The Van Buren press., 1896-12-05
GAME ANo THE HUNTERS.
AntIers That surpass Emperor Williams
New Trophy.


Emperor William did just what any
other sportsman would have done when
be found that the red deer he killed the
other day was monster of it's kind,
The like of which may never again be
killed in u German preserved forest. lie
shouted and danced with all the en-
thusiasm of Il lad beside his first deer
just how big the stag was is a matter
of doubt, but the fact that the horns
had 20 points and measured over three
feet is enough to make comparisons
with other big deer killed by royal
hunters. Ten years ago representative
sportsmen of Hungary formed club,
and every year since at the end of the
shooting season this club has held an
exhibition of big deer horns taken by
members. To compare the emperor'a
tleer with the prize takers of these eX-
hibtions IS not altogether fair, because
in Germany the deer have deteriorated
Gar more than in Hungary.
The emperor's stag is said to have
horns over three feet long. The least
length of any of the Hungarian prize
takers in the past nine years was 40.o3
inches around the curve of the horn,
while the longest, one killed by Count
G. Andrassy in 1894, was. $3.50 inches
long. The weight of the horns of tho
Hungarian stays varies from 1896
POUNDS down, the heaviest being that
Of Count Andrassy's, which had only Ii
POINTS. The weight varies greatly, and
the number of points is no criterion of
the weight of antlers. Those of H.
point deer killed in 1883 weighed 81
pounds, and 2o-point set weighed 1877
pounds.
The king of Saxony has great col
lection of huge antlers in the castle OF
Moritzburg, near Dresden. 1t contains
the most ancient horns In Europe, its
chief prizes having been weeded out
from a renowned collection made by the
great elector Maurice OF Saxony. along
about 1875. The Moritzburg collection
contains two heads of 80 points, three
Of SO, two of 81. ten of SO, five of 30, 13 OF
2s, Is of 90, and Is of p points, so it will
be seen that the emperor's deer head
would not stand up we'll in collection
of monster heads. These Moritzburg
heads all hang in the great dining-room.
and are abnormal in size only. In the
adjoining audience hall there are some
abnormal heads One of these is Il Sd
POINTER, which, however, does not come
up to the standard in the number o.
tines A tine, according to rule, is a
protuberance on which the string of a
powder horn will hang.
1t will he observed that in the list OF
horns hanging in the dining-room of
Moritzburg the points were in even
numbers such as so, "a and 30. In Ger.
many and Austria the points are reclS-
oned from the horn with the greatest
number. One antler may have eight
points on one horn and six on the other.
Then it would be 16-point deer. The
66-point abnormal horns of the stag just
mentioned had 80 points on one horn
and only % on the other. They were
taken from a stag killed by Elector
Frederick III. of Brandenburg, who
subsequently became the first king OF
Prussia. Frederick William, the sue
lessor of the first king of Prussia,
snapped the horns for a company of the
tallest grenadiers to be found in Saxony.
Frederick Williams hobby was tall
grenadiers. The elector of SaXony.
Frederick Augustus, had grenadiers.
but wanted curious deer horns more.
The largest pair of red deer antlers
in the world are pair in the Moritz-
burg collection. They are 24-pointers,
but have a spread of 6 feet 3t inches
The pair weigh 41Hs pounds. When the
deer was killed, who killed it, or whers
II was killed is not known. Its history
has been traced back to 15s6.-N. Y
Sun.