-— — ' 



WSB FVKm3V B **&R&**<WFtmmF 



against tho left, or heads I win, tails you lose. And then, 

 ■with strange inconsistency, says that "ho is not, advocating 

 the closing of one eye, and thinks two eyes just as good." 



The chief causes of missing mentioned by Mr. Van Dyke, 

 fiTe comprehensive and sound, for which I give him credit; 

 but, upon the whole his directions are whimsical,of little value, 

 and not in accordance, with tho ideas of the best sporting 

 writers nor the crack shots of the day. Other eminent 

 writers like Mr. Van Dyke have been led by their imagination 

 into poetical rhapsodies on the art of shooting. "Pliny" 

 says, "Lsgere et scribereestpedagogi, sed optime collineare 

 est Dei." " Heading and writing are taught by schoolmasters, 

 but a crack shot is the work of God." And that beautiful 

 writer, Cypress Junior, says: " Shooting, in its refinement 

 and glory, is not an acquired art. A man must be born a 

 shot as much as he must be born a poet. It requires an eye 

 and a hand that science cannot manufacture." I differ with 

 both. I ennnot say, like Mr. Van Dyke, that 1 haveconidered 

 the subject " faithfully," but I have had considerable prac- 

 tice at all kinds of game, and I give tho result of my experi- 

 ence. 



Shooting on the wing is a mechanical art, like billiard play- 

 ing, boxing or fencing. There will, of course, be degrees of 

 excellence ; but. any oue with the full uS3 of his faculties and 

 the ambiiion necessary to success in anything, can acquire it. 

 The secret lies " in the hand becoming subservient to tjie eye." 

 The two must be connected by electricity. The eye is never 

 at fault ; if it were there would be little hope of improvement; 

 but any one may improve the quickness of the muscles. Look 

 at the expertuess of professional card players and conjurers 

 in the art of manipulation. The Bame practice applied to the 

 gun will make the brilliant shot. One often hears it said "to 

 be a good shot requires a quick eye." it matters not how 

 quick the eye is, unless the muscles are educated to act in 

 unison with it. Every one can see quick enough. Let out a 

 bird from a trap before live hundred persons, and they will all 

 see it at the same mstaut, but only the practiced shot can 

 throw up a gun to his shoulder with accurate aim and a sim- 

 ultaneously pulled trigger before it has flown ten feet. Take 

 the adroit tencer or boxer; he sees an opening and his prac- 

 ticed muscles obey the eye and send the thrust or blow home 

 quicker than the uupractiecd eye can follow. Of what use, 

 then, is the sight on a gun ? Very little, as is seen by the suc- 

 cessful way gunners kill ducks when it is too dark to see the 

 sight or hardly the barrels, a. sportsman should shoot game 

 the same as an Indian shoots his arrow, by looking at the ob 

 ject with both eyes open. H may be done by closing one eye, 

 but there is nothing gained by it. There are two ways of 

 shooting on the wing. One, to throw up the gun to the shoul- 

 der and pull the trigger at the same moment, termed " snap 

 shooting. The other, equally good aad better to begin with, 

 and more certain upon the whole, particularly iti open shoot- 

 ing, is to follow the bird, and, when covered, fire while the 

 gun is in motion, But when you pull the trigger the other 

 hand has a tendency to stop ; that misses the bird. But edu- 

 cation will teach it not to stop, the same as we teach both 

 hands a different action while playing on the piano. 



HOW TO ACQUIRE QUICKNESS. 



