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Show Both Hands Gone, Ohio Prodigy Is Crack Shot AL W1NEMTT.T.T1R. At Left Pulling Trigger With Teeth. At Right Ready to Climb Fences. - Al Winemiller Carries Gun With Thong, Loads It With Mouth and Pulls Trigger With Teeth "WAPAKONETA. O.. April 22. Possessing Pos-sessing only the stump of an arm on the left side, and no arm at all on tho right side, and using his teeth to pull the trigger. Al Winemiller Is concoded to be ono of tho most amassing rifle shots In Ohio. If not In tho United States, a statement state-ment that will be attested by all who have entered Into competition with him, either In shooting at clay pigeons, live birds or a bull's-ove target. So far asx Ib known, thero Is no living man handicapped as Winemiller Is who has made such a record, and not for tho purpose of rcvenuo or- exhibition, but purely for the love of-a sport that he has followed from boyhood. ,He would rather win a match with no stakes at all than forego tho pleasure of the competition. com-petition. His winnings since tho first of i January havo been two quarters of boef, one beef hide and SI in cash. What makes WIncmlller's performance perform-ance all tho moro extraordinary Is tho fact that ho did not lose his right arm until flftoon months ago. His loft hand was caught In the cogs of a traction engine en-gine and crushed Into a pulp In 1S93. and an amputation above the wrist becamo necessary. Up to that tlmo he had been an enthusiastic hunter, always scorning a shotgun and employing a rifle exclusively, exclu-sively, even in tho shooting of small game. I-Io had a wonderful eye for range, and with his old ono-shot rifle and black powder charges, Instead of tho motallic cartridge that he uses now. he made some wondqrful scores. Ills accuracy of aim continued even after his hand had been crushed and romoved. This accident did not Interfere with his lovo of his chosen sport any longer than It took tho stump to heal and to enable him to devise a strap hold which ho used in lieu of a hand. Ann Gone, Keeps on Shooting. In January. 1010. Wlnemlller's right arm was caught in a four-Inch belt running run-ning from a bolt cutter In the shop of tho Wupek Wheel company. Ho was drawn un to the line shaft and whirled around until his arm was mashed and inanglod closo up to the shoulder socket. Tho surgeons took It off entirely. Wlne-mlllor Wlne-mlllor mado a marvelous recovery, and as soon as ho was ablo to bo about ho began devising means to onablo him tr keep on shooting. He bought a twenty-two repeating Remington and had a holo bored In tho trigger. Through this he fastened a wiro and covered tho frco end of it with a leather bit which ho could take In his mouth. This dovlco was mado under his direction by a gunsmith, and thon he went off Into tho woods where no ono would see him so that he could practice and carry out tho plan hn lwid In vlow. This town Is sixty miles north of Day-Ion, Day-Ion, In the gsis and coal region, and almost everybody within a radius of forly miles knows tho annloss marksman, marks-man, and Is proud of his skill and courage cour-age In continuing in a sport after being crippled In a manner that would havo discouraged ninety men out of a hundred. hun-dred. Loads Magazine With Mouthy When Winemiller Is ready to gq; into uetlon he solccts a stump or a fallen log, wriggles out of his coat, shakes the box of cartridges out of a specially prepared pocket, removes tho lid with Ids tooth and dumps tho cartridges on the ground. Thon and always to the amnzement of a veteran marksman ho places his Remington Rem-ington at rest, with tho mUzzlo pointing upward, holding It In position with a leathern thong strapped to the stump of his left arm, leans over and presses tho spring of the magazino with his tooth, causing tho receptacle to open. With his mouth he drops in the cartridges. The magazine Is spapped Into placo by pressing the top against a freo slump, and the armless shooter, again employing employ-ing his teth, puis on tho cartridge box If d" and returns the box to the pocket In his coat. Thon ho lifts tho stock of the rlflo to his armless socket and draws a bead at. tho object at which ho Intends to shoot. Tho thong Is in the form of a loop, fastenod to the barrel, and Is slipped over the headless stump, holding hold-ing the gun rigidly In position. Thoso who son this exemplification of necessity being the mothor of Invention aro somewhat perplexed to know how Winemiller will pull tho trigger with his teeth and avoid deflecting or raising rais-ing the muzzle of tho rifle. Ho has mado provision for this- by having the brcfch mechanism bo delicately adjusted thai, tho trigger Is what, might bo termed a b-upcrlatlve hair trlggor. By contracting his lips ho Ib ablo to draw the taut wire just the merest fraction of an inch without tho slightest movement move-ment of IiIb head. The cartridge Is exploded and tho bullot is driven to its target. , Tho armless marksman has such a steady norvo that ho can stand per-fiicllv per-fiicllv mottonlopB for one minute and hold "his rifle in position without showing show-ing a tremor. , . , ., , , He can leap ditchos and climb fences with .his gun strapped to tho Btump of his left arm with as much nglljty as anv man of IiIb nee .mrt hn mm nutrnn most of them. Ho -wants to practico now for clay pigeon shooting, so that he may enter contests at country fairs. Winemiller has a great horror of being regarded as a freakj and under no circumstances could ho bo induced to display his marksmanship for pay. Ho Is one ,of tho most highly respected citizens in tho community, nnd Is proud of tho fact that ho has had tho patience pa-tience and porsoveranco to bring his shooting tip to the presortt state of perfection per-fection by tho invention of the strap and using his teeth to pull tho hair trigger. |
