Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1896 — "SHOOTING MATCH MARY." [ARTICLE]

"SHOOTING MATCH MARY."

Wears Men’s Clothes and Cun down Anything with l a Gun. “Shooting Match Mary” Is a queer character known to nearly every one in Southern New Jersey. Iler real i name is Mary Judson and she is about 50 years old. Mary’s fame has been gained by her prowess with a shotgun and rifle. She runs a little farm that 1 she inherited from her father and lives alone. Standing six feet In her shoes she can toss a plow around a field as handy as any man. But her passion Is for shooting and whenever she has an oportuulty to take a hand in a match, she Is there. She has been known to drive twenty miles with the mercury lu the vicinity of zero to shoot at a mark with no better prospect of compensation than a turkey. She has never yet been beaten in a match. Two years ago Orrin Wakeman, a farmer in Deerfield township, conceived the idea of having a Thanksgiving shooting match in which the contestants should shoot with rifles at the head of a tqrkey whos£ neck was held in a hole through the bottom of a barrel sawed to such a height that the fowl could stand on the ground while imprisoned. Wakeman thought that by doing this he would lose fewer turkeys, and make more money. He put the price of the shots down so low that everybody thought he could afford to try bls hand several times if he did fall at first. The scheme was a new one in the history of Cumberland county shooting matches, and the attendance was large. Mary was present and she brought with her a smooth-bore firearm of rather ancient make. When the hour came for the shooting to begin, every man agreed that Mary should have the first shot, since courtesy entitled her to It. “Supposing J hit that one, d</l keep on shooting till I miss?” said the woman, as she made ready to draw a bead on the head. “Certainly,” , replied Wakeman, laughing, “you can have my whole flock If you’ll get them that way.” Mary got the turkey’s head under the sight of the rifle and pulled the trigger. It was a 20-yard shot and a bard one to make,, but the ball went plumb through the gobbler's head. Another turkey was placed In the barrel s and Mary sent a bullet through it. When the woman had made twelve shots and scored every time the boys in the crowd set out to hoot and do all they could to disconcert her, but Mary kept right on pegging away and didn't miss a shot until she had won twentyfour turkeys, when Wakeman announced that his supply was exhausted. He had received $2.40 for the whole flock and he was disgusted.