THE REVIVAL OF ARCHERY 
How to Become a Good Bowman 
BY CORA MOORE 
O MOST of us here in Ameri- 
ca archery suggests nothing 
#| more tangible nor less primi- 
tive than the tales of Rob Roy 
and of the Indians whose 
stinging arrows welcomed 
M\ the Pilgrims to ourshores; nor 
“-) anything more practical than 
=; \| the excuse for an attractive 
“| scene on a theater stage. We 
know it in a halo of romance, 
as a pastime for royalty or bold yeomen, 
sung by poets and praised by historians, 
rather than as a sport adapted to our own 
times and customs. And yet, not so long 
ago, twenty years to be exact, archery held 
a high rank in the realm of sports in this 
country, even as it always has in England, 
and when manufacturers found it impos- 
sible to meet the demand for paraphernalia. 
It must be remembered that, at that time, 
the health and beauty cults had not begun 
to absorb the popular mind to the extent 
that holds to-day and that outdoor sports 
as their promoters had been little more 
than suggested. Furthermore, and what 
had unquestionably still greater bearing on 
the situation, women had not then entered 
the lists on equal terms with men, and it is 
only when women take up a project and 
lend to it their enthusiasm and impetus 
that it becomes a craze. Therefore, it is 
not to be wondered at that, like golf, 
tennis and other sports, archery should 
rise and fall and rise again. 
Now there are unmistakable signs of 
returning interest. In the West, with her 
National Archery Association as promul- 
gator, clubs are springing up here and there 
and a surprising amount of individual 
enthusiasm is being shown. Here in the 
East its progress is slower, but the signs are 
none the less gratifying. Most of the 
fashionable hotels have added archery 
outfits to their lists of summer attractions, 
and it is safe to predict that ere many moons 


have waned archery will have come again 
into its own. 
No pastime offers more exhilarating. 
fascinating sport, and none is more con- 
ducive to all the good effects of open-air 
exercise. All of the movements necessary 
in the use of the bow and arrow are such 
as are best adapted to the development of 
health, strength and grace. Is not Diana 
with drawn bow regarded by artists as the 
personification of grace; and the very rules 
of the sport demand that it prove an edu- 
cation in accuracy, self-control and quick- 
ened perception. 
“Tt is an exercise (by proof) we see,” 
says an old poet devotee of archery, 
‘““Where practice doth with nature best 
agree; 
Obstructions of the liver it prevents 
And to the nerves and art’ries gives ex- 
tents. 
It is a foe profest 
To all consumptions.” 
An archery outfit does not necessarily 
consist of merely a bow and arrow. Besides 
them, there may be the target and target 
stand, of course; gloves, quiver belts, finger 
tips, arm guards and bow cases, as well 
as various other accessories, most of which 
are seldom found except in the kits of pro- 
fessionals. 
The target is a circular pad, measuring 
from eighteen to forty-eight inches in 
diameter, usually made of straw with a 
canvas covering, upon which is painted 
a central disk of yellow surrounded by 
bands of red, blue, black and the outer 
one, white. It is made to rest on a tripod 
or standard so that when in place the 
central disk is at a distance of four feet 
from the ground. A target costs anywhere 
from a dollar and a-half to ten dollars, 
according to size; the standards, two and a- 
half or three dollars. 
The finger stalls are open thimbles of 
soft, fine, but always strong, leather, and 
Wis 
hie os, 