It may be asked, How is a beginner to acquire the necessary 

 quickness to shoot well ? la he to buy a thousand pigeons 

 and shoot them from a trap ? Or a few casks of glass balls 

 and have them thrown in the air a la Bogardus ? Not neces 

 sarily ; although that kind of practice is good after you under- 

 stand the principle of shooting, and can tell when you miss 

 and the reason why. As to hitting objects thrown in the air 

 it is a mere trick, and may be learned by any shooter in half 

 a day's practice. The way to acquire quickness is to practice 

 using the gun a quarter of an hour — longer if you like— every 

 day in the house. Col. Hawker says, "A man should be 

 measured for his gun the same as for his boots or eoat, How- 

 ever, take care that your gun is not too straight, nor too 

 crooked, nor too long in the stock. Practice throwing it up 

 to you shoulder, hammer down, both eyes open, and pointing 

 at any small object in the room. Then look with one eye 

 along the barrel to verify your correctness of aim ; then fcJ- 

 two imaginary birds, first "to the left, then to the right, pull 

 the trigger at some object in passing, and see that the motion 

 of following is not checked When you think you are toler- 

 ably perfect in ibis action try EnappiDg a cap, quickly, at a 

 lighted candle at 10 feet distance, also at one suspended by a 

 string, to which you can give a pendulous motion, and when 

 you can blow the candle out live times out of sis, there is lit- 

 tle more to be learned. Tou may go into the field and the 

 birds, like Davy Crocket's coon, will come down. Of course 

 you will not shootat a bird in motion unless youkeep the gun 

 following that motion, but ahead, say one, two or three feet, 

 according to the distance and velocity. If you shoot directly 

 at a flying bird, a moment's consideration will show you that 

 it is impossible to hit it. lu the first place the eye says to the 

 mind, shoot ; the order has to travel through the nerves to 

 the fingers, the fingers communicates the order to the trigger, 

 the trigger to the hummer, the hammer to the cap, the cap to 

 the powder, the powder to the shot, and the shot has to travel 

 thirty or forty yards to the bird, which has been flying, prob- 

 ably, at the rate of twenty yards in a second, or one yard in 

 the twentieth part of a second. Therefore, all missed cross 

 shots are behind the bird. A bird going straight away is the 

 same as a silliug shot, and merely requires correct aim. But 

 sometimes the eye, in snap shooting, will not allow the fmger 

 to pull ahead of the bird, but will insist, upon its waiting until 

 the bird comes on a line with the gun. That is where the 

 education is again required. The finger should be practiced 

 on the trigger, the same as practising a shake on a musical in- 

 strumeut, until it will act with quickness and certainty. 

 When you tied that, you are missing birds, and don't know 

 the reason, just sit down for live minutes and practice the 

 finger on the trigger. It is sluggish and will not obey the 

 eye; you cannot perceive it, but that is what is the matter. 

 How "frequently a good shot misses the easiest kind of bird, 

 which, cuuld he have over agaiu, he would kill with the 



Quod est demonstrandum. 



COOLNESS. 



All writers on shooting dwell strongly, and justly, on tbh 

 most important quality of the mind. But to tell a man to 

 ,1 " you might as well say, "Ethiopian, change your 

 skin. Coolness is a matter of temperament. But a great de- 

 gree of coolness may be ncquired. A French writer says : 

 "After the bird rises take a pinch of snuff before you shoot." 

 There is much wisdom in that, but perhaps you do not take 

 snuff, and I would hardly recommend setting up a snuff box 

 on purpose. But at gi >i id a pi, in is, always mentally to count 

 three before you pull the trigger. It, gives the bird time to 

 get into its regular flight, your eye gets a clear view of dis- 

 tance and velocity, your nerres, which were startled with the 



sudden whirr, get composed, your finger gets ready to act, 

 and down comes the bird. It is better to hit a bird at fifty 

 yards than miss it at thirty. In conclusion, I recommend all 

 those who desire to become trully skillful shots, to devote a 

 short time daily, both during and out of the reaular season, to 

 a careful systematic practice of handling tho gun. 



A Gilbot Spobtsma'n. 



—See Bogardus' advertisement. 



PIGEON MATCHES. 



Canada— Coboury, April 11.— The regular monthly contest, of the 

 Cobonrg Gun Clun was shot here to-day on their grounds, bat owing 

 to Hie day oeiug exceedingly wind; the snooting was n >t as good as 

 usual. Tne conditions were: lo oalls each, IS yards rise; u. G. C. 

 rates. The following la the sco e : 



Married. 



BEIcliardson... * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l l o— 9 



HFHollaud o 1 i l I l u 1 1—7 



BDolany i o 1 1 1 0-4 



JDelany l o 1001100 0—4 



K Jakes. 1 o II o 0—1—26 



Unmarried. 



THMunaoii 1 I J 1 l D 1 n 1 1—8 



C Wallace 1 1 1 1 o 1 1 1 1 0—8 



HBurnett u 1 1 1 1 1 0—6 



RSGowan .0 10 10 111 0-S 



J Bsswell 000000 0—0—21 



Ucqh Btokbtt, Sec. 



