The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-07


I&1 should learn TO use a pistol, said
kAA1 a well-known man to a group of
I2gM&Ol friends the other night in one OF
49, the downtown hotels. One of the
men in the party had just come from Bed
ford, and consequently the topic of the con-
versation was about the mysterious murder
of Sarah Schafer. And it was this that
had prompted the above statement from the
man.
.'Mv wife and daughter, as well as myself,
have had considerable experience in shoot
ing with a revolver, and in fact the women
portion of my household have become quite
proficient in the use of firearms. In the
summer when we go to my farm TO I'VE
they take pistol practice every day, and L
think the man who ever attacks them VIII
find that he will get the worst of 1t IL they
can Just get a chance to shoot at him. AS
for myself, / always took great amount
of pleasure in shooting with a revolver, and,
therefore 1 have used different kinds and
makes and at the present time nave quite
a nice collection.
For woman, however, TO use pistol
without thorough knowledge OF the In
strument would certainly be most unWise,
but with the increase of robberies hold-ups
and certain kinds of lawlessness OF which
women are the victims the pistol is always
a
and is a thing with which a woman may
defend herself at all times.
''It is a suggestive fact and think that
statistics will bear me out, that the ma
iority of casualties resulting from the use
OF fire arms are because the people con-
cerned are ignorant of the way TO handle
such weapons and even Wheh lhefe Is no
casualty the pistol in the hands OF an ig-
noramus is generally ineffective. This is
particularly true of women. The mere pos
session OF a pistol and a knowledge OF its
,lo,tl toll eyixr fn w q r.
tain feeling of self-relance that renders
it's use unnecessary, for she is then placed
on an equal basis with her antagonist. who,
under the circumstances, has none the ad-
There is one thing that 1 insist on in
the handling of a pistol, the speaker con-
tinued and that is that the greatest pre-
caution should at all times be exercised.
In the first place one should never indulge
in experiments with pistol and never yield
to the temptation 10 fool with 1t. II is
meant for use and should never become a
plaything. Never point pistol at anybody,
whether 1t is loaded or not, Tor run. Nearly
all of the accidents come from not think
ing that il was loaded when IL was. No
matter from whom or under what circum-
stances a pistol comes into your charge
handle il as though 1t were loaded, even
when by examination you see that il is
not This should be acquired as fixed
FOR A WOMAN'S USE.
what kind of a pistol would you sug-
a
of the party who was becoming interested.
well" continued the man who had been
giving the talk on firearms, there are vari-
Gus kinds of pistols. and of course these
are meant for different use. The best way
10 do is TO famiiarze yourself as far as
possible with all kinds OF pistols For use
at close range, as is the general case in
matters of self-defense the self-cOcking or
the hammerless pistol is preferred, general
ly because no time need be lost in cooking
tho. hammer. One pull on the trigger does
this and explodes the cartridge. For fine
shooting where expert craftsmanship Is
required. this hard pull on the trigger tends
TO destroy the aim. To avoid this, pistols
are sometimes made with a hair trigger
that is one so finely adjusted that when the
hammer is cooked a mere touch on the
trigger is sufficient 20 release II.
Most self-cocking pistols are so made
that II cooked by hand they become hair
trigger pistols The hammerless pistol IL is
impossible 10 cock by hand, but the trigger
MAY be pulled 10 a certain point; that Will
soon be learned 10y the feel of IL; aim may
then be taken. and on application OF slight
additional pressure to the trigger the pis-
toll Is discharged. IL is Just here While the
aim Is being taken and during the moments