AMERICAN ARCHERY 



Recreation is the Official Publication 

 of the National Archery Association 



OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. 



At a meeting of the Executive Committee 

 of the National Archery Association, held re- 

 cently, Recreation was made the Official 

 Publication of the Association. All official 

 announcements, notices, news and gossip re- 

 lating to the work of the national body will 

 be found in these columns in future. 



DR. EDWARD B. WESTON 

 President of the National Archery Association, 1905 



THE CHICAGO MEET. 



The annual meeting of the National Arch- 

 ery Association of the United States will be 

 held this year in Chicago, August 15-18, in- 

 clusive. The indications are that a large 

 number of Archers, ladies and gentlemen, 

 will be present. 



Dr. Edward B. Weston, 85 Dearborn street, 

 Chicago, will be pleased to give any informa- 

 tion in regard to the meeting. 



FROM A VETERAN TO A NOVICE. 



Here is an interesting letter written by an 

 old-timer to a beginner which we are en- 

 abled to print through the courtesy of Dr. 

 Weston : 



Two things set me to thinking of you this 

 morning; first the splendid flood of sunlight 

 that came pouring through my window at 



early morning, calling up memories of Arch- 

 ery fields, and of days long gone in woods 

 and fields, with bow and quiver, when I was 

 young as you, and life was a full-fed river, 

 "with beaded bubbles at the brim." Second, 

 a letter came in from our treasurer calling 

 for a little contribution to help on the cause 

 of a new meeting, only seven short months 

 away. You and I will meet, I hope, and on 

 a fairer Archery field than that we staked 

 out in the liquid mud of the Stadium. 

 Sloppy and hateful as that job was, I remem- 

 ber it with great pleasure, for there I got a 

 new friend, and shall never be quite so great 

 an enemy to the water-soaked earth as be- 

 fore. It is the "evil wind that blows no 

 good," you know. 



I hope you are studying the "draw and 

 loose" during the days of winter, when shoot- 

 ing in the field is denied. Much can be 

 learned indoors. 



I have had but two or three chances to 

 shoot since the meeting at St. Louis, once 

 at Portland, when I scored about 480 at the 

 single York, getting 45 — 219 at 100 yards 5j 

 and once in wild rain and wind on Thanks- 

 giving day, when I made less than 400 with 

 96 at 60 yards, and once last week, when I 

 scored a single York as follows : 



100 Yards 

 53—211 



80 Yards 

 42 — 204 



60 Yards 

 23— in 



Total. 

 118—526 



So you will see how unreliable even an old 

 veteran can be. Sometimes I can shoot al- 

 most as well as I wish, and again I can't 

 hit anything, and for some occult reason I 

 cannot possibly get a good score at a public 

 meeting. I suppose my nerves are strung too 

 high to shoot well in public. Most persons 

 fail at tournaments. 



I sincerely hope to see you shooting well 

 next season. What you need to do is to 

 observe the following rules : 



1. Get a good sharp-casting bow. 



2. Test your arrows until you prove that 

 all shoot alike. Six arrows may all be good, 

 and yet no two shoot alike, and hence the 

 scoring will be poor. 



3. Draw a little lower — under the jaw, not 

 beside it. 



4. Draw 27-inch arrows (full long enough 

 for you) to within an inch of the head, — hold 

 steadily an instant, while getting your aim, 

 and then do the one, necessary, all-important 

 thing, while holding steadily, draw the other 



72 