BMooro l 110 11 [1—7 



SBGrahora o 1 1 o l l i 1—7 



Dr Klliott 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1— 9 



Dr W Smith 1 11110010 0—6 



HYVafon 110 1110 1-6 



A McGregor. u 1 1 w 



Rllornsott D 1 1 w 



Maink— Portland, April 21.— The Peat's Island Shooting Club met 

 Fast Day lor a glass hall shoot, using Card's rotary trap, Ira A. Fame's 

 rule-, thirty-six balls, the defeated parry paying for a snpper at the 

 Union House. 



A. G. Sterling's Side, 



A G Merllng ...21 



LE Ski lings 33 



Q L Brac.kelt 22 



O A Miliums 27 



\V D Brackett 26 



W. 8. Brackett's Side. 



WS BrackeM 21 



W S Jones 32 



3 B Jones 32 



II Trefetben, Jr 25 



EG H Brac'sett 25 



22 J W Sterling 



SASterling 22 A V Ackley 24 



ALDow 32 H B H Brackc-lt 16 



ETHolbrook 10 R S Sterling 3 



C Stevens 12—230 H Tref ethen 12—221 



Connecticut— Weit Meridm, April 15.— Glass ball trap Bhooting for 

 champion cup of Menden. Weather very cold aad raw. Wind blow- 

 ing iresh; a very disagreeable day 10 shoot. The winner must make 

 the best score three times in succession at fifteen bats thrown from 

 tnree Bogardus traps; Bogar us rules to goiern. The cup is very 

 neatly gotten up, standing about twelve inches high, the bowl resting 

 npon four breech-loading shotguns : 



I Ferguson 1101111111110 0—11 



JAThomus 1 1111110 10111 0—11 



FO Downing 1 llllioi 111110 l— is 



N Cornwell 1 1010101100111 1—10 



J Fives 101 10100100001—6 



C JlcKeudnck..... 111010000100 1—6 



EBKiehinond 1 OlOuOOlOl 1 11—6 



KABirdsey 10101110101101— 9 



LJQaineB 1110111011011 1— u 



1) urease 1 0111011111110 1— 12 



N A Roberts 00100100 0011 1—6 



J lltenix 011110 1111101 1—11 



Lawton ..0 1000101100100 1— 6 



Following this there were numerous matches made up wiih small 

 sweepstake.', the shooting of which showed a better average for ail 

 than the cup match. Dkekslaybr. 



Falcon Gun CLxm-Dexter's Park, L. I., April 16.— Match at glass 

 balls, 21 yards, Card's revolving trap, 16 balls each : 



Brown. 11 J Moller i 



u Bnlter 9 J H Miller 8 



J Ficken 6 W Mangles 3 



J Herrman 4 H Meyer 1 



C CDoecher 4 



Team shoot at pigeons ; 23 yards : 



Captain L. K. Brown'a Team. 



IB Brown -..0 1*01 1—3 Mangel- 0*110 0—2 



J Mailer 1 1 1 1-4 Meyer 1 w —1—14 



Bulter 1 110" 1-4 



Captain J. H. M lller's Team. 



JH Miller 1 0*01 0—2 J Herrman I 00-0 1—2 



Doscher 110 10 1—4 Meyer 001 —1—12 



Ficken 1110* 0-3 



Long Branch Gun Club.- The Long Branch Gun Clnb, composed 

 of members lrom the vaiions crabs throughout the United States, 

 numhers over 200 members. They intend having an inolosed ground 

 of eight or ten acres, also a grand stand similar to that of the Narra- 

 gansett Club, at Newport, and from which the shooting can bn wit- 

 nessed without danger to the visitors. lie groundii are to be devoted 

 entirely to pigeon and glass ball shooting. 



Tennessee— yashville, April 16 —Yesterday about 100 of our ama- 

 teurs met at the Sashvllie Shooting Par* to witness the following 

 matches at glass balls. Tennessee sportsmen's rule.-;, Butterllch and 

 Card's traps. First match was for ft beautiful Bavarian ride, $2 en- 

 trance lee: 



BrBuzzard >■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 0—6 



Simu ou » 1111 10 11- 



Han 



C K Cook 



Valemlne 



v Shields 



Higgius 



II L Pr.tchett. 



