Washington sentinel., 1899-03-11
How to Throw the boomerang.
PsGrs0H'S MdgaziHe

returning, "Marndwullum wun'
kun" in the native lingo; and non
returning, "Tootgundv wunkun."
The FIRST is called invariably Aus
tralian boomerang, because 1t
originated among the natives OF
Australia, and is used almost eX-
clusively by them at the present
day. Travellers assert that a native
will leave his home in the morning
armed only with couple OF return
ing boomeTangs, and will come
back at night carrying a large
number OF birds killed with these
strange weapons. l have no con-
Germ here with the boomerang that
comes not back. This differs
little from an ordinary club, and
is OF no special interest. 1t is.
however, preferred to the other by
the Australian aboriginal Of today.
"Marndwullun no good for fight,
he will say, iii he no hit i'm man,
might come back. and hit you or
friend beside you" truly an un-
desirable quality in weapon OF
oHencel In further reference,
however, to the "boomerang" it
will be understood that the return
ing kind is meant. In case some
OF my readers may care to try a
little boomerang throwing on their
own account, l give a few hints as
to the manufacture Of these imple-
ments. The tyro would do well
to make them himself, as they are
dear to buy, and many are broken
before proficiency is attained.
Besides, the making of them is a
valuable lesson in their peculiar
tiles.
The boomerang Is formed OF
bent stick. one side rounded, the
other fiat. The Australians make
it from boughs Of the acacia PEN
aHkz, or from some tree Of similar
growth, giving to the green wood
the desired curvature in the FIRE.
1t is necessary to choose a very
hard, strong, and heavy wood, and
the best plan is TO cut piece from
a natural bend or root Of tree, and
to let the curve Of the boomerang
follow the grain Of the wood. One
hardly ever sees two boomerangs
OF the same shape, tor they vary
from a slight curve to nearly
right angle. They differ also in
length from IS inches to 315 feet,
| and in breadth from inches to 3
inches. They should be about
| three -eighths of an inch thick, tap
ering towards the enCs, which
may be either round or pointed,
while the edge must be sharpened
all round. One side must be con.
vex, the other fat, the sharpness Of
the edge along the convexitV OF
the curve varying in different
boomerangs. When thrown, the
boomerang travels forward for
some distance, and then generally
returns in an ellipse to within a few
| PAGES OF the thrower. Ifthe BOOM
erang strikes its mark it tails to the
ground. In throwing, it must be
grasped at one end. stretche ed back
behind the shoulder, and then
brought rapidly forward above the
head, the inside OF the curve facing
| the direction in which it is thrown.
1t may either be hurled upward
into the air, or downward so as to
strike the ground at some distance
from the thrower. In the first case
il flies with a rotatory motion, as
its shape would indicate, and, after
ascending to a great height, it sud-
denly returns in an elliptical orbit
to a spot near it's starting point.
When thrown downward to the
ground it rebounds in a straight
line, pursuing a ricochet motion
until it strikes the object at which
tbs cast
To throw the Australian boom
erang in such a way as TO make
sure OF its doing exactly what one
wants is one OF the most difficult
ieats in the world. Mr. Alfred w.
| Hewitt, who has seen the natives
OF Victoria practising with the
boomerang mentions that he ques.
toned some blacks to whether
they thought it vas possible to
! throw it so as to insure its return
ing to the hand OF the thrower.
Seven said mo" and character
lied the statement as "jet bollan,"
lie. falsehood; the eighth said h.
once made boomerang that when
thrown on a calm day with great
care would gyTate round and
round until it descended TO The
ground not TAR from him, moving
as slowly as a leaf falling of tree;
and that he once ran forward and
nearly caught it. He said also
mo kHyHi (black fellow can catch
wunkun when he flying he would
cut his hand open" The throw
ing OF boomerangs has always been
carried on in the open air, and no
Australian native has ever at
tempted 10 use them in a building.
An impression has become cur
rent in America that the japanese
live almost exclusively upon rice.
This is a mistake. In 1896 Japan
produced the leading cereals in the
following proportions: Rice, $780,
498,855 bushels; wheat, I776I,945
bushels; rye, zA6I6,23s bushels;
barley, 374z6.4as bushels; millet
OF all varieties, I,oG7,65o bushels;
rape, 3,55476o bushels There
were also produced 3,7Gs,I7o bush
els Of Irish DotatOes and 2T.qA8. 900
bushels Of sweet potatoes
HOW's This!