Evening journal., 1910-03-17

! loAlttAtu Dy MI EDWARDS uulanE near
forty years Of more or less intimate ac-
quaintance with many OF the country's
leaders since the Civil War Each an
ecdote or incident is fresh from Mr.. Ed
wards notebook, and, either in whole or
! IN part Il constitutes NEW NEWS OF
! YESTERDAY, garnered from the men
who made the uews-the histOrv-or from
equally authoritative sources As i'm
portant contributions Of the Human in
terest' sort to American history, these
articles have distinctive value all their
own.
General Fred d. Grant was appoint
ed minister to Austria by President
Harrison in 1885,
L have been told, General" 1 said
to him the other day. that when you
were In Vienna as our diplomatic rep
resentative, you were regarded as one
of the best shots in the Austrian cap
ital and for that reason were frequent
| ly invited to take part in the very eX-
elusive court hunts"
We'll" General Grant replied, "it Is
true that 1 was often asked to take
part in the court hunts, and that was
a little unusual, since the Austrian
court at that time was not accustom-
ed to invite any diplomatic represen-
tative Of a foreign nation to share III
its sport oftener than once a year. They
tell me that 1 did make some pretty
good shots. know that the sport was
exciting and that it required fairly
good craftsmanship to gain trlumphs
that could be compared with those of
some of the best shots of Austria. But
also know that whatever my skill
as a sportsman may be, it is entirely
due to the training given me by my
father. l never had any other teacher
than he in the use of firearms.
when father was in the leather
business in Galena, H. it used to be
necessary for him to take trips last
ing for ten days or two weeks, into
the country of which Galena was the
center. He would harness up the
horse to his wagon and drive all ovei
the country, and many times he would
take me into the wagon with him ano
/ would be his companion all the time
he was away from home
During one of these trips, when
was not more than nine or ten years
Of age. I said to father: Father.
should like to learn to shoot. l want
to know how to shoot a rabbit or O
prairie hen"
Now, IL was characteristic of father
that he took a very keen interest il
everything that appealed to his chill.
dren. So, when he saw that l really
meant what l said when / told hin
that ] wanted TO learn to be hunter
he said: Well, Fred. I will teach yoi
how to be a good shot and how TO han
die a gum
Il remember very distinctly the car
and the reasoning which he employe,
in giving me my shooting lessons witt
shotgun and rifle. First of ALL he wouli
say; Now, Fred, I want to show yol
about the percussion cap CYou knol
at that time all the guns utilized tn
percussion cap). First Of all, Fred
you must be careful not to have tn
hammer pressing against the car
There might come a blow against tn
hammer. and that would cause tn
gun TO be discharged when you wer
not ready for that Then, again, yo
must not have the hammer az fr
oclS or away back. There is dangel
Il you do, that by accident it MA
fall upon the percussion cap and m
gJn be fred in that way. Awav
keep the trigger at half cock
Then, as patiently and as explic
lily father would explain to me hoy
to charge the gun with powder. Nc
ANV IAQEhf AH WbNlu say HtNaAct Aliu
would make the gun kick and yo
would miss your aim Then he woul
take the ramrod and show me nos
TO ram home shot or bullet. so tina
it would fit close against the powdo
charge; and as he did this he woul
explain the reason, saying that unles
shot and powder were in close conta,
there would be danger of the gu
bursting.
"All the preliminaries Of loadin
and making ready gone through Wit
and carefully and cfeery eNpialne
even to the minutest detail. fathe
would show me how 10 hold fhe ga
at my shoulder and how to guide il
following the motion Of a rabbit or
prairie hen, and at last, when / wa
well instructed, he permitted ME
take my first shot--it was at a rab