T2 4 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



generations. The father of the man I have 

 named was shot by a poacher and left for dead, 

 being horribly mutilated ; He, however, ultimately 

 recovered. He was well enough to give his evidence, 

 and the poacher was convicted, and hanged in front 

 of Oakham gaol. 



Accidents with guns happen in so many various 

 ways, that one wonders that they are not of daily 

 occurrence. One hears of an accident from a person 

 pulling his gun through a hedge by laying hold of 

 the muzzle ; one also hears of a person being shot 

 dead by a friend holding the muzzle to him to pull 

 him up a ditch or bank. Any one that is so 

 heedless, and so ignorant of the danger he 

 incurs by such a proceeding, cannot be surprised 

 at the result. 



All guns in these days are supposed to be made 

 upon the latest and most improved safety principles. 

 Still, when once a gun is cocked, it is no safer than 

 if it was made of any obsolete mechanism. I mean, 

 flint and steel, copper cap, copper tube, Forsyth's or 

 Egg's, or any other principle that has been invented 

 for certainty and quickness of loading and ignition. 

 The danger of a gun lies in the trigger, and on 

 whatever principle it is made, if the said weapon is 



