The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-23
Envoy 4 SKILLED SHOT
FEATs OF BRAZILIAN MINISTER
WITH POWDER AND BALL
ARE GREAT
CRAFTSMANSHIP IN HIS PARLoR
He Entertains Friends and Guests
at His Home With Exhfbi-
tiOns of His Rare
Skill.

1t IS not generally known that the Dip
lorlatic corps numbers among its mem
bers one Of the most expert pistol and
rifle shots in this country, if not in the
whole world. Certain it is that he can
do a good many things. both with rifle
and pistol, that no other expert in that
line ever does. although this may be
partly due to. the ingenuity ne displays
in setting hard tasks of workmanship
for himself, says the Washington Post.
The diplomat III question is Senior ]. f.
de Assis Brasil, the present Brazilian
minister here. He has not been brought
much before the public during his term
as minister, owing to the quiet and cor-
dial relations between this country and
his oNn. Further than this, he is not a
cub man to any great extent, having a
charming home out on Columbia road,
where he prefers to spend all his spare
time, and as he is quite modest about his
craftsmanship, it is only to compare
lively small circle of personal friends
that he has ever made a display of his
ability.
Mr.. Brasil is born marksman. He
likes the sport as well and practices a
good deal in and around his home He
is an expert with the Winchester and
sporting guns of all sorts, but his home
practice is done with tiny rifle, and a
delicate pair of little pistols, frequently
in his parlor or on the veranda, where
the small powder charge involved makes
no noise to attract the attention OF the
curious passerby.
Some of the minister's feats with q
rifle are tax on credulity till they have
L.
his fancy shooting with a French gallery
rifle, made to his own order IN Paris. He
loads his own cartridges for extra accu-
rate work. His finest shooting is done
with % caliber rife and pistols. He can
pick all the capital letters out of visit
ing card as far as he can see them, and
1T may be remarked that his eyesight Is
phenomenal, for he can see tiny objects
through the sights of a gun that the av-
erage person could not see at the same
distance with an unobstructed view.
Driving tacks In sheet of paper the
length of his yeranda- is too tame for
him to call sport, and he will split Wis
fting card edgewise the length of his
own parlor while his wife holds it for
him in her fingers.
MRS. BRASIL HOLDS TARGETS.
Mrs Brasifs confidence in ner has
bands ability as shot is ABSOLUTE, and
she will hold a quarter between her FIR
gers for him to shoot at with the same
readiness that the average woman would
take quarter if her husband offered 1t
The fact is, however. that Witnessing a
few OF the minister's performances with
gun breeds a great degree CT reckless
ness on the average spectator Visitors
who demonstrate with Mrs. Brasil for her
acting as an animated target support
usually end by holding cards for the min
lister to split, or let him shoot the ashes
Off their cigars and cigarettes before they
leave the house.
1t is not only at carefully aimed target
work that Mr.. Brasil shows his skill Ee
will put up a target the size of a quarter,
and, standing at about thirty feet, wave
his revolver in a circie like man shoot
ing off a Roman candle. At the word of
command from a spectator he will fire and
hit the mark without apparently having
paused long enough to take any aim at
all. He can do all the stage tricks of a
professional shot, shooting with mirror.
holding his rifle upside down, shooting be-
tween his legs or lying on his back, and
shooting over his head. He will walk
away from target and turn and fire at
command without ever pausing to look
at his target. In fact. some of the .'gun
play of which he is capable would shame
Western bad man in cattle town
melee.
He can shoot with anything from
heavy revolver to an air rifle He is quite
fond of this last weapon, and has an ex-
ira fine specimen with which he shoots
a good deal inside the house. He has
little wooden boa: d with metal back,
about the size of q magazine, which he
uses for paflor target. One of his IA
vorite tricks is to put a piece of cigar
box in front of the backing and shoot
hoe through the center. Then he will
put the other four balls from his revolver
through the first hole without changing
it's size o. contour in the least.
KILLING TWO CHICKENS AT ONCE.
One of his feats, which he does not per-
form often, out of respect to the humane
scrup.es of the most of his visitors. Is to
kill two chickens simultaneously without
looking at either of them. His method
is as follows: He will have a servant
place two handfuls of corn on the lawn,
sixty feet apart, and put a chair midway
between them. He sits in the chair
while two chickens are brought, and
placed one at each corn pile. They i'm
mediately begin to cat, thus keeping COM
p7rat,yefy still. Taking two pistols he
will sight at one chicken with the right