Year: 1879

They had been talking about the remark
able performances of DIR. Carver, the marks
man, who shoots with rifle, glass balls
which are sent into the air as fast as man
can throw them. Presently, Abner Bying,
who was sitting by, said
That's nothing
What is nothng2'
why that shooting. Did you ever know
Tom Potter?


NO.


well, Potter was the best hand with ri.
file ever saw beat this man Carver all
hollow. I'll tell you what I've seen this man
Potter do. You know, maybe, along there
in the cherry season, Mira. Potter would
would want to preserve some cherries so
Tom would pick 'em for her, and how do
you think he'd stone 'em p
Il don't know. How p
why he'd fill his gun with bird shot,
and get boy to drop half q bushel of cher
ries at one time from the roof of the house
As they came down he'd fire and take the
stone clean nut of every cherry in the lot
Its positive fact He might occasionally
miss one, not often. But he did bigger shoot
ing than that when he wanted to-


what did he do p


why lin Miler-did you know him
No? Well, Tom made bet once with Jim
that he could shoot the button off his own
coat tail by aiming in the opposite direction
and Jim took him up


Did he do it


DO it He fixed himself in position and
aired at tree in front of him. The ball
hit the tree, caromed, hit the corner of a
house, caromed, struck a lamp post, carom-
ed and flew behind Tom, and nipped the
button off as slick as a whistle. You bet he
be did It'll


That was fine shooting.


'Yes, but I've seen Tom Potter beat it.
seen him stand under fock of pigeons, bill
| lions of them coming like the wind, and kill
'em so fast that the front of +ae flock never
I passed given line, but turned over and
fell down. so that it looked like kind of a
brown and feathery Niagara. Tom did it
by having twenty. three breech loading ri
hes and boy to load 'em. He always shot
with that kind


You say you saw him do this kind of shoot
ing?


Yes, sir and better than that, too. Why,
I'll tell you what I've seen Tom Potter do.
/ saw him once set up an India.rubber tar
get at 800 feet, and hit the bulls eye twen-
ty-seven times minute with the same ball!
He would hit the target, the ball would
bounce back right into the rihe-barrei just
as Tom had clapped in fresh charge Of
powder, and so he kept her a-going back.
ward and forward, until at last he happened
to move his gun, and the bullet missed tht
muzzle of the barrel. 1t was the biggest
thing ever saw the very biggest-excep
one.'


What was that p


why, one day was out with him wher
hewas practicing, and it came on to rain
Tom didn't want to get wet, and we had nj
umbrella, and what do you think he did


what p


Now, what do you think that man did t.
keep dry


4 can't imagine


well, sir, he got me to load his weapon
for him, and pledge you my word, although
it began to rain hard, he hit every drop tina
came down. so that the ground for about eigh
feet around us was as dry as punk. 1t wa
beautiful, sir-beautiful 7


And then the company rose up slowl
and passed out enc by one, each man eyinl
Abner and looking solemn as he went by
and when they had left, Abner looked queer
ly for a moment and then said to me;
There's nothing hate so much as lisl
Give me friend of the solid truth and III
tie to him