with and some without his
tory; some thatwould make corkscrews,
some that would make gimlets, some
that would make boat hooks and others
that would make baseball bats and bat.
tie axes. In fact, it would be hard to
find more varied or beautiful collection.
Besides the horns the sanctum contains
a collection of pipes and canes of rare
designs, gathered from different parts oi
the world. -
Mr.. Won der Wettern has not as vel
cataloguei his collection Of horns, bu
on each pair he has attached ticke
which bears the name of the animal from
which the horns were taken. The mos
striking of the horns are those of th'
elk. One pair of these came from NJ
Oregon elk, and attached to the horns i
portion of the skull of the animal
neatly fitted into life sized head carvec
from wood. The horns are nearly as tai
as man, and it takes lengthy pair O
arms to be able to span the distance be
tween the top prongs. One horn contain
nine and the other seven prongs. Anothe
pair from Montana elk, though cor
, tanning but twelve prongs, weighs thirty
.. six pounds. The lightest pair weigh
|, eighteen pounds. Deer horns from dii
ferent species of deer naturally form tn
larger part of the collection. The fines
specimen is from black tailed dee
. killed in Colorado. 1t has fifteen prongf
The others range down to one prong
:, Among the deer horns those Of the Gel
!, man noble deer are the most beautiful
! the colors ranging from light brown to
e seal brown and black, the tips of a
being polished white. The largest of tf
. collection has fourteen prongs.
Mr.. Won der Wcttern's firearms are q
;, adapted to the sport to which he is d
= voted. Besides regular target rife,
= has q case of guns of foreign and dome
. tic patterns, generally of smaller bore
= from 12 down to IS. Some of them Al
!, combination guns for shot and ball. On
y fowling piece has two sets of barrels
: different caliber which fit the same stoc
: A handsome leather case sheathes a &C
= lection of his hunting knives. Baltimo
!, Sun.