The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 13, 1901, Page 11

be began a series to behold. r to me, d fac- 3ob Acres ng the least nent.. More- e firmly with the tces pointed out to the left, e speaker threw open a window hich biade of grass shall ( onc looked imcredulous e 1 i return and added, ot distinguigh one from ry this,” and he tossed a shot French pea on a bit of yard. As the shot roiled ne until it nestled in pavement ire when you eay. ' snapped the little rifle and the »pped off tQ one side. Senhor “In the summer it is more amusing to clip the wings off a fly, but this Is good practics, firing down at such an ang'e as this.” The shot was fired from a second-story window at an angle of about forty-five degroes and the object was about twe: five feet distant. “This is merely 3 little toy gun, with which 1 amuse the children sometimes. It is not 80 very accurate, bat perhaps 1 can show you another thing that conveys betier my meaning. There 16 a something, an intangible ra phrt, that the true marksman must have. Then he canpot fall. Here, I will wave this rifle about so (describing with the barrel cireles about a foot in diameter), and when you give the command I wul shoot.” “Go—snap!" went the command and the explosion simuiltaneously it seemed. The missile gped straight to the mark, a small matchsafe across the room. “You see, one must shoot at the precise psychologic instant 0r the bullet will go astray.” DSHoeOoTING . AT MATCH BOX ON LIMING TARGETS HEAD, It seemed es if the shoster had not aimed at all and some one sald so. “Oh; well, that is noc always necessary.” retortéd the Minister, laughing. “I'll hold the rifie in one hand, waist high, and see if [ eannot put another buliet through the aperture made by that other one.” Presto, he had reloaded, cocked and fired the rifle in a trice and the second pellet had fol- lowed the first. “The archer does not aim. He knows theé power of his bow and the trajectory of his arrow. He and his fnstrument are en rapport and the shaft plerces the bulls- eye. 8o It should be to-day with modern weapons."” Then he whirled the rifle under his leg and put another bullet through the tiny matchbox. Leaning over and looking through his legs, with his head almost on the floor, Senhor Brasil lired onge more and unerringly. “Bah, that is all theatrical.” he said, “Let us not discuss it. But would vou sit down over there and let me place this othér side of the matchbox on top of SPAR RS WS SIMULTANEOUSLZ THE SUNDAY CALL. KILLING Two your head. There! The head a little more to the left, Now I will put a bullet through the head of the little man ple- tured on the box.” Walking off a few paces, the Minister drew a bead and fired. “Oh, but you moved, ever so little,” he murmured. * involuntarily, of course, but still I faney we did not miss the mark altogether."” Stooping down, he picked the box off the floor and pointed smilingly to the hole through the neck’of the man. “Shall we try again? Perhaps the next one Will go straighter,” “N+no,” ejaculated the Willlam Tell subject. “The: er—meck was straight enough. Very good shot, indeed.” “Perhaps you would be kind enough to hold this card wnd let me see if I cannot split i, turning to another gentleman in the party. “I will fire at your command, M'sieur. Ping! Again the aim was true, and the thin card was sliced as if by a knife blade.. Again, holding a small hand mir- -— - o ror in his hand, the Miniater hit his bull's- eve with the certitude and accuracy of a clock ticking off the seconds. Extinguish- © ing a lighted match and exploding a car- tridge half imbedded in a board imme- diately behind it was still another diver- sion. Yet more wonderful was the simul- taneous shooting of two sparrows, fifty or sixty feet apart, as they pecked at little mounds of grain. Sighting first one pistol and then the other, the marksman, standing midway between the two birds, shot both at the same Instant. He never uses a shotgun in hunting, be- lieving bullets are more humane, “A bul- let kills Instantaneously,” he said, “while shot scatter and maim."” Senhor Brasil is fond of partridge shoot- ing and invariably uses ong of the several guns made for him by Galand. the cele- brated Parisian fabricant of fancy fire- arms. ke prefers a rifle always, but he has shotguns and light and heavy caliber pleces galore. Their weight, the length of barrel, the =fiing and particularly the sights and wind gauges are all made from his own data. The stocks are inlaid with gold, usually his family coat of arms or a hunting scene of pointers and seiters afield. RAZILIAN [‘1|NUTE;{ AT WAsHINGTON YA MARVEL When stationed in the mother country (Portugal) he did considerable shooting with the Q rself a clever-shot, and a number of the forelgn Embassadors at hon. Several photographs showing him on his Arabian charger Kermek, which he secured from the royal stud and fmported into Portugal, and others in which Senhor Brasil is seen shooting at small stones or glass balls thrown Into the air by some of the imperial party in the palace gardens, have been mounted for stereopticon views. One in particular shows the ohject in the air the instant the buliet shattered it, and the smoke of the rifle, too. Senhor Brasil uses smokeless powder now, and often loads his own cartridges for any delicate work. Among his galaxy of firearms is a urique eane gun. Barrel and handle look exactly like an ordinary walking stick, but a wooden plug ferule may be with- drawn instanter and a lever drawn in the angle of the handie; quick as a wink a hammer eprings up and a cartridge falls into place. When he was a student at college Senhor Brasil used to mystify the natives "as he walked along, books {n hand, by suddenly drupping a bird or squirrel'a hundred yards away, apparént- Iy after