Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-04-22
THE BOOMERANG.
Marvellous skill Of Australians In Throw
ing tho Weapon.


Marvellous skill OF Australians In Throw
ing tho Weapon. .
Native Australians. bushmen or Track
.ra iIers from Barnum a Bailey crcus'
gave n unique exhibition on the Manna,-
81, r,aId One Hundred and Fifty-iiftn
s,rset and Eighth avenue. Tuesday AFTER
noon says the New York Herald.
Perhaps exhibition Is not the pest woru
IN use They give that every day IN the
c,rc,,s hut owing to the circumscribed
go in the garden they cannot make
INV display OF the national weapon, the
boomerang
webster describes a boomerang as:
"a very singular missile weapon used
nv the natives Of Australia. 1t Is made
Of hard wood. usually from twenty to
thirty inches I'm length. from two to three
inches In width, and one half or three
quarters inch thick. 1t is bent or curved
I'm the middle from 100 to 140 degrees.
When thrown from the hand with quick.
rotary motion IL describes very remark
able curves, according to the shape OF the
instrument and the manner OF throwing
IL, often moving horizontally long dis
lance, then curving upward to con-
siderable height, and finally taking re-
trograde direction. so as TO fall near the
very far in the rear OF it,"
One reads this and yet remains without
any conception Of the possibilities of the
weapon which Is the chief dependence of
the bushmen both in hunting and war
fare. The exhibition yesterday was fur
nished by four natives, accompanied by
woman of their race.
They evidently suffered from the cold
They were dressed in black cotton suits,
on which was a liberal sprinkling of fea-
theirs and fur. They took their positions
on the gridiron, where last fall Yale and
Princeton struggled for the supremacy
and where the marks of the five-yard lines
still remain.
Delaru, one Of the men, rejoiced In a
beard. His companions had like hirsute
appendages. but they could not touch
Delaru in the matter of luxuriance. Taga-
Ia, the woman with them, could hurl
boomerang better than any taxpaying resi-
dent Of Manhattan Island.
The aborigines shot these curves of
wood through the air in most astonsh-
ing manner. A bushman would turn his
back toward the clubhouse and drawing
back HIS arm hurl boomerang with half
the force necessary to throw the ball
from the catcher's position TO second base
in the national game of baseball, and
IL would soar through the air over the
grand stand and return with a sweeping
ricochet movement back TO the feet of
the man who hurled IL.
Some of the flights of these aerial wea-
pons lasted several moments. and their
turnngs and twistings and their final re-
turl caused the widest applause among
the little party who witnessed the per-
Torrance.
Mr.. Frank Frost, who is the manager
and Interpreter of the Australians, says
that scientists In various countries have
studied the action of the boomerang with
out being able TO comprehend II. The
natives admit that they do not understand
the principle. but are perfectly confident
as TO its application. Mr.. Frost declares
that the bushmen under his care are
not adopts in the use OF the boomerang,
but when thrown by the hand of an ex-
pert it's zigzag motion will kill one after
another OF a flock of birds flying in a
direct line.
In fact, Mr.. Frost Is responsible for
the statement that the boomerang Is not
only the chief food-producer Of the native
Australian, but is also his best defence In
war. IL is capable of most disastrous
work when sharpened at both ends and
on the edges In this way the Australian
has the advantage over man who hides
behind a tree. He can hurl his boone
rang AT the man behind the tree and by
its return bound reach his opponent.
After Che boomerang throwing was over
the Australians gave a dance, which the
truthful Mr.. Frost insisted always pre-
faced feast upon a roast missionary.