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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6937, 11 February 1884, Page 4

No one. can question the extraordinary, skill, which has for; the past few evenings been exhibited by, Professor Payne at the Opera. House. As " the fancy I lightning'rifle :shot of: the world." he is entitled-;to:all, the; distinction: and glory which, it brings, but this in no way affects the question of the legitimacy or the exhibition,-'which is admittedly one: of extreme danger/ We have not the : least sympathy withthemaudlinsenumentalifcy; that would deprecate various, manly feats, merely, because there is ■ less or more of possible risk to life or limb inseparably connected with ;tb em; Wrestling; football, .cricket,- '.riding,-, boating, have -all, their incidental dangers, yet'.we do not think, of avoid: ing; them because of their' having a certain element of danger in -them.. But here ,we have a something to which this element of danger is simply added because ib is danger; and because danger the sensational. Proof of skill in shooting; could be as- convincingly given by shooting at a mark or a dead wall, and is: quite: as-, clearly shown, in several of 'the other performances of Mr. , Payne, as it, isin shooting an apple off a man's head; and this peculiar exhibition is merely for. the production of that thrill of berror . which, humanity-, ordinarily feels :.st seeing . human life in danger. Of course' there are 1 minds so constituted that' sensation! of this particular kind is a pleasure to them; They are -generally, minds of a very; coarse texture ; l)y. nature, ;or ; have- been brutalised. by the habits of life. •"■ ■.Still they exist, aud as the- money of these:. is as good as any other person's money, it is.only reason: able that dishes highly seasoned to their taste should be catered for. .them.

But the question arises whether this sort of thing should be .allowed, to say nothing of being encouraged. .With reference to Mr. Payne's brothers bearing the apple there is-not so much to be said. ■:: He . has been trained to i steadiness, and with the mutual, know; ledge which he and the. marksman have of one another, there is. ,probabl* j little :danger; - .But'in the case strangers volunteering it is a wholly I different thing; and we do not hesitate I ' to say that it is on the part of the marksi man sheer indifference to human hte i for him to perform the feat on i stranger, seeing that;he.knows nothing of the mental or physical characteristic. 3 of the volunteer, and has not any knowledge whatever of what, his,.de ' meanour will be. He knows perfect y well that there;are two essentials to safety—accuracy in his own aim, an steadiness on the part of the bearer Q the apple. He may feel perfectly .sa ?. regarding:, the steadiness of his Q^ n hand; he knows perfectly well that ie knows nothing at all about the steadiness of the other's head. And yet he deli ately consents to run the risk of sen j a fellow-creature into eternity, ant a , .to scrape in a : .ifew: , iniseiable P lars from the lovers of sensationAs for the man who volunteers t place his head in such peril from J hand :of one who is: a stranger to. i « it might perhaps be judged that 1 'skull is sulliciently thick to ■ res' 2 i.... impact of" the bullet. He tin probably that he is affording T T ?° J ■ courage;. but nobody, else thin " s Such a' foolhardy thing is ?"!"Lart' sistent with the veriest chick

because the only motive prompting such a thing is inordinate vanity and s elf-conceit, which may be so overwhelming in some minds as to overcome the greatest cowardice. Courage has nothing at all to do with it. because it is the facing of an unknown contingency, to provide against -which neither ability, skill, effort, care, nor an y other meritorious quality can give any assistance. Courage is self-sacrifice or self-risk for some good end, to others chiefly, if n °t to one's self. But this is sacrifice merely to one's own selfconceit, and to show what a fine brave fellow he is. It is not for the sake of such foolish people that the public have any interest in deprecating or prohibiting such an exhibition, but for the brutalising effect which this coarse kind of sensationalism has on the mind. It is as debasing as the bullfight, it is pandering to the same savage instincts as the gladiatorial contest. It is quite as degrading as cockfighting, and that has been long ago taboo among all decent living people, and is prohibited by law.

People generally will not set more value on the lives of men who would hold apples on their heads to be shot at than do the owners of those heads themselves ; but the lav/ asserts that no ruan has a right to kill himself, and it is only a difference in degree and not in principle that it should not allow a man uselessly to expose his life to imminent danger. It is needless to say that, in case of a fatal result, the " fancy lightning rifle shot of the world" will not be permitted to shelter himself behind the excuse that the volunteer was a contributor to his own death. In the eye of the law he had no right to give away his own life, nor the shooter to take advantage of the gift. Professor Payne should bear this in mind, that he is playing this game at his peril, and that any moment there may occur what will land him in Mount Eden. What power the law may have to arrest proceedings which seem so clearly to point to crime, or to what extent the Mayor and City Couneil may be accessories in virtue of their license to the Opera House, where such an exhibition can take place, will doubtless be duly considered by those concerned. But we emphatically protest that this sensational and perilous portion of the exhibition should be peremptorilystopped, and that if there are those who could stop it, aud will not, they will be beid responsible at the bar of public opinion for the consequences, if death ensues.