The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-11-26
CRACK SHOT KILLS
FLY 20 YARDS AWAY
Some Clever Feats With Revol-
vers-One Played Piano
Selection With Bullets.

Mr.. Walter Winans, the we'll known
! millionaire sportsman. h 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 a fete at agSho
he gave some very astonishing exhibit
tons of his craftsmanship for the en-
tertainment of the visitors. Among
other equally wonderful feats were the
following: He sent bullet after bullet
lean through the center Of the ace OF
hearts held at a distance of a dozen
yards, never nee missing his tiny
bulls Y during the whole afternoon.
He repeatedly shattered a glass ball
placed on the glass of his watch as 1t
lay face upward on a table; and out Of
six visiting cards placed edgewise be-
fore 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 re-
volver at a target 16 yards distant. he
placed a bullet on a bulls eye only
three inches in diameter, scarcely as
large as the palm of a mans hand!
Killed 1903 Stays.
Mr.. Walter Winans' rife shooting, by
the way, is quite as amazing as his
workmanship with the revolver. and
the stag which a escape, at any pos
sible range. from his death dealing bull
let is exceedingly lucky. He has killed
as many as 103 stays in a single sea-
son. including the record of IL In one
stalk. while some years & he had &C
counted for 1000 stays. The record
feat of killing a dozen stays in a single
stalk was performed by crawling up
to a herd of Is. and killing IL before
they could escape out of range! On
n occasion, too, Mr.. Louis Winans.
who is little less clever than his ia
mous brother, laid 20 stays low with as
many consecutive bullets.
Mr.. Walter Wfnans, who is as mod
est as he is clever, always tells that
the late Chevalier Ira Paine was a
much deadlier hot than himself, and
he tells how, on one occasion, the chew
aIier killed a ~bluebottIe fly which had
settled on the white part of a target
20 yards away. h performance ranks
as quite the most wonderful in the
annals Of s~hooting-and no wonder.
But there I'VE been many famous
shots before Paine and Winans handled
a revolver, and one Of the greatest of
them all was Captain Horatio Ross.
who was in his prime about 80 years
ago, and of whom some remarkable
stories are told.
Played the Piano.
On one occasion the captain wagered
500 with Mr.. George Foljanabe that
with a pistol firing 81 single ball, he
would kill 10 brace of swallows on the
wing in one day. The feat seemed hui
manly impossible, but Captain Ross
actually polished off his 20 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 ia
NOUS Red House Enclosure, the distance
was u yards, the number of shots SO,
and the target an ordinary playing
card with a bulls eye, the exact size
of q ~sixpence, marked on It's back. The
captain, who proved an easy winner.
actually hit the diminutive buiI's eye
% times out of the last rs shots.
Mr.. John Tharp. Of Newmarket, was
another adept Of these long-gone days.
of his favorite feats was to shoot at
coins flung high In the air; and on one
for a wager of 600, he ac-
tually struck 81 pennies out Of 100.
A few years ago q Frenchman, M.
Castor Bordeverry, gave an extraor-
binary demonstration of shooting skill
in Paris. A piece Of sugar was placed
on his assistants head at a distance of
a dozen yards, and M. Bordeverry shot
1t off with a revolver bullet without
touching q hair of the mans head.
When a 50-centime piece (about the
size Of a siNpence) was submitted for
the lump of sugar it was removed just
as cleverly, and at q greater distance q
visiting card was cut cleanlg in two.
These feats are wonderful enough.
but nothing compared with what fol-
lowed. Standing 10 yards from a plano
monster played with his rain of bullets.
in brilliant style, a difficult selection
from "Cavalleria Rustfcana," the ac-
companyfnE words being sung by a
quartet of vocalists. During the entire
piece not q single bullet missed Its
proper note on he plano.