Popular Science Monthly 



349 



Did You Hit the Target? 

 This Target Answers 



ONE of the objections to rifle shooting 

 from the standpoint of the spectator is 

 that you can't see what is going on — the 

 results of the shot, as you can when you 

 watch shotgun shooters smash clay 

 birds. To make the game more inter- 

 esting to the spectator and to mark the 

 target for the shooter without 

 the necessity for walking out 

 and retrieving the target or 

 hauling it in on its carrier, 

 Frank C. Reed, of Springfield, 

 Ohio, has designed and put on 

 the market what he terms the 

 "spot shot" target. He takes 

 advantage of the fact 

 that if you ex- 

 tinguish all front 

 lighting on 

 a paper and 

 put a strong 

 light be- 

 hind it, any 

 perforation 

 will show 

 plainly in 

 silhouette. 



In a strong iron box he puts front lights of 

 suitable strength and arrangement to best 

 light up the small cardboard indoor minia- 

 ture rifle target, and protects these as usual 

 by a steel plate. 



Behind the target, which slides into 

 grooves formed in the box, is a funnel- 

 shaped passage leading back from the 

 target to a movable plate at the end of an 

 arm that con- 

 trols a circuit 

 breaker for I ; 

 light circuit 

 and for the 

 normally ex- 

 tinguished 

 light behind 

 the target. 

 This arm also 

 operates a 

 dash-pot or 

 air-jacket that 

 slowly draws 

 the arm and 

 its plate down 

 to place again, 

 breaking the 

 circuit for the 

 backlight as it 



does so, and again lighting the front lights. 

 When the bullet passes through the card- 

 board target in the holder, it continues on 

 down the funnel, striking the steel plate and 

 driving it and its arm into the air. The 

 bullet then continues into a curved bullet- 

 stopper of heavy steel 



5fop to break impact and comes to 



rest. 



Instant- 

 ly, by the 

 action of 

 the arm 

 driven vi- 

 olently 

 upward by 

 the bullet, 

 the front 

 lights are 

 put out 

 a n d a 

 strong 

 light from 

 the rear 



At left : A circle of light shows __. . _ _ i c ^ i_ _ 

 the bullet hole. Above: The reveals t tic 

 details of the lighting device target hole. 



Before dropping it into the "Long Tom" the washers toss 

 the sand high in the air to catch the glitter of the gold 



Washing for Gold in the Clayey Soil 

 of the Guianas 



IN working for gold in the Guianas, where 

 sluices are impossible because the soil is 

 clayey, the ground is worked with a "Long 

 Tom," a puddling-box about eight feet 

 long. The torn is filled with the gold- 

 containing mass by a spade-man and a hoe- 

 man. The larger stones collect against the 

 perforated iron plate at the end of the box 

 fitted with 

 riffles through 

 which the dirt- 

 bearing water 

 flows. The 

 worker throws 

 the stones high 

 in the air, 

 watching for a 

 glitter of gold. 

 To make sure, 

 he catches 

 them again 

 and perhaps 

 repeats the 

 trick, w h i c h 

 seems simple 

 but really de- 

 mands the 

 highest skill. 



