with the

ASHINGTON, D. C., has organized the first boomerang club in the United States, perhaps in the world. A short time ago a few gentlemen connected Department of Agriculture formed an association for the study and use of this peculiar weapon. They secured a large tract of open land in the northwestern section of the city, and since that time have been busy with their novel sport. They are rapidly becoming expert in the use of this remarkable weapon, and there is no reason why the sport should not be adopted in other sections of the country.

The history of the boomerang is interesting. It has been known to civilized man for not more than a century, and is the weapon of the aboriginal Australian bushman. Every traveler returning from the island continent formerly had something to say regarding it, and a few specimens were brought back. But no one ever has succeeded in mastering this weapon as it is mastered by the Australians, though some wonderful feats. are performed with it in the hands of experienced persons. It seems to have been used for war purposes as well as in the chase, and a blow from one will readily put an enemy hors de combat.

For many years it was generally believed that the stories of travelers regarding the performances of this remarkable weapon were made of whole cloth assisted by a vivid imagination, but recently acquired knowledge has shown that they will do all that has been claimed for them. Considerable areas of territory are necessary for the proper manipulation of the boomerang and great care should be taken by the neophyte until their peculiar flights are understood. They are far from being toys, but are extremely dangerous weapons in the hands. of inexperienced throwers, the novice. never knowing where they will alight.

In its flight, the boomerang seems to defy all known laws of projectiles; and in the hands of an expert, beautiful evolutions may be obtained from it. No one but the thrower ever knows where a boomerang, after leaving the hand, will fall, but he can calculate to a nicety, the Australians manipulating them so well that they frequently catch them on their return after a flight that would seem incredible if it were not witnessed. boomerang will perform feats that are little short of miraculous; and, although science has as yet failed to explain thoroughly the reasons for these peculiarities, it is understood that they are the result of a combination of the form of the weapon and the resistance of the air.

The

This primitive weapon is made of a piece of wood about twenty-six inches in length by two-and-one-half in width, and one-third of an inch in its greatest thickness. The wood is steamed and bent to an angle of about 140 degrees, the inner edge being almost knife-like in its sharpness, the outer more rounded. The finished article looks not unlike an ordinary sickle, and is thrown by grasping one end with the hand, holding the convex side furthest from the body and projecting it straight away on a horizontal plane. Ash has been found to be the wood best adapted to the making of boomerangs, because of its toughness and correct specific gravity.

Any boy having access to a carpenter's shop and possessing a knowledge of a few simple tools, can make his boomerangs; in fact, they can be made with nothing but the wood, a spoke-shave, and a piece of sandpaper; but the original piece of wood should be secured from a turning mill because of the better facilities at those places for steaming and bending it to the correct shape for the final touches.

Let the wood be 3 inches in width, one-half inch in thickness, and 26 inches in length, having an angle of from 120

to 140 degrees. The crude weapon, before steaming, must be twisted from left to right so that the outer edge of each half will barely project beyond the inner edges. With this as a foundation, the amatuer carpenter must shave the wood so that the inner edge will be quite sharp and the outer but little less so, the

ball, always remembering to hold the convex side outward and the tip perpendicularly with the handle. Aim directly at the tree and see what happens."

If the boomerang has been made correctly, it will go toward the tree with the speed of a bullet, but, before reaching it, will sail to the left, rise in the air,

sides bulging so that the greatest thickness is not quite half an inch. On the end which is intended to be grasped by the hand in throwing, there may be made a few ridges so as to permit of a firm hold. Take this weapon into a large field and see what may be done with it. If there are trees, so much the better for the beauty of the evolutions. Take a stand fifty yards from a tree, and throw the boomerang as hard as you can at the trunk and exactly as you would a base

and execute a beautiful circle to the right, returning to within a few feet of the thrower. This is the action of the righthand boomerang; but they are also made for left-hand flights, in which case the twist must be made to the left instead of to the right. By varying the degrees of the angle and the weight of the weapon as well as the twist, many variations of flight may be secured.

For long-distance. throwing, they should be made quite large, as the increased weight can be obtained only in this manner, and weight is what carries them through the air. The straight-away throwing with the weapon first described always results in one circle from left to right, but this may be varied by alterations in the method of throwing as well as in the force with which they are propelled through the air. Experimenting alone

will result in perfection, and new throwers almost always attain results differing from those of others. An expert Australian thrower will spin one from him with seeming ease. It will strike the ground a short distance away, bound into the air and skim along a few feet above the earth, then descend and again rebound over a tree, describe two circles and return to the hand of the thrower. Seeing is believing, and the writer has been a witness of feats more remarkable than this during visits to ex