Briar 



Blood 



Mai A E Burr. 



ivynne 



Hiiiiilt.on 



,10 11 10 110—6 

 ...1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1— 7 

 ...» 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1- S 

 ...1110111000—6 

 ..1010111000—6 

 ...1 1 W 



..0 111110010— B 

 . ..I 011011110— T 

 ..1001000101—4 

 -.•1011111111—8 



.0 011111111—8 



Ma^V:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::? \ f j ; 110-7 



Carter. 1 1 1 o l w 



Kulghi 1 1110 11111- 



Buekho z. 



Brar.kmau 

 Buzzard. . 



...1 11011U11 — 7 

 ...0 1111111-7 

 ...11111100W— 6 



....1 11110 1110—8 

 ...1100111100— 6 

 ...1111100111—8 



....I 11 1 1 1 W — 6 



...1 11111111 1—10 



Buzzard 



S'om 



Campbell • 



Second match, sweepstakes: 



Ament 1 1 Ow —2 Raaio 1 1 w— ! 



Oardweil 1 111-4 Grlllltii 1 1 w— 2 



£?£ZV -l lw -f Kapler., t l 1 0-3 



Buzzard 1 110 1-4 



Third match, sweepstakes : 



Ament «» -o Mitchell I l 1 1 1 1-6 



Pritchett tow -1 Buzzard 01 w -1 



rheailfaui' "w -DNtcboUon 10 w -1 



kagh.. ..'.'.".'.'........ 1 1111-5 Caiter 1 1110 -4 



Fourth match j first two birds at, IS yards, the other two at 21 yards : 



Nelsou '0 u '- 2 caner.... ...11 1-f 



Valentine 



Mitchell 



Fiah match: 

 Valentine I 1 1 <>*-* Co°k 1 1 1 o 0-S 



m T „ E , x *A? T ^P Sp °i>tsmen's AsaociATioN.-The second annual tonrna- 



mentof theTc :, .,■„::, i M„en ! s Assoc, will be rodd ai Waco.TeiM, 



May 7th to 10th. inclusive, under the auspices of the Waco and Tat- 

 nam Gun Clnbs. sixteen contests are on the prograii me of which 

 nine are sweepstakes, and others for prizes ranalne in vain -'fiorn sio 

 to*160. Theolllcersand committees MS: CO MeCal'oer. President 

 Waco; W. E. Hughes, First c Petlit' 



Second Vice-Hresirient, Galveston : 31. M. Bond, Third V ce-President' 

 Sherman ; P. B. Watson. Secretary and Treasurer, Houston • H Si'. 

 Thompson, Assistant Secretary, Waco. Reception Committee-Hon. 

 G. B. Gerald, E. Mocall, John Moore. Committee of •'•rr,,ug»m"ii;,ft- 

 U C. McCulloch, H. M. Thr-mpfon, .T. P. Garland. B. Early, Walter V. 

 Fort. Committee on Grounds— W. s. Almond, John Thompson, C. M. 

 Downs, E. McCall. 



Illinois State Siortsmen.— The sixth annual convention and tour- 

 namentof the Illinois Siatc Sportsmen's Ar-soolatton, for the protec- 

 tion of fish and game, v. ill t.e held at Peoi 

 30. The first day will be devoted to a maich for the Siai- 

 ship, prizes of *125, SbO, 565, $85 and ;,1 ; a team snoot of four men 

 from any clnb of the Siate association, ptlzrsof J170, Jl<6 Jaoand 

 $65, and a year's subscription to the Fokkst ami Si hkam for'ihe low- 

 est score. The rest of the contests are opento the woiid. The Brat 

 match of the second day will be a team match ot two men from any 

 organized club in the United Slates, prizes of 876, see, MO and S55. 

 The second match will be for prizes of Jlcr, $ieli, $75, $so and S84- 

 Nos, 5, 6 and 7 are sweepstakes. Ko. s is n ici.m m-.toi, ot four men 

 each from any organized club, for prizes of $15", S9n, }S0 and $25. 

 There are also a number of special prizes. All thooiiog will be from 

 plunge traps. Circulars may be obtained bv addressing Sir V. M. 

 Lincoln, Peoria, 111. The officers of the association are: V. M. 

 Lincoln, President. Peoria ; H. W. Belden, Fitel Vice-President 

 Galesburg; D. K. Keed, Secnna Tice-rreiidepi;, t.vanston; Geo. W 

 Baker, Secretary, Peoria ; Abner Price, Tteitsnrer. Chicago. 



fxchtmg mid ^ontinq. 



