The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-25

learned OF the science OF projecule
hurting He In not only q strangely ef-
ncient long distance shot. but he In q
wonderful trick shot. IND IL In trick
shooting that ne IA doing on the other
side Of the water. Severing swinging
strings and splitting bullets driven
against the edges Of knives and SNUFF
holes through silver dollars tossed In
the air are matters of every day prac-
tice with him. II should be said OF
him. too. that In these exhibitions he
uses always the single ball Of % cal
iber. Many people who have seen VIII
lam +. Cody career around the rine
smashing glass balls with q Winchester
carbine. are not aware that the col
onel uses a shell loaded with hne shot,
but that In what he does He does not
use the single ban In the carbine for
two ~reasons:~ He could not hit any
thing with II except at i~nfrequent IN
tervals. and the Winchester bullet has
q habit Of flying q mile or 30 n kill
ing the inoffensive stranger standing
on the corner not meaning ans harm.
Toepperwein. before he took to shoot
ing as q business, had dreams OF be-
coming what he called "a artist"
meaning thereby a newspaper cartoon
Antonio Express. furnishing II with
meat AK Illustrations for the glory of
seeing them signed "Tep" in large
flowing letters In the lower right land
corner. The picture Of Commodore
Schley. which he makes with 200 bull
lets fired with wonderful r~apidity from
a target rife. Is not a speaking like
ness. II Ia good to label IL 'Schley."
because II could be taken as readily
for Louis Napoleon or any other man
who ever wore an Imperial" but II
Is better work. from a viewpoint of re-
semblance. delicacy OF line. purity OF
method. tone. verve. chiaro oscuro and
things like that han the remarkable
figures with which he used to adorn
the Express. He draws better with a
bullet than with a lead pencil or car
yer.
1t In singular. but true. that a com
pa%ratively restricted territory has pro-
duced three single-ball shots who are
probably the greatest the world ever
knew. Toepperwein In one Of them. A
boy named Petmecky Is another. This
youth. who Is now in his early twen-
ties. In the son Of an Austin. Tex, gun
smith. inventor OF the well known
'Petmecky gun cleaner" Young Pet
mecky Is as remarkable for the rapid
ity Of his firing as for its accuracy.
He is able. In the picturesque Ian
guage of the Southwest. almost to
melt the bullets together in the bar
rel" A man cannot u the shots
he fires when going at full speed any
more than he can u the beats In
a drum roll. A favorite feat of his
is to toss a brick in the air. break 1t
in two. and then break both pieces
before they strike the ground. This
feat In especially remarkable because
nobody can toss a brick to a great
height. and the shooting must be done
with Uncomfortable rapidity. have
never known any other person able
All. nora.ao mud nn
not believe that Toepperwein can do
IL.
Joseph. Tumlinson. now dead. was
for many years one of the most noted
killers OF the lower Rio Grande dis
trict. He is said to have had the
ghosts Of nearly so men following him
about. that is" as an admirer once
remarked. with naivete, ''countin Mex
leans as men, 1t is certain that he
had slain I'm personal nearly
20 whites. His private g~raveyards
were numerous. He shot equally wen
with the winchester and with the
Colts s~ix-shooter of As caliber. This
Is a force-ball weapon with a heavy
charse behind the lead. II has much
kick up to II. and with II accuracy
is specially difficult of attainment.
Tumiinson used to a X a ~six-shooter
In his hand and write his initials into
a tree while galloping past H.; would
scallop the edges of a tin plate set up
at 20 yards by striking 1t with half the
bullet: would stand with his heels close
to gether and wheel rapidly. clipping
the red "pearapples" from cactus
leaves 20 yeards way; would shoot
geese. sandhin cranes. ducks and Mex
fcan quail upon the wing. using a VIM
chester: woul stand for hours on the
banks of Soldier lake. in Dimmitt
ty. severing the heads from moccasins
which swan far out: would take a pis-
tol in each hand and send two tossed
Mexican dollars spinning far upward
and bored through. He shot. IL any
thing. better when drunk than when
sober. and desperadoes with smaller
regulations went into rack rooms and
locked themselves in when he came to
town. which was not often. = Nobody
had any trouble with him IL they saw
him. first. He died by his own hand
in his sixty-fourth year.-Ch.cago
RE yJorolA "