The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-28
80 FAMOUs sLING.

THE FAMOUS SLING.
The Asiatic sling is about two yards
long, and as thick as 9. mans finger.
It is a rope 81 worsted, worked in vari-
Gus colc-s. with strands OF twisted cord
inside 20 give It strength. David might
have hung Goliath to a tree with his
sling and it would have borne The
weight At che end Of the StrinS IS q
locc of strong leather, which the
thrower slips over his middle finger.
At the other end IS q whip lash which
cracks like a pistol shot when the sling
is discharged. In the middle IS q cup
Of soft leather, backed by Norsted,
large enough to hold 4 hens egg. When
you imagine such a stone crashing into
GOliath's temple at the rare OF SO miles
an hour or thereabouts, you have no
great difficulty in understanding what
happened to Goliath.
In order TO make practical test Of
what these things will do. [ made Arif
throw many stones in his best style,
and he threw them with the pride OF an
expert He threW some far into the air
in long eliipses. and they hUmmed mis-
chievously as they left the sling and
landed over many houses far beyond
the best throw of Il bali player.
I cannot find that any precise meas
urenlent has been made Of a flrst-claSS
Sling throw. Turks do not so in much
for RET 5rds in athletics, but there
seems to be no doubt that good throw
ers viii make a stone cover 300 yards.
And within the range of 100 yards
ther send the stones with terrific We
locity and in almost horizontal lines.
At that distance Arif would drive a
stone half an inch into a pine board,
and in testing his accuracy to aim l
had a heavy wooden gate in the com
pound wall badly disfigured. l found
that throwing from distance OF 80
yards he would strike within a five
foot circle three times out Of four.
In using the sling the thrower plants
himself firmly on both feet fixes the
stone in the leather cup, holds the two
ends in his right hand and then takes
his aim, which is done partly on the
initial pose OF the sling, partly in the
twirIing Il his mark be a mans Les
he crouches low as he Whirls the sling,
with feet wide apart. If his mark be
a mans head he holds the right arm
higher. And his motions in delivering
the ball are as complicated and rapid
as those of a high-priced baseball
pitcher
TO stand behind him as the two
thongs describe fierce patterns in the
air is not reassuring, for you cannot
avoid some apprehension, lest the stone
come out backward; to stand before
him as his arm Straightens and he
comes forward hard on his left leg
with eyes flashing and every muscle
tense-that is rather like facing a
lancer in battle. Not quite such a seri-
Gus case, but serious enoughi They
told me, for instance, that men have
been brought in with legs broken and
faces crushed out Of recognition after
taking part in fights with the sling.
FIERCE FIGHTS
These sling fights, which are regarded
as play, for all their serious conse-
quences, take a prominent place among
Turkish out-of-door amusements, ano
formerly Chat is, until two or three
years ago. took place ON a large scale
every Friday afternoon, the weekly
holiday.
They would begin in a small way
among the boys, who would assemble OF
the plain just outside of Caesarea OF
some other place, and start the fur
Icy forming sides, with Turks agains-
Armenians or Greeks against Turks, o.
however it might happen, and Is or 2,
boys on a SIDE, each armed with a sling
Then the two lines would advance anC
letting drive as they went, and pick.
ing up stones from the thickly strewr
plain
If there is any one thing that is no
lacking in Asia Minor, it is stones. At
ter some preliminary sl5irmishing boti
sides would come together in Vigor
Gus onset, and there would be enough
damage done to get the boys blood VI
and excite the young men, who would
meantime. have begun to gather. the.
also carrying sings proportional t.
their greater strength. A man may b.
here without food or clothing, but n
can always find a sling, ard usual,
knows how to use it.
As fast as the men arrive they TAX
sides, one against one. men OF a rae
keeping one the same side against mel
Of another race, Christians agains
ALoslerns, usually, which adds to til
zest OF battle. Within an hour so youni
men may have ranged themselves il
one 4iine or the other. and presently
with keen excitement they begin t