The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-11-06
BOOMERANG THROWING.
a NEW YORKER HAS MADE A
STUDY OF THIS WEAPON.
Re Demonstrates His skn-Oast From

! VIII, Makes a Straight shot, or Falls
to hight or Left or Behind Him.
From the Neto YORK sun.
There Is one man IN New York city who
| believes thoroughly In the boomerang, and
his arguments are Of the most convincing
kind, for he can throw the missile with
much of the skill of the Australian black.
He is Horace Baker, an engraver, who has
quietly followed his profession in this city
for many years. The boomerang. Mr..
Baker confesses, has been his hobby ever
since he visited Australia, eight years ago.
He is now a man past middle life. but in
spite Of his years and his sedentary pursuit
he takes as much delight as a boy in prac-
ticlng an hour or two at time with the
boomerang. From 1885 TO 1883 Mr.. Baker
was superintendent of the force Of engravers
employed on the work picturesque AUG
train" and he spent those wears in Sydney.
Wandering tribes OF blacks from the interior
of the island continent frequently visit ed
the shores OF botany bay and camped near
sydney. Mr.. Baker watched them hurting
their boOmersn s, aud he became Interested
in the curious sport. Mr.. Baker determined
to become an adept in the art, if it were
possible, and he bought a boomerang to
practice with.
He studied closely every motion the blacks
made In throwing the boomerang, and did
his best to initiate them. lie was laughed
at by his friends IN Sydney, for none Of the
people of that city had ever tried TO master
the boomerang. Mr.. Baker persevered, and
after months of practice he caught the
knack of the thing and was able to send the
boomerang circlILg through the air, al
though he did not have the wonderful con-
troll over its movements which the natives
possessed. Even this came i'll time, and
when Mr.. Baker left Australia be could COM
pete, as far as skill went, with many of the
blacks, although no did not possesI their
strength Of arm. He could hit OBJ jeots with
great accuracy at a distance of 200 yards,
ana when he whirled the boomerang through
the air he always brought it back within a
Few feet of the spot where he was standing
MIR. Baker even tried his hand at making
boomerangs, and he succeeded in turning
out number that would "gon as the ma
tives expressed it. The blacks themselves
usually make their boomerangs from may
all, hard, indigenous wood, using either
zhells or sharp stones to shape il. When
used as plsything it is fiat and thin, from
twenty to thirty inches long, and some
times bent almost to a right angle. The
great art in making one is 60 white it so
that one end will balance the other. as a
slip of the knife may throw it out and rem
der II utterly useless. Almost every scratch
on one surface must also have counter
part on the other. Mr.. Baker fashioned
his first boomerang from a curved
piece Of ash which he found in O carriage
shop. After much work, in which his skill
as an engraver helped him, he turned out a
boomerang that would go" Then he
brought it in triumph to camp of blacks
on the bay and asked one of them to try it.
The blacks have a queer way OF testing
new boomerang, for they treat 1t ss if it
were endowed with life. The old fellow
who received Mr.. Bakers handiwork looked
at it critically aud then tossed it a few feet.
watching it narrowly as it fell.
Want to see how he lie, boss" was his
explanation.
Then he stole up to where the boomerang
lay and gave it furtive kick with his foot.
he tried this several times, looking closely
at the piece of wood every time, and at last
picked 1t up with an air of satisfaction He
ran forward a few steps aud hurled it into
the air. IL behaved as a well regulated
boomerang should and the black watched it
in its flight, Jumping up and down in his
delight. De wanted to know at once who
had made the boomerang, and he shook his
head iucredulously when Mr.. Baker told
him.. ~>
When Mr.. Baker returned to America he
brought back an interesting collection Of
over forty boOmerangs, which he had OBJ
tanned from the different native tribes
4hduy VI buc bAAbc ndES a IOuP0 design, QlS-
tinctiTe Of the tribes, aud this appears on
the boomerang. Some Of those in Mr.
Bakers possession are covered with grooves
To fashion these an opCssum tooth was used
as tool Others, with large round pieces
cut from them, show the work of a stone
chisel and others bear evidence of having
been made with sea shells.
Early one morning recently Mr.. Baker
came down to the Sun office with a brown
canvas bag full Of boomerangs tucked I'M
der his arm. Two of the reporters one of
whom was very much of a skeptic ON the
subject of boomeraugs, and the other, an
artist, was ready to portray what he should
see, were aitiag for him. Mr.. Baker had
promised to show, for the benefit of the
SUMS readers. just what he could do with
the boomerang, and he piloted the party
out TO big empty lot in Brooklyn, near
Prospect park which covered the space of
whole block. Mr. Baker stood on
top Of q hill and faced in the di-
rection Of the low ground. which oc-
cupied half Of the block. He Sc
lected q light fat boomerang OF his own
manufacture, stepped back few steps, and
before the onlookers could study his position
the missile had left his hand, and was whirl-
ing up through the air in the direction in
which it had been thrown. The next moment
it appeared TO be DETECTED from its course
by the resistance of the air, and it began TO
ClTCl6 70 Jus LeIL, SLlAl rising upward. lt
bore a striking resemblance 60 the flight of
a bird an effect which was heightened by
the whirling sound. caused by its rapid
pivotal revolution. Itsoared possibly seventy
feet above the ground ana then began to
descend, still in the circle which had been
maintained almost from the moment it left
MIR. Bakers hand. This brought the BOOM
erang gradually back to the same spot from
which it had started, and after Swimming
gracefully along the ground like a swallow
on the wing, it struck six feet behind Mr..
Baker
"Now, said Mr.. Baker, picking up the
boomerang again. al am going 60 throw it
to my right, and it will circle around as be-
fore, return to me from the left, then pass
behind me, circle around behind me and
drop down within foot or two of where l
stand"
Mr.. Baker was absolutely correct in his
calculations. Z he boomerang sped around
in a circle as before, bus. instead of stop
ping when the circle had been completed, it
skinned close to the ground behind Mr.
Baker. 1t lowered in the air a moment,
described small circle, turning to the
right this time, and dropped three feet
from where Mr.. Baker stood.
The great secret in boomerang throwing,
Mr.. Baker says, is to bring the muscles OF
The back into play with those Of the arm.
When an American boy throws a ball he