Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-05-01
MAGIC on INI BOOMERANG.
arsHMks ERox AUSTRALIA AsroSIsH
NEW roRxERs.
New york SEAL


How q bit Of curved wood thrown
from the hand can Be made TO circle,
hover, rise, swoOp, and even bound
from the ground whore Il strIke, 100
feet Into the air Il thing which scien-
tIic men have been unable 10 explain,
except In the most general aud indennlte
cay. Yet the bushmeu Of Australia, o
people Of very low intelligence, make
their boomersnEs do ell these things,
aud many more 90 wonderful that they
must be seen 10 be appreciated.
About 80 people saw these things
done yesterday on Manhattan Field,
where -four bushmcn from the extreme
north Of Queensland, who form part OF
liarnum 4 Dalley's circus, gave m ex-
hlbltion Of boomerang throwing. The
savages are short, sturdy looking men,
and three Of them possess bushy, black
whlsker,. The fourth, . young boy, II
called Tom, which isn't hls name. An
other IL called Dlllaroo, which IL his
name. The appcllations Of the others
will probably never appear In print.
One Of them rejolces In cognomeu OF
which you may gain some notion by
comprising your nostrils tightly With
your fingers and endcavoring 10 pro-
nounce the word "lconoclast" deep IN
,our throat. To get at the name of the
other repeat the process backward.
The bushmcn appeared on the field
carrying half dozen boomerangs Apiece
which they themselves had made. The
implements were Of hard wood, slightly
curved, about three feet long, and paint.
Ell pink. A careful examination OF the
surface of one Of them showed that u
Was planned or ground Into = series Of
very gentle undulations. IL MAS some
what pointed nc each end, and weighed
about three ounces. After Frank Frost,
the man who brought the bushmen To
this country, had explained that they
were out Of practice, not having thrown
their boomerangs for some months, and
that the spectators would do well To keep
at respectful distance At flrst, warning
which Was carefully needed, one Of the
saysges selected q stick. waved 10 back
and forth gently, and then threw II With
an effortiess swing toward the north.
The stick went perhaps thirty yards
straight ahead, then turned over, swerv-
Ell 10 the right, and came swesping
back In = graceful curve Ia the bush-
mans feet. Another man followed With
longer throw. Then one OF the won
derfuI sticks went flying far Into the air,
turning aud twisting, divin. forward
and coming down 10 spiral course Ike
= wounded pigeon. -.
"Glve us . ground throw, Tom"
Frost called To the youngest Of the men.
Tom selected q boomerang, took a
short run forward, and With the Impetus
of the run aud force 10 which he gave
the strength Of his arm, back, and lex
muscles, hurled Il forward parallel Ia
the ground at q height of q yard. For
ia enty -hvc yards IL sped on, With an in-
de.cribable whlrring and whi.tling
then Il struck the ground. and . gasp OF.
surprise went up from the spectators,
for Instead of stopping there u rose Into
the air ard went whirring up, higher,
higher, above the tops Of the big grand
stands. AZ n hawk ho,ers over its prey
the inanimate wood lowered; then Il
started down In . wide curve 10 the
ground.
Tom tried again. This time the
weapon struck the ground, jumped ne "
II we're clearing an obstruction, struck
again aud forthwith set out for cloud.
land. suddenly Il changed its mind,
went sioplng Oh at an angle, aud pre-.
entity nuttercd Ia the place where u had
started. stopping Ia hover At height of
a fe~ feet, as " To pick out . soft spot
for alighting. IL Was Ike magic.
Ia the middle of the exhibition q
pigeon came lasily ~inglng over the
tirld aud tarried To watch the strange
bird. that fiew In circles aud returned To
the place whence they started.
"try one at the pigeon" called one
Of the spectators To Dillaroo,
The bushinan nodded and hurled bis
boomerang, not at the bird, but nj the
speaker. IL rose over the heads of the
crowd, circled around until II got under
the pigeon, then made bee llne up
ward for that astonished bird. The
pigeon did not walt Ia meet the strange
bird. II started southwark, aud 10 the
manner of It, departure may BE- taken Ne
an Indication, IL IL probably flying yet.
The exhibition ended with q remark.
able throw By DlllAroo. lie hurled bis
boomerang directly west. IL Travelled
for 80 feet, rose, returned, lowered.
4 -NtbVth w NJ oIH'sh' e"s''' w ''''
south, doubled ON Itself. swooped down
and to the east, then rose, aud hnally
descended on the eastern covered grand
stand, chipping piece of IL out aud
smashing Itself. IL must have Travelled
3OJ yards. After the throwing Was over
q native woman named Tigara Joined the
saysge., and they danced To an accom-
paniment of chanting aud boomerang
clicked In time, = dance called corrobo-
rec.
Then they handed around their boom
crangs for examination, aud retired
from the field. several spectators went
"a far corners Of the field and tried "a
throw the weapons with meagre success.
Mr.. Frost says that some principle not
understood. underlles the phenomenon
Of boomerang hight. II II could BE-
found out, IL would probably materially
advance the science of aeroststics aud
be Of value to those Who are trying
TO solve the problem Of aerial na,iga-
ton.
II