Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-04
HAVING A SLIGHT TWIST

HAVING A SLIGHT TWIST
From the enter to both ends in opposite
| directions. The woods in general use for
boomerang making are iron bark, she oak
| and sycamore. There is plenty of evil
| dence that the path of the boomerang can
| be varied by the will of the thrOWer, and,
furthermore that the sweep of no two
boomerangs exactly agrees. A recent
traveller in the wilds of Australia reports
that he saw a native of the Clarence
river vary the direction of his boomer
ang in a most astonishing manner. The
! person who makes this report IS Mr..
| Hardy, an Englishman, who further says
| that his thrower is undoubtedly one Of
the most expert in existence.
On the very first occasion when Mr..
Hardy saw him give a display of his dex-
terity, he was standing in an open space.
He first of all selected his best boomer
| ang and then gracefully described a
sweeping circle in the sand, with the
weapon held at arms length. This done,
| the man hurled the weapon away from
| him. Leaving his hand, 1t flew to a con-
siderable height for about 80 yards away
| from the thrower, then partially re-
turned. then continuing again in a larger
circle at a greater elevation for a dis
lance of over 100 yards, and finally COM
ing back and falling within the circle
| previously marked by the wonderful man
who threw it.
He had previously ascertained care
fully that the strength of the wind was
not too great and that he was in a fairly
fiat SPACE. When about to throw he
) grasped the boomerang firmly in the right
hand, holding it by it's extremity, which,
as is the case with every come back
boomerang, was slightly roughened to at
ford a firm grip, with the fattened sur
face toward the palm. Then he dis
oocJol thic hoonar9nU and took another
up.
Was attended with equally surprising re-
suits, The Weapon took a slight w
ward movement at first, then swept up
ward ands sailed back to the throWer,
whom it coiled around before finally fall
ing obediently at his feet.
At still another throw, before the BOOM
erang left his hand, it mapped out a
straight line for itself for some distance,
gradually dropping until the ground was
lightly touched, when it shot up into the
air at an angle and curved back to ITS
starting point. So surprising is this to
the spectator hat he at once hints at m
ternal mechanism in the body of the
boomerang and refuses to believe that the
hrower told the weapon what to do, SO
to sneak, by the motion impaired to 1T
before it left his hand.
With a good thrower the boomerang al
WAYS returns; it is not a matter of
chance, and great proficiency is not uni
versal with every member of the tribe.
Physical strength is not required so much
as deXterity and judgment, for, while
some of the natives excel as r~ight-handed
throwers, there are others who can ac-
complish the same remarkable results as
~left-handed thrOWers. Mr.. Hardy says
that many attempts have been made by
white settlers in various parts of Aus
tralia to become good boomerang throw
ers, and, though some of them have ac-
ouired considerable proficiency, their
achievements are not to be compared
with those of ar expert native.
USED IN GAMES.
Apart from exhibitions Of skill in
throwing, there are games in which the
natives use the come back boomerang.
Half a dozen men will stand in Indian
file, each individual with raised arms,
resting his hands on the shoulders Of the