406 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March 29, 1913 
as to which constitutes the better shooting. 
According to our hunting literature, the latter 
score would be considered far superior to the 
other one. Let us consider the three misses as 
compared to the three arrows in the white 
circle. According to our arbitrary size of target 
and value of the colors, the three white shots 
count infinitely more than the three misses. 
Judging from the position of the three missed 
arrows on the ground, it was probable that they 
missed the target by an average of about six 
inches, and thus came about thirty inches from 
the exact center. Now, are three shots twenty- 
two inches from the center infinitely better than 
three shots thirty inches away? It all depends 
upon our point of view. 
It would be a simple matter to calculate the 
absolute value of hits and score, and place them 
on a mathematically correct basis, but this would 
involve the use of elliptical targets of increas¬ 
ing size and eccentricity as the distance from 
the archer becomes greater. This is, of course, 
impracticable, and out of the question. With 
circular targets of one size for all distances, 
the true value of the various circles and the 
comparative values of hits compared to score 
varies, and will always remain arbitrary. 
The greatest objection to the point system 
is the following reason: In measuring length, 
time, weight, or any other quantity, a definite, 
unalterable unit is always selected as the basis 
of estimation or comparison. We must do the 
same in archery. The unit employed in the 
point system is a variable quantity; i. e., the 
highest number of hits or score made by the 
various archers at each separate distance in that 
particular tournament, and not the highest at¬ 
tainable number of hits and score as it should 
be. The first principle in measuring is the 
adoption of a definite unit. This unit has been 
fixed for every sport but archery. In baseball, 
it is the number of runs; in football, the sum¬ 
mation of the score; in golf, the number of 
strokes required to complete the course, etc., 
but in archery, it is a different quantity at every 
tournament and not fixed until every man has 
completed the round. How' ridiculous it would 
seem, if in a game of baseball, we wmuld figure 
the winner by assigning one point per inning 
to the team that made the most hits, irrespective 
of w'hether they were singles or home runs; one 
point per inning for the greatest score, or num¬ 
ber of runs; two points for total hits; two more 
per total score; and then in case of a tie decide 
the game on the basis of the greater score! We 
use a similar method in archery, the only dif¬ 
ference being that baseball has nine innings, 
while archery has three. 
In comparing the scores of the past, w^e 
consider first the total score, with just a glance 
at the number of hits. We never see any men¬ 
tion of the number of points those scores were 
rated. \Vhy not? Because they would be 
meaningless, not being based on a fixed unit 
of comparison. Still, w'e stick to the old irra¬ 
tional system. 
FOR ARCHERY SUPPLIES 
Write for Archery Catalogue. 
E. I. HORSMAN CO. 365 Broadway, N. Y. 
Scottish-American Archery Club. 
Jersey City, N. J., March 19.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The Scottish-American Archery 
Club of New Jersey has made all preparations 
for their first full season on the range. Be¬ 
ginning September last with only two shooters, 
it speaks well for the sport itself, that at the 
season’s finish on Thanksgiving Day there were 
eighteen regular members in the club, all un¬ 
solicited and as keen as a razor should be. 
On the first Saturday in April, at the Hud¬ 
son County Park, Jersey City, the first official 
attack on the target will be made, and as the 
possibilities are that at least thirty shooters 
will take part in the game this year, the park 
commissioners have been approached and 
promised to find the archers a new and more 
commodious range. As is well known in the 
State of New Jersey, the leading event of the 
athletic world is the annual sports and athletic 
carnival held at Schuetzen Park, Union Hill, 
each Decoration Day under the auspices of 
the Clan McLeod O. S. C. This year the care 
of the event has been placed with your humble 
servant with instructions to give archery a lead¬ 
ing position on the program. This is the first 
time I believe that archery has been given its 
rightful place as a sporting event, and I trust 
that as many archers as can arrange to do so 
will rally round to make it a little more than 
a local event. Full particulars can be had by 
applying to our club secretary, Mr. John M. 
Cleland, 726 Sims street, West Hoboken, N. J. 
James Duff. 
Red Cedar Bows. 
Boston, Mass., March 20.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Years ago—say, a small generation or 
so, we all were enthusiastically hunting for 
better bow wood. Among others we tried red 
cedar. 