merely pointing his black cane at the objects. Another curfo is a five-chambered poek- et revolver, with a barrel just an inch long. The whole affair !s more ecompact than a short stemmed bulidog briar pipe, and yet he says it is very accurate up to several hundred feet. Suil anether firearm is & double barreled, one barrel rifled; the other not, and so light and well Salanced that the owner handles it with one hand, as if it were a pistcl, A brace of duelling pistols, an elephant gun of very heavy caliber for shooting explosive bullets, air rifies and divers other pieces repose in the handsome plush lined cabinet that just matches the boak- cases in the big library. Every variety of American firearm may be found in this collection—hair triggers, hammerless guns and what not—and yet this does not com- prise all of his assortment. ‘The Brasilian Minister's brothers are all good shots, but neither his nor their talent in this direction is inherited, for his father was not consplcuous for his ability as a marksman. On the exteénsive paternal ranch not very far from Rio Senhor Bra- sil learned to ride apd shoot, and, finding he had considerabie \aptitude in gunnery, he practiced ardently. At school and coi- 1ége he divided his time between the class- fes and cartridges. To-day s library and his guncase are bhis especial delights. English, French, Spanish and Portuguesa classics line the walis of the big granite home of the Brazilian Embassy: Bryce's “American Commonwealth,” Fiske's Nis- tories, Whately's logic and all the famil- iar standard works, too, bear evidence of bis acquaintance. Immigration has poured into Brazil so DSHOOTING AT 11 COMMANE- profusely of late and the commerce of the greatest country of South America has grown %0 that the Minister at W ington is increasingly busy and must needs be a constant student of affairs It is two years since Senhor J. F. de Assis Brasfl assumed the duties of this fmpor- tant post, and no one has made greater strides in official and private esteem at the American capltal than he. He is a clever amateur photographer as well as a marksman, and is quick at re- partee, as instanced by a remark he made “Wait an instant, I want to make a snap shot.” he sald, ralsing his eprecatingly; “rather hand to hi try a rifle “Why t would be mors dangerous.” 7 “A rifle ap shot sometimes slays a reputation, vou know." But perhaps the most astonishing feat of dexterity he performs with five matehies without the ald of a gun. He eca it his “gun carriage demonstration.” t is a sort of fancy ard shot exhibi- tion, and mereiy shows the marvelous del fca of touch that will come from long * was the retort. e. It Is usually dome across the th of a dining-room table. The gun carriage is made of three matches laid in the form of e letter H, with the foot of the H parallel to the table's edge. A fourth match Is faid over the cross bar of the “gun carriage.” the barre! of a cannon resting on its trv nions, with the butt end of the mat projecting a quarter of an fnch be: the edge of the table, and the head p ing to the opposite side. Across the table a fifth match is stood up on end in a cellar. Taking an ordinary dimner knife the Minister bends the blade back like the spring of & catapult and strikes the “gun” sharply on the butt. It flles across the table and knocks down the right match, about half the time stri squarely on the head and lighting both matehes. People who bave never seen this done rarely belleve it pc ter has so far convertéd a friends by ble an actua ne allowed an acc provoked, thought the opinion might become current t he was a sort of parlor magi eas he is renlly a consclenti ergetic, well-rounded business man devoted to the duties of his office. when affairs of d of that Minister ms and It is e have been dis- ragil indulges his nd delights those congenial friends who have the entree of P penehant for fire Using Dogs in the RArrmics to Qarry Ammuniticn. In our English service the system adopt- ed for replenishing the ammunition of the troops engaged has consisted in selecting & certain number of men to earry car- tridges from the rear up to the firing line, 1t having been spparently supposed that it would be foasitie for these men to move along the line and to dist:'bute ammuni- tion to those whose pouches were empty. We very soon learned that such a system could not be of any use under modern conditions. The men carrying up the am- munition would Inevitably be shot befora reaching the fromt, and the men on the firing line would be left with empty pouches, So we must find some other method of salving this impertant prob lem, which has also to be considered connection with the action of artill We know that at Colenso it was impo: ble to keep the guns, afterward aban- doned, supplied with ammunition. and with the prospect that the rate of fire of our guns will be considerably Iner the near future this problem bids be more acute than ever. In certaln foreigh armies the servic specially trained dogs have been re tioned to get over the diffieul These dogs are fitted with a sort of saddle which will carry a quantity of rifle ammunition, and are italned to race to the front, and, arrived there, 1o permit the soldlers to r lieve them their burden. I think quite possible that it mray be found prac- tieal to ‘Kesp Infantry supolied in this manner. but some other means will have 10 be found for replenishing the iimbers of our artillery. It is very pradable that we shall see dogs utilized in many other ways in the fighting of the future. For instance, they would be very usaful on outpost duty to give warning of an en- emy's approach, and if degs were at- tached to our field hospitals they would Le of the greatest assistance in searching for the wounded after an action.—London Natlonal Review. house.