114 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Jan. 25, 1913 
DR. EDWARD B. WESTON. 
The Dean of the Eraternity. 
of proper equipments. The bow I used on the 
first day was a new one, and had never been 
exposed to the sun. It is marked fifty-five 
pounds, and after standing in the sun a short time, 
did not draw forty-five pounds. The bow used 
on the second day was five pounds below that 
weight, which I could loose well. But what 
causes this letting down of muscular and ner¬ 
vous force? This question, or rather the answer, 
interests all archers. It is common on an archery 
field to hear of this or that one “breaking up.” 
This “breaking up” is simply a failure of the 
forces necessary to a proper loose. When a good 
archer properly equipped “breaks up,” he needs 
rest and nourishment. Excitement wall affect 
him much less than the lack of bread and meat 
and sleep. 
What causes this failure of the necessary 
forces? There are many causes, chief among 
them a long ride without proper rest, food and 
sleep; the performance of labor which you are 
not accustomed to immediately preceding the 
shooting; standing in the hot sun on a July day, 
when you are accustomed to working indoors, or 
in the shade, and other similar causes. 
The great trouble with American archers is 
that they are always in a hurry and fail to take 
proper food and rest. 
When they go to a national or State meet¬ 
ing, they rush off in a hurry, and when they get 
there, they retire later and rise earlier than they 
do at home. No archer who pursues this course 
can hope to approach his or her score on the 
private range. 
The points to which I refer are wdthin my 
own experience, and those who take time to read 
what I have written will at once conclude that 
I consider good loosing the crowning difficulty 
in archery. This is precisely what I believe. 
IMost of the bad shooting of good archers is 
caused by bad loosing. If the loose is bad, it 
matters little how well the bow is drawn, or 
accurately the aim is taken; the shooting will be 
indifferent. It is difficult, if not impossible, to 
describe a good loose. But it may be asserted 
without fear of contradiction that no loose is 
good in which the fingers of the right hand are 
not freed from the string by a backward move¬ 
ment of the hand. If the fingers are freed from 
the string by a continuation of the draw, or 
backward movement, the bow arm, as well as 
the right hand, will remain in position after the 
arrow has left the bow. If, on the contrary, the 
fingers go forward with the string, at the 
moment of loose, the bow arm will give way, 
the shot will be bad, and the archer will appear 
dazed and disconcerted. 
I am conscious of my inability to make my¬ 
self understood on this point, but if the archer 
who is laboring under this difficulty will try the 
experiment of loosing a few arrows with the 
determination that the right hand shall remain 
in position after the arrow has left the bow, the 
point to which I allude will be discovered. If 
the hand goes backward from the string at the 
moment of loose, the archer will remain firmer 
in position after the arrow is gone, but if it 
goes forward, the right hand will drop and the 
bow arm will go down at once. 
The surest way to prevent the hand going 
forward with the string is to make the final 
draw after the aim is taken very slow and even 
to the point of loosing. By this means the 
archer will continue the backward pressure on 
the string to the very instant of loosing, and 
though the arrow, to the observer, will stop its 
backward movement over the bow for an in¬ 
stant, the archer will feel from the force he is 
using to continue the backward movement, that 
the arrow continues to move until the last 
moment and does not stop at all. Of course 
the arrow stops the backward movement before 
it starts in the opposite direction, no matter how 
the loose may be made; and if the archer at 
this instant is keeping up the backward force 
on the string, he will accomplish a good loose. 
Hark Ye! New York Archers. 
New York City, Jan. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: It is earnestly requested that all lady 
and gentlemen archers in the vicinity of New 
York communicate at once with the undersigned. 
president of the New York Archery Club. This 
club is a revival of the New York Archery Club, 
which used to hold meets in Central Park, and 
the Brooklyn Archery Club, whose range in 
Prospect Park was famous. The revival was 
effected last summer and a number of enthu¬ 
siasts held regular matches in Sheepshead Bay 
race track, where Superintendent Frank T. 
Clarke kindly offered a range and other facilities. 
Arrangements are now being made to secure 
an adequate and convenient range in Manhattan 
or Brooklyn. Announcement of this will be 
made at an early date. The number of appli¬ 
cants for membership is gratifying, and as soon 
as the range has been decided upon, a general 
meeting will be called, at which a constitution 
and by-laws will be adopted, new officers elected, 
etc. In case membership is large enough, it may 
be advisable to have two sections, with a range 
in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. For this 
reason communication with everyone interested 
is desired. The shooting season begins as soon 
as winter “breaks up.” In a few weeks we 
ought to be able to let fly our arrows. 
The revival of this sport of kings in Greater 
New York is of historic interest. Up to about 
thirty years ago Brooklyn had the largest club 
in the county. Central Park had a big club and 
Spuyten Duyvil also was in line. Like some 
other localities, this city lost interest and the 
clubs ceased activity. Happily the interest did 
not wholly die, and when the writer set about 
the revival of the clubs, he found several sur¬ 
vivors of the great days keenly interested. E. I. 
Horsman, who thirty years ago was the leading 
archery tackle manufacturer in this country, and 
his son. E. I. Horsman, Jr., who in those days 
was classed as a “boy archer” ; Frank Pearsall, 
the well-known Brooklyn photographer, who was 
secretary of the Brooklyn Club and as its official 
photographer has over 100 negatives of the 
prominent people and events of the day; D. A. 
Nash, secretary of the New York Pilot Com¬ 
mission, and in the old days one of the best 
archers in the county, and Edward Parker, of 
Brooklyn, are all embers. Mr. Horsman and 
his son are so much impressed by the growing 
importance of the sport that they are preparing 
a revision of Horsman's “How to Train in 
Archery,” the standard guide of thirty years 
r.eft to right: H. S. Taylor, Chicago; H. B. Richardson, Boston; Wm. H. Thompson, Seattle; W. H. Wills, New York. 