It was lovely to draw. And while it lasted 
was the best we could get. short of expensive 
yew. (I have a vague recollection that some 
opulent beggar who had opportunity to .know 
declared it was better). But, alas! it would 
break in due time, without warning. Once a 
good stave came my way, and I made a bow of 
extra thickness. Some months later it suddenly 
broke in three pieces under an ordinary draw. 
Makers tried backing it with rawhide; but the 
result was always the same, so they gave it up. 
Just now I'm out of the red-cedar clime, and 
my bow-arm is out of action also for months 
to come; but an idea has occurred to me. 
The shock of the cord is doubtless the bow- 
wrecker. What if this was taken up by a rubber 
pad or ring around the nock as a shock ab¬ 
sorber? I don’t believe anyone has tried that. 
Won’t somebody “borrow” a red-cedar 
fence rail by the light of the moon, in that land 
where fence rails grow, and try out this idea? 
John Preston True. 
Looking Forward <0 a Feast. 
Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 16.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: To say that I enjo}'ed E. J. Rend- 
torff's “An Archer’s Confession of Faith,” would 
be putting it rather mildly. I can hardly wait 
for the second part to appear. When it does, I 
shall file the whole gem away in the choicest 
part of my archery scrap-book, where it will be 
treasured, indeed. 
Thanks to Forest and Stream, the afore¬ 
said scrap-book has been feasting on a choice 
diet of late, such as Richardson's, “Hunting with 
the Long Bow”; the scholarly papers by Dr. 
Weston, to whom archers owe so much; Thomp¬ 
son’s ’possum (figuratively feasting only). 
Thanks to Mr. Thompson for publishing that 
dandy skit. Shame on you Challis for not giv¬ 
ing it to us at first; don't do it again. 
This book of mine looks forward to a sea¬ 
son of plenty. I fancy that I can see it emerg¬ 
ing from the present year fat and sleek with 
material from the pens of the masters of the craft. 
Wouldn’t it be delightful to open Forest 
AND Stre.vm and find more articles like the ones 
mentioned and these: “Training with the Long 
Bow,” Richardson; “Developing the Hunting 
Arrow,” Jackson; “Afield with the Bow,” 
Thompson; “Lucky Shots,” IMcGowan; “Aly 
Best Shots,” Challis; “Discovering the Lost Art 
of the Bowyer,” Barnes; “Flight Shots,” Max- 
son; “Fledging Arrows,” Duffy; “My Archery 
Collection,” Taylor. 
The writer has but little time to devote to 
the long bow, but looks forward to a time when 
he can have time to do a lot of serious train¬ 
ing at target, as most of his shooting has been 
in the fields and forest with hunting arrows. 
Am getting a little practice with hunting- 
arrows at a target of baled straw in the back 
yard—^distance forty to sixty feet. “Where 
there is a will, there’s a way.” Working on a 
new set of hunting arrows, to do a little poach¬ 
ing. Squirrels are right plentiful on an old 
estate near here, and I figure on going out with 
“Dutchy” some of these days and bagging a 
few. Am working over an old yew bow for her, 
for she wants to be an archer, too. Will advise 
you what luck we have. 
A prosperous and happy New Year to the 
Foee.st and Stream archery column and the 
readers and writers of the same. 
Euclid D. DIiller. 
Wayne Archers’ Bid. 
The Wayne archers cordially invite the 
Eastern Archery Association to hold a tourna¬ 
ment in Wayne on the Fourth of July, 1913- 
Since the resurrection of the association in 
1911, a mail match has been held each fall to 
determine the champions of the York and Amer¬ 
ican rounds. The archers of the East have shot 
on the ranges of their respective clubs on a date 
previously agreed upon and their scores have 
been sent in to the secretary for comparison. It 
is now believed that this insipid sort of contest 
may be successfully replaced by a tournament of 
one day's duration in a place centrally enough 
located to be fairly easily reached from Boston 
and Pittsburgh and very easily from New York. 
Wayne is a suburb of Philadelphia; fourteen 
miles from Broad street station on the Main 
Line. Trains run every few minutes. 
It is designed to shoot a single American 
round in the morning and a single York round 
in the afternoon, the winners to be awarded the 
championships for the succeeding year, and to 
be given the appropriate medals. If a reason¬ 
able number of good archers take part in the 
meet, it should do much to stimulate interest in 
archery in the vicinity of Philadelohia. 
Allan C. Hale, 
Secretary of Wayne Archers 
