The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1910-06-24
FILLED w1THoUT mTTTT0-


u1Aael Boone Was = wonaerfuP
azi<snan and Never Missea.
AZ small boy Tip heard an old
gentleman. upward Of 100, tell about
seeing Daniel Boone, and about some
Of his mighty dofngs when this old
gentleman himself was small boy.
according TO the New York Times. He
said that Boone was very large man,
something over six feet, deep-chestesi,
very heavy shouldered, but was small
IN the belly, with long, thin, strong
legs, large. hard hands and feet and
iron gray hair and hazel eyes, very
large and with sights always opening
and shutting. working actively like tbs
nervous pupil Of the eye Of ! game
rooster. Boone was passing through
from trip out West and had with
him only his Ratchet. hunting knife
and rife and was without dogs or com
panions. He had only q coonskin cap,
buckskin hunting shirt down to his
knees, high laced .cowskin moccasins
and no pants or underclothes. His
rifle was as tall as Boone himself and
very heavy. with a long. thin, white
hickory ramrod This old man had
been hunter all his life and said the
rifie was the biggest and heaviest he
had ever seen.
The great thing was to see Boone
shoot. Boone, without taking rest,
hit spot every time as big as q mans
hat at 200 yards. aiming very slowly
and deliberately. for that was long be
fore the days of cartridges and quick
snap-shooting. Boone at forty or fifty
yards "barked" two squirrels, then an
unheard-of marvel, though common
enough now. He hit the bark Of the
tree right under where the squirrel
was sitting crouching. and when the
rife said pop" Mr.. Squirrel was
blown up into the air five or six feet,
and picked up stone dead without 30
much as a scratch on him. Killing q
tough old fox squirrel without bull
let touching him or drawing drop
of blood looked like q big magic or
witchcraft to early settlers and In
dams
Boone drove a nail or two and
showed how he loaded his gun. He
had q small powder horn filed with
finest grain powder about as hard and
clean from smut as the best modern;
a little hollow powder measure made
of elderwood, such as boys make whis-
ties Of. An he showed how he gagged
his powder by laying the rifle bullet
In the palm OF his hand. then pouring
on powder until the bullet was just
exactly hid in the pile of powder. This
was the right load, so he cut his elder
to this measure. After pouring the
powder down the barrel he laid piece
OF creased linen patching of finest,
smothest homespun over the end. and
forced 1t down the barrel with the
butt end Of his knife, cut OF the patch.
ing sticking out, then showed the bull
let home with the ramrod-a hard,
tight job. With q quick Jerk Of the
wrist no would pack tight the bullet
and powder and drive 20 hard that the
ramrod almost jumped out OF the gun
ON the rebound.
BoOne's rine stock was the shortest
and most angularly curved Of any II
the village. And this Same Daniel
Boone stock, seen for the first time by
the old gentleman. has now been adopt
ed as world model BY all armies and
manufactures. As z matter Of fact.
some Of the finest Yankee wholesale
manufacturers deliberately copied tbs
Kentucky rife stock as their model.
as DR.. Norvin Green, the organiser
and first president Of the Western
Union Telegraph Company. long ago
told.