The Van Buren press., 1894-10-20
AN iNoIAN,s aHEaT FEAT.
"A Medicine iaan W ifese III "A rrowsy a Never ste-s
turned 20 t.arffl.

l. Harrv=isellar. the magicfan. tells OF
the Rosebud auenev. IN softn Dakotsi.
several wears ago. which was as WON
derfut IN IFS wav as ANYTHING related
of the east. Among other Things OF
note among tine tribe VINO were pointed
out To the party WIS morose. atnera
hanbv-laelzing tndian.z thelhiuh priest.
or medicine inan.zof the oealiallas.
The magician endeavmed 20 secure an
interview with him. but the old man
| was silent ana unapproaehahie- At
last. alter obtaining the frieuafy in
bercessieas OF the chief. Red Cloud. the
| party rnade its wav to the medicine
| man wirwum anu DREW him ferths
=, ''lt was evening". said Kellar. Fhe
sun had set. and the. lndianzyiltagel
tstoeu forth in tine white light of full
NOON The medicine man sheard our
petition IN siienee- and then. withoiit
| word. took down neau1lfuiiy=f y=fash-
/. ioneti bow which hunG from MS tent
/ pole. He selected carefully seven ine-s
| ly' finished arrows. the shafts OF which
were Of wood ami the points OF flint.
! 4 he old man examined his weapons
| closeis. and then stroce out ON the
! prairie II snort distance. followed a lit
| lie in the rears by our parity. 1t WIS
/ bright moonlight, and n practiced eve
could readily follow mis- movements.
Drawing an arrow TO the mead of
| his bowstring and looking MP a mos
ment into the slsv. rs Ii to ieeate the.
Q
sae let 20 the powerful bow. The ar
| row went swift and straight intou the
air. SO perfectly perpeneicuiar that it
seemeti as ii in It's retnruait would al
] most fall upon the very mead OF the
archer. We tried IN vain to follow its
COURSE. and as we waited for the WINS.
i tie OF the returning arrow n percepbi-
\ ble smile crept over the Old nlanis facea
a fter Whiting several minutes he dis
! patched a second shaft alter the iirst.
in exactly thes same manner ami toward
exactly the same point. We wfGfted IN
/ suspense and still there ysHs no indica-
ton OF the return OF either
'.ffhe third. fourth. fifth ami sixth
| shafts were drawn from mis- culver and
dispatched at intervais. When ne had
!, shot them all the medicine mum un=
! strung his bow and leaned upon ii
thougitfutiv A glance at INV watch
i showed me that fully fifteen minutes
had elapseo since he mad shot the first
i arrow. and not one OF them mad re-
turned TO eartn so far-as could tell.
] We walted five minutes more. and the
old man returned 10 mis- tepee.
''I followed. but the old MAN mad dis
appeared. / waited for long time.
hoping bfat through the nseaef money
could obtain his secret. but he aid
j not return auv more than did mis- rnvs-
\ .terious arrows The only explanation
couio ever give for this realty re-
marixHbie performance was one sug-
], gested 10 mezDy a friend. he Indians
have long known the existence OF mag-
netIc iron ore. ana nave useas their Sc
cren among themselves for the per
formance oi a number OF feats. NJ Y
friend suggested. thHt the hollow cen-
ter pole of the medicine mans tepes was
made OF magnetic iron. and THAT the
old man WIS an archer OF sucfn avon-
j derfui accuracy thatlhe WAS able To di-
rect his SHAFTS one inter hnuIner.l Sc
, Llat upon their retrrnsto cartn. unseen
in the paiea moonlight. they buried
+, themselves IN the grGunu.l at the bot
tom OF the center pole. swerveci. il
might be. few inches pv the magnetic
I, attracbion.u
Unfortunately this suggestion was
made to ineaafter rnv-opportuuIry for
!, exH1nination mad gone by, and the old
n archeris performance is still to me a
: profound mystery. Theresis nothing
! yerv i'm probahie though in the suggrs-
ftion. provided that NO wind WIS blow.
,ingixat the time.aI have seen.indinn
!, arcners at a long gnistanceaariVe an ar
row into mark and then splft this ars
:. row with a second repeatediv.' Y.
Herald.