I found the first chapter of this guys book, a fun and interesting read but it does lack paragraphs. I added some to make it readable here. The section on facts at the end of the book is a good read too.
link to the book online if ya want to see it. C.A. Bogardus: One Thousand Secrets of Rich and Wise Men Revealed ; 1898, privately printed by author, author from Aurora, Illinois was Champion Quick Shot of the World,
CHAPTER I.
QUICK SHOOTING RECORDS.
From the time I was twelve years old I was considered a very fine shot with a rifle, although I did but very little shooting, and, in fact, did not know that I was any more than a common marksman; yet in any contests while a boy I always won.
One day in June, 1884, while passing a shooting gallery, my friends called me in for a match to pay for shots: I beat them all shooting, my score was 11 consecutive bull's eyes, while none of my friends had made half that score. The boys said I did well, to which I jestingly remarked that "that was common shooting for me; just throw up an apple and I will hit it." The apple was thrown up, and I hit it, which was as much of a surprise to me as it was to any of the rest. I then borrowed a 22-calibre Stevens rifle and practiced shooting at objects thrown in the air, first shooting at tomato cans, afterwards at smaller objects, and finally at marbles and various other small objects.
By practicing half an hour a day, within a month I could hit 70 per cent of the glass balls which were thrown in the air. On July 4, 1884, I shot a match with James Robinson, at Pratt, Kansas; conditions, 10 glass balls each at 21 foot rise, he using a shot gun, I a rifle; I lost with a score of 4 to 6. This is the only match I ever lost with a rifle against a shot gun. The trouble with me was, this being my first match, I was thinking more about the stake money than the shooting. Besides the stake money which I lost, I had to treat all the boys who attended the match; they all laughed and had a good time at my expense.
The next day after my shoot with Robinson, I sent to P. Power & Son, of Cincinnati, for a 32-calibre Winchester repeating rifle. I continued practicing with the Winchester for about six weeks, when I challenged G. W. Washburn of Kingman, Kansas, to a match. (Mr. W. was at that time champion of Kingman County.) He to use a shot gun at glass balls from a Moles rotary trap, 21 yards rise, I to use a 32-calibre Winchester, balls from a straight trap, 10� yards rise, 50 balls each. In the toss up I won and preferred to shoot second. The score was a tie on 47 balls; we shot the tie off at 10 balls each; again we tied on ten balls straight. The match was continued at 10 balls more each. By this time things had become a little exciting. Over $1500 was bet; many were betting $4 to $1 against me, thinking that I would lose my nerve and go to missing. Mr. W. walked to the score for the third time and broke 9 balls out of 10 shot at; it then came my turn to shoot, and I hit nine balls in succession when I was interrupted by a big fellow who offered to bet $25 I would miss the 10th ball; this bet was accepted, and it turned out that the fellow had just spoken in time to lose his $25, for the 10th ball had not got eight feet from the trap when I broke it. I won this match with a score of 67 against 66 out of 70 balls shot at.
I then went to shooting at glass balls with rifle against a shot gun, and in the past 20 years I have competed against 206 good trap shots and have not lost a match. I will mention only a few of them. In the summer of '85, in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, an expert shooter came over from Cold Water, Kansas, to shoot with me. We had a match at target, distance 90 feet, with 22-calibre Stephens rifle; he used globe and peep sight, I used open sights. The score stood in my favor 114 to 107 out of a possible 120, at a quarter-inch bull's eye. The next day we shot a match at 100 glass balls, he using a shot gun, I a rifle. The score stood 99 to 94 in my favor.
I will mention a match which I had in Omaha, Nebraska, in August, 1886. There was nothing very striking about this match because of fine shooting; I only mention it to show how unfair people sometimes are toward strangers. I have forgotten the man's name, but he was a barber working on Tenth street; he held a championship medal that he had won in Dakota with a Winchester rifle at glass balls. He challenged me to shoot three matches: First, 100 glass balls hanging still from the limb of a tree, fifty yards distance. Second match at 100 balls, 10 yards rise, thrown by hand. Third match, each to shoot 100 glass balls laid on the ground in a circle 200 feet in circumference, balls two feet apart, shooter to stand in the center of the circle, the one who broke the balls in the shortest time to win, but neither of us was allowed more than 133 shots in which to break the 100 balls. I had heard a good deal said of this man, over Nebraska everywhere he was spoken of as a fine shot, and in the first match I was really afraid of being beaten, for I never had practiced a great amount at stationary targets, but on the whole I was not afraid, for the party who won two out of the series of matches was to be declared the winner. In the first match I broke 100 balls in 206 shots, while my opponent broke 82 in the same number of shots; this made me easy winner of the first match. In the second match all kinds of tricks were resorted to, to beat me. My opponent's friends tried to rattle me by offering to bet that I would miss certain balls, but when they failed in this, the party throwing the balls would first throw a ball four feet high, then one 20 feet high, while my opponent's were thrown uniformly. Notwithstanding the fact that I was treated very unfair, the score stood a tie on 83 balls out of 100. In the third match at 100 balls in shortest time, I won easily, breaking the 100 balls in two minutes and three seconds, shooting 127 shots, while my opponent broke 61 balls in 133 shots, time four minutes, forty-two seconds.
In Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 21, 1889, I shot on time at 100 glass balls against five men with shot guns, I using a 32-calibre Winchester rifle. I broke 100 balls in ninety-five seconds, while the five men broke 100 balls in three minutes and two seconds. Ravena, Ohio, July 4, 1890, I broke 250 glass balls in four minutes and sixteen seconds. At Newark, N.Y., July 4, 1891, I broke 81 glass balls in seventy-four seconds, 31 of which I broke in sixteen seconds, which is far the best record ever made with a rifle. In all of the matches I had assistants to load. I have hit 39 44-calibre cartridge shells out of 110 thrown up, 67 22-calibre cartridge shells out of 110 thrown up.
The most difficult feat I ever performed was hitting 7 balls thrown up at one time. This I did at Shelby, Michigan, October 24, 1889, using a 44-calibre Winchester rifle loaded with shot cartridges. On July 4, 1893, I hit 1000 wooden balls with 22-calibre Marlin rifle in 17� minutes, which is 9.25 minutes quicker than the feat has ever been accomplished by any other person.
I have thrown an object into the air and hit it 12 times before it struck the ground, I using an automatic shot gun.
In concluding this article, I will suggest to those learning to shoot, that as a workman is known by the kind of tools he uses, it is equally true of the marksman. In order to do good shooting a good gun must be used. As a repeating rifle I have never seen the equal of the Marlin, model '92. When the gun is kept in good repair, used with well loaded cartridges, it is absolutely sure to repeat, a thing that I cannot say of any other repeating rifle. Although others are good, I consider the Marlin the best.
C. A. BOGARDUS,
Champion Quick Shot of the World.