HIGH WATEJR FOR THE TVKEK. 



April 25. 

 April 26.. 

 April 27 , 



April 2H.. 

 April ■!•> 

 AprU 30.. 

 May 1..., 



II 116 



1 1 53 

 Mo'0. 



II ■. 



ODE TO MY FRIEND "OPEN SEA." 



There was a young man from Swamaoott, 

 Who built a fast flBhernian's yactit. 

 She went such a pace, when she failed In a race. 

 That Bhe delighted all hands in Swamscott. 

 Sew York, April 16, 1879. — U, Cbstes. 



YACHTING NEWS, 



Oub Coebesposdbnob.— While permitting as wide a discus- 

 sion and unfettered expression of opinion in our correspond- 

 ence as is consistent with propriety, the publication of letters 

 in these columns does not necessarily imply that the thoughts 

 expressed receive our indorsement. Tho object of devoting 

 liberal space to correspondents is to further the free inter- 

 change of experiences of one section or class with those of 

 others, thereby winnowing the wheat from the chaff, to the 

 benefit of the interests of the yaching community in general. 



Thb Old Uka. — A correspondent writes that the old Una 

 was not improved at the suggestion of Stevens, as we recently 

 quoted from a contemporary^ but that l tie Una was built by 

 bteers for Mr. Waterbury, then sold to Mr. Rutherford, who 

 originated and designed the lengthening of the bow. which so 

 improved her speed. 



Buffalo Yachting. — Sloop Arrow has been sold to J. B. 

 Edmonds, who proposes to slush her bottom with sword-fish 

 oil aDd go for the mugs. The schooners Mystis, Telephone 

 and Fleetwing are ready to go overboard, waiting only for the 

 ice to break up. 



From England.— Our correspondent, K. T. McMullen. 

 Esq., of Greenhithe, Eog., desire-* it, to be understood that the 

 midship sections of his well-known little cruisers were not in 

 any way as deep as might be inferred from the use of tho let- 

 ter II in describing their main features. The Orion has 10ft. 

 2in. beam and 6ft. 4in. hold. He also adds that be did not 

 care to sail around Land's End in the dark for pleasure, 

 though it is often done from necessity. Thtss little changes 

 to his former letter will serve to express his meaning more 

 coDcbely. There are unfortunately no "lines "in existence 

 of his vessels that we know of. Such a set would form a val- 

 uable addition to the data on hand relating to Corinthian 

 cruisers, and we hope that a set may yet bs obtainable. It 

 would be an easy matter lo take off the yacht's lines while on 

 the mud. 



Canoeing in thb Wkst. — We had the pleasure of a visit 

 from Mr. A. H. Seigfried, business manager of the Louisville 

 Courier Journal, accompanied by Mr. Anderson, of Louis- 

 ville, Wednesday, last week. Mr. Biegfried is well known as 

 one of the most ardent lovers of canoeing in this country, 

 and he has done much to further the development, of the 

 sport. He reports a great spread in its popularity throughout 

 the West. While lecturing in Bridgotoo, a small town in 

 Ohio, he was surprised to note the interest taken by every- 

 one in town, and the canoe on exhibition was besieged with 

 visitors and thoroughly examined by people from far and 

 near. Mr. Siegfried will Boon undertake the descent of the 

 Mississippi from its headwaters in company with others, 

 nis canoe is of a modified type, a combination of the Rob Roy 

 and Nautilus. 



A New Schooner.— At the Islip yard, Mr. Alonzo E. 

 Smith has laid the keel for a new schooner, about 50 ft, long, 

 to the order of J. G. Cassatt, Esq., banker, Philadelphia. 



Mona Cuttep.s. — An imported five-tanner will saon make 

 her appearance in our waters, and a ten will be laid down in 

 time for next year. And so the good work prospers. 



Thb Intrepid.— This schooner, Mr. Lloyd Phoenix, N. T. 

 T. C, has put in at Fernandina, Fla., and will remain till the 

 end of the month. 



Portland Yacht Club.— This club, with headquarters at 

 Portland, Me., now numbers 157 members, including twelve 

 honorary, possessing a fleet of fourteen schooners, nineteen 

 sloops and two steamers Club house located on Custom 



