The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-08-02

lake the hardwood SUCKS III the le1C
hand, and hold it perfectly upright.
Gently draw on the spool cord, until il
winds itself around the spool, and then
practice until you catch the knack of
making the spool spin with an I'M
broken motion, like childs toy mill.
Having learned this, wind the cord Oh
the spool, and then place on the pins
one of the tin pigeons, give the cord q
brisk even pull, and the spool will re-
volve, and by its motion work the tin
pigeon up to the wire pins, and in a
! second, away it will soar, quick as an
arrow and very nearly as far, for a
well-built machine will fly one for
fifty TO n hundred yards, according
to the bend of the piece of tin and
the amount of movement in the atmos-
phere. The fight is obtained by the
twirling of the piece of tin, creating an
air current that takes hold of the bent
surface, and then the centrifugal force
sends them spinning upwards with
exactly the same movement az bullet.
They will fly as high as hundred feet,
when the tin is SO bent, and they are
by no means easy to hit. l, personal
ly, have seen men who were good shots
in the open, and also at live and clay
pigeons, fooled by these tin birds until
they got the hang" of them. In the
first place the exposed surface Is small
er than that of a live pigeon, and in
the next they fly strongest at first in
stead Of increasing their speed as they
go along, IS the live bird does
When the shot is fred and the tin
bird is picked up, the shot marks will
show on the tin. which should be just
stout enough not to be pierced. After
the first time the shot marks must be
marked so as to tell the result of the
next shot, and the most sure and con-
venient plan is to have pail of white
wash, specially thickened, in which the
tin birds are dipped and allowed to
dry, before being used again In this
way they can be used over and over
again, and the result of every shot
noted beyond dispute. ; $
There is no moving mark that will
give better practice, and they can be
made any size, or with very little in
genuity, they can be made with
coiled spring and operated automatic
ally. When used, the operator of the
tin bird should stand behind the man
with the gun and after asking him if
ready let the bird fly, quickly moving
in the opposite direction to that which
the bird has taken so as to get out of
the way of the shooter. Some good
fun can be had at a summer resort
with these things by getting up sweep
stakes for small sums among the
guests, and handicapping them by dis
lance in the usual way, but then
good screen must be built for the oper-
ator of the bird. When "dou blesr are
desired they can be produced by plao-
ing two tin birds on the pins instead of
one, and as one will get off at one revo-
luton, and the second at the next revo-
lution. they will, of course, fy differ
env ways. or possibly the same way, if
1t gets off at the full revolution, or at
the half, so that no one can tell, and
the shot is rendered still more difficult
than is the shot from series of traps
which the man with the gun sees
straight in front of him.
Rail birds are the first game on the
list, and they come in about Septem-
Der, in various parts of the country,
and for those in the eastern part of the
country there Is no more delightful
place than along the Essex river in
Connecticut. There the sport is car
ried to a science; the large or small
sailing boats carry the sportsman to
where the birds are to be found. and
then the experienced guide gets into
the sharpe, and quietly poles the
sportsman along, into the creeks, tiny
bays, and reaches, where this fast fly
ing, bright plumaged bird is to be
found. A good twelve-bore gun is the
best arm, and it should have good pat
tern of scatter, or many birds will be
missed. For those who understand
cunning. 1t Is always advisable TO try
the pattern Of the gun on large sheet
of stout paper, with thirty-inch cir
Gle marked on it, and then try the ef-
feet of an extra thin wad or two be-
tween the powder and the shot. until
the desired pattern Is obtained. Es-
pecially should this be done with bOr-
rowed or hired gun. as If the gun shoots
too close there will be many shots
missed. as this Is because, as a rule, the
rail bird gets up quite close TO the
gunner if he does not make too much
noise, and then a close-ShoOting gun is
almost ike shooting with bullet A
good point 70 remember is that the
rail always flies as low as il possibly
I 4 :. II
help il, and is all the time looking for
some bundle OF sedge er grass o. the
stump of tree, behind which TO drop
and run ike creased lightning. Con-
sequently. keep your eve low and your
elbow well squared. and as the rail
flies in a straight line you ought 70 be
able 10 give Il good account Of most Of
them that rise within fair distance
There Is, Of course. considerable fun
to be had by pol5ing around and hunt
ing them up b. ones self from the
marshes. bur & good dog 10 retrieve IS
necessary. and the instinct OF the rail +
when disturbed Is TO make into the f
cover and not TO come out OF il, so that
the man on the bank is a. a disadvan-
tage and VIII find il better 20 make
one Of small party 20 hire . PROBES /,
sional who understands his business 4
and VIII do the best he can in the hope f.
q getting a slightly increased tip. F
which generally comes from = well 4
satisfied sportsman.