Pedigreed Marksmen

Long before William Tell displayed his skill with bow & arrow, Saxon wood carvers engaged in a sport called Vogelschiessen (shooting at wooden birds perched on poles). Last week, at Saxony Rest near Milwaukee, 400 of their U. S. descendants gathered for their annual jamboree and Vogelschiessen tournament.

Far more exclusive than polo, class J-yacht racing or court tennis, sportsmen who want to indulge in Vogelschiessen must present a pedigree. Only descendants of these old Saxon craftsmen may shoot. With steel crossbows and steel-tipped wooden bolts, the Thierfelders, Dietzes, Dreschers--now butchers, knitters, iron workers--took turns last week shooting at a double-headed eagle, jig-sawed out of wood and mounted on a pole 30 ft. high. Purpose of the sport is to knock off a claw, a beak, a wing, and thereby win a prize--such as an electric fan, a thermos bottle, a clock. No. 1 prize of the tournament goes to the man who shoots down the last remaining chunk of the bird. He is crowned king and is awarded a "ten-beer boot" (boot-shaped glass 2 1/2 ft. high) which custom says he must fill and pass round & round & round.

After eight hours of shooting, interspersed with visits to a nearby Bierstuben, 62-year-old Herman Mehner, bald-headed iron worker, was crowned king. Unique even in its distribution of prizes, Vogelschiessen winner is really a loser. In addition to filling the ten-beer boot, King Mehner, like his predecessors, was compelled to give a banquet for all the members of the Verein.

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