Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-17
Instructor Needed
by the Beginner.


hr A. and an organiZa-
Dy the Beginner. ton are almost
essential One cannot shoot alone with
any great pleasure, and it is hard to
! learn to shoot without guidance. For
good form in archery is as hard to at
| tain as in other athletic sports. The
archer must stand with his heels about
six inches apart, his left side toward
| the target and the bow extended per-
pendicularly in the left hand. The ar
row must be drawn to certain point
just below the ear. the arrow steadied
in the crook of the left forefinger. All
these details of holding and pulling
the bow must be perfectly mastered
before one can begin to attain much
skill
Then, too. the expense of modern
archery is considerable. A good yew
| bow costs about $25, and arrows are
$40 dozen. The target is a straw af
] fair, painted in spots and circles. and
| represents a respectable additional in
veStment
There was something of revival of
| interest in archery in this country a
few years ago. At that time the sport
was strongly recommended to women
by experts in physical culture as one
of the very best means of improving
the poise and figure. and there is no
doubt but what it is an excellent eXer
else for that purpose. Since the days
of the AmaZons there have been many
skilled woman archers. and there are
number of the sex making high
scores in the National Archery Asso-
citation today.
Ernest Thompson Seton. the natural
list and originator of the Boy Scouts,
archery among the boys by devising
a game in which a target was painted
upon a dummy deer. This was hidden
in the woods, hunted for and shot by
the boy archers. Although the sport
has been greatly stimulated in these
and other ways, it seems still to remain
a diversion of the few.
The first weapon of primitive man in
almost every part of the world, the
bow reached the
Weapon Used zenith of its
~, greatest use dur
Dy ROBIN HOOD. ing the fourteenth
century. when Robin Hood and his
bowmen ruled in Sherwood forest 1t
was the English longbowmen who won
for their country the decisive battles
of Crecy and Poitires against the
French. The armored French knights
hurled themselves in vain against the
long lines of English bowmen. who
shot their arrows into the air so that
they rained down upon the helmets of
the horsemen, often entering the eye
holes. This was one of the first demon
strations of the superiority of infan-
try over cavalry. During the fifteenth
century the longbow seems to have
been the decisive factor in many bat
ties. Then began a decline of its DOM
nance, fastened by the introduction of
gunpowder.
So deep a hold had archery in the
national life and story of Britain, how
ever, that the government sought in
every way to encourage it's practice.
Archery associations were formed and
meets were held These were affairs
of great splendor and social impor-
lance. Silken canopies were erected on
the fields, and the archers strolled
ored costumes. The shooting, how
ever, became subordinated to the social
phase of the amusement, with the re-
suit that it rapidly declined.
Later a revival took place. and the
sport was much more scientifically
pract C d. and
Remains Popular has enjoyed and
in Great Britain. 1 q o n Ia rit in
England to this day. 1t first came to
the United States about 1928, when an
archery club was formed in Philadel-
phia, and remained active for many
years. Meantime, number of small
clubs had grown up in various parts of
the United States, but especially in the
west and middle west. In 1879 these
were gathered together under the name
of the National Archery Association of
the United States which has ably sup |
ported and systematized the sport ever
since.
The meet last year was held at
HaVerford, Pa, and that of the year be-
fore in Boston. Chicago, however, has
been the center of American |
archery interests. and the return of the |
annual meet to that city will doubtless |