The Washington times., 1930-10-21
Today's
Sportorial
,Bv KIRK MILLER

By far one Of the most serious
and dignified forms Of sport to
which we have affixed our at
tention in the period over which
sports have lured our fancy, is
the ancient pastime of archery,
no little of which takes place
right here around the old home
town.
On investigation, we learn
that the Potomac Archers Club
is the backbone Of local archery.
AS recently as last Sunday the
Potomacs were the host organi-
zation In q tournament which
embraced experts with the bow
and arrows from points as dis
tant as Baltimore and Philadel-
phia.
Cruising around the polo field
in Potomac Park almost any
Sunday you viii find the inter
est Of the Sabbath motorists di-
.vided largely between two spec
tacles. On the one side atten-
ton is focused on the flight Of
the airplaneS ascending from
and descending upon the Wash
ington-Hoover air field on the
Virginia shore Of the Potomac.
And on the other side you will
find myriad automobiles parked,
their discharged passengers
grouped around the intense
band Of archers, some Of them
bedecke1 in Robin Hood habili'
ments even to the gorgeous col
ored leather smockS and hats
with feather stuck jauntily
through the side.
Here is a sport, this archery,
that requires as much self-con-
troll as golf or tennis or even bill
lizards. Probably that accounts
for the lack Of applause. Even
at the moment of the best shots,
there is no cheering from the
gallery or other contestants. It
is dignified as a game Of chess
in the most sedate club you
could imagine, and when the
interval comes for the marks
men to leave their firing line
and approach to targets to note
the quality Of their work, you
would think it was a delegation
going to wait upon \ mayor or
q city commissioner.
The equipment Of an archer
consists Of six arrows and his
bow. That is to saw he may
have some extra arrows in his
sling, but in competition he
shoots but six, Of hem to six
shot bN his two teammates who
use the same target. These tar
gets, having q bull's-eye in the
center and several circles on out
to the edge, are Of oilcloth.
blasted to q huge circular straw
background into which the ar.
rows lodge at the end Of their
flight.
When a round is over, the
referee blows a whistle and all
hands advance to the targets to
withdraw their arrows and mark
down the score for that particu-
lar round. The process is re-
peated until the shoot is over
and then the scores are totaled.
Each contestant Identifies his
own arrows by individual mark
ingS thereon. uSuallv the colorS
Of the feathers.
It Is amazing, In fact almost
uncanny, how seldom an archer
misses his target altogether.
During the time we paused to
watch this modern expose Of
q very old sport, we didn't see
a half dozen arrows go astrRy OF
the target. Bull'S-eyeS seemed to
be q common thing among those
who had been chosen for tour
nament play and what power
Of resistance kept the onlookers
from bursting into applause at
some Of the expertneSS demon
Strated there before that Sun
day afternoon throng of curl
Gus paSserS-by was a question
we pondered considerably.
The distance between the fir.
ing line and the targets, repos-
ing there on tripods, appeared
to be about IS yards, although
it might have been a hundred.
There was such q sedate atmos-
phere prevailing and so much
decorum present among the
contestants we had to suppress
o repertorial inquisitiveneSs to
refrain from making many in
quirteS about this colorful and
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