Winfield M1876 Centennial Sniper
WINFIELD M1876 CENTENNIAL SNIPER (See also, WINFIELD, RIFLES) After the Winfield M1876 Centennial s stunning debut at the 1876 Centennial International Exposition, the rifle soon became a firm favorite among hunters. Its increased stopping power over lighter repeating rifles made it ideal for big game hunting. To capitalize on this, the rifle was later sold with fixed hunting scope, a variant which proved even more popular.
Topic: Local folklores
Single sheets. Typewritten transcription. 8 x 11 in.
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At the time, there were half a dozen other Wild West Shows approaching our size. We were bigger than ever, the money was good, and the competition fierce. And things got bad after that, we lost a lot of good performers.
I told you about Ethyl and Jana already. Then Jane, well. We developed a double act, her and me, and performed it for a year and one day. It was a hit. It went this way.
We plucked a story out of thin air: the time Jane chased me down to set me straight. We set up a series of obstacles she would chase me through, and all the while we'd be shooting at each other, dramatically just missing every time, panes of glass shattering, and barrels of water sprung with leaks to mark how close we'd come to death.
There were some greater feats too. I would shoot a rope Jane was climbing, she would cause something to fall in my way, and when I thought I was home free she'd shoot the nut off a wagon wheel so it collapsed
Jane always used a Centennial, I trust you remember her prior association with that gun? This had a scope attached, to catch a dazzling light, and she would hardly break a stride when the ring of her gunshot was followed with a crescendo, the crash and bang of something falling apart. Always pursuing relentlessly. It was pulse-racing, and the danger of it delighted the crowd.
The finale featured me trapped, cornered at last. I would raise my six shooter and fire a final time, the audiences holding their breath, only to hear the empty click of an empty cylinder. Except for one year and one day after our first performance. I raised my gun, and Jane her rifle, but there was no hollow click to relieve the audience. Instead, the terrible ring of gunshot, and Jane's groans as she collapsed.
