Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-08-24
FEATs WITH REVoLvERS.
Crack Shots Who Can Kill a Fly 20
Yards Away and Do Other Stunts.

| dFCS away anu 6O SSuCT StOueSs
Mr.. Walter Winans, the Well-knoWn
millionaire sportsman, who is making
arrangements for the deadliest shots
in the world to exhibit their skill in
London is himself perhaps the most
phenomenal marksman living today
Indeed, his feats with revolver and
rifle are so amazing that they border
on the miraculous.
Some years ago at fete at Bag
shot he gave some very astonishing
| exhibitions of his craftsmanship for
the entertainment Of the visitors.
Among other equally wonderful feats
| We're the following: He sent bu llet
| after bullet clean through the center
Of the ace of hearts held at distance
! of a dozen yards, never once missing
| his tiny bullS-eye during the whole
| afternoon. He repeatedly shattered a
| glass ball placed on the glass of mis-
| watch as it lay face upward on
| table, and out of six visiting cards
| placed edgewise before him he cut
| five in halves with six consecutive
| shots
| But perhaps his most remarkable
performance was that at the Brighton
Rifle Gallery q few years ago, when,
firing 33 consecutive shots with a
revolver at a target 16 yards distant,
he placed a bullet on a bulrs-eye only
three inches in diameter, scarcely as
large as the palm Of a mans hand!
Mr.. Walter Winans' rifle shooting,
by the way. IS quite as amazing as his
craftsmanship with the revolver, and
the stag which can escape, at any
possible range from his death dealing
bullet is exceedingly lucky. He has
killed as many as 1913 stays in single
season, including the record number
of II in ono stalk, while some years
ago he had accounted for 1000 stays.
The record feat of killing q dozen
stags in single stalk was performed
by crawling up to a herd of 15, and
killing II with as many shots before
they could escape out of range! On
one occasion, too, Mr. Louis Winans,
who is little less clever than his
famous brother, laid 90 stays low
with as many consecutive bullets.
Mr. Walter Winans, who is as
modest as he is clever. always declares
that the late Chevalier Ira Paine was a
much deadlier shot than himself, and
chevalier killed a bluebottle fly which
had settled on the white part of a
target 20 yards away. This perform
ance ranks as quite the most wonder
full in the annals of shooting-and no
wonder.
But there have been many famous
shots before Paine and Winans
handled revolver, and one of the
,11 20;
Horatio Ross, who was in his prime
about so years ago, and OF whom some
remarkable stories are told.
On one occasion the Captain
wagered s1OO with Mr.. George
Foljambe that, with a pistol firing a
single ball, he would kill 10 brace of
swallows on the wing in one day. The
feat seemed humanity impossible, but
Captain Ross actually polished off his
30 swallows before an early breakfast. |
Almost equally remarkable was a
contest between Captain Ross and a
famous Spanish marksman for $50 a
side. The match was held at the
famous Red House inclosure, the dis
tance was 12 yards, the number of
shots so, and the target an ordinary
playing card with a bullseye, the eX-
act size of a siXpence, marked on Its
back. The Captain, who proved an
easy winner, actually hit the diminu-
tive bullS-eye % times out of the last
25 shots.
Mr.. John Tharp of Newmarket was
another adept of these long gone days. !
One Of his favorite feats was to shoot
at coins flung high in the air; and on
one occasion, for a wager of G10O, he
actuanlly struck 81 pennies out of
100.
A few years ago a Frenchman, NJ.
Castor Bordeverry, gave an eXtraor-
dinary demonstration OF shooting skill
in Paris. A piece of sugar was placed
on his assistants head at distance of
4 dozen yards and Nj. Bordeverry shot
it off with a revolver bullet without
touching a hair of the mans head. |
When a 50-centime piece (about the
size of a sixpence) was substituted
for the lump of sugar it was removed
just as cleverly; and at a greater dis |
tance a visiting card was cut ceanly |
in two
These feats are wonderful enough. |
but nothing compared with what fol-
lowed. Standing 10 yards from a
piano, and taking several repeating
carbines, Monsieur played with his
rain OF bullets. in brilliant style, a
difficult selection from "Cavalleria
Rusticana," the accompanying words
being sung by a quartet of vocalists.
During the entire piece not q single
bullet missed it's proper note on the
piano.
Almost as wonderful We're some
feats performed not long ago by an
American cowboy, known to fame as
Captain" Hardy. At a distance of so
feet he sent five consecutive bullets
through n hole in a card no larger than
a shilling. When Governor Savage of
Nebraska flung a number of hickory
nuts into the air as rapidly as he could
throw them Hardy shattered every nut
before it could reach the ground; and
this performance he eclipsed by shoot
ing, one after another, half a dozen
hazel nuts placed on the head of a
man standing 20 PAGES away.-Tit
Bits.
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