Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-04-26
Partisan Manners.

Mr.. Geo. w. Kendall, writing from
Paris 10 the Now Orleans Picayuno, de.
scrbes q nocturnal fisticuff,in the follow.
ing genial manner:
A most ludicrous knock down and
drog.out fight occurred in one Of the
streets ofParis fow nights since, the
paitio ulars Of which, ,iftoId at full length,
would draw horse laugh from a grav.
en- image. In brief. | can say that an
employee Of ono of the public works.
while on his way home at late hour,
saw before him, as he supposed, a high
wayman, standing ready to attack him.
He sang ou, Justify and roughly, and the
other responded in the same tones, a lit
tie more defiant if any thing. The en-.
ployec had nerve, and boldly advanced;
the supposed brigand was also game
and would not bulge an inch.
Quicker than it takes to tell it, the
two men were face to face, and in anoth.
or instant were clcnchcd and struggling
with all there might in n regular rough.
and.tumblc fght-6rst one on top, then
the o,her-hilting, biting. gouying, and
using each other up with fist and skull.
Neither would say "enough"-had they
been in possession Of other weapons than
those which nature provides, both would
soon have been eligible candidates for
lodgings in the nearest burying.ground.
They rolled, and tumbled, and fought
until both were finally exhausted; and
when at length each gained standing
posture upon the sidewalk, it would
seem that each was so much dsgusted
with the pummclling the other had given
him, that they voluntarily turned and
ran different ways as fast as their wcaried
legs would carry them; it was emphatic.
ally drawn fight, for both were whip
ped. The next morning, the employee,
with his face. nose and eyes bearing the
marks Of severe pugilIstic punishment
went to the first commissary of police
and began relating a startling story Of a
fierce, nocturnal attack which had been
made upon him.
While in the middle Of his tale, a re.
specially dressed woman entered the
same police office, and began recounting g
how her husband, on the night previous,
had been waylaid, set upon, and beaten
and bruised hal out of his life by an au.
dacious robbcr, naming the same time,
the same street, and the same spot pre-.
cisely as had already been given by the
employc as the scene Of his terrible strug.
gle with highwaym an; the women sim
ply added that her husband was so terri.
bly, battered that he was not able TO ap.
pear in person. 1t is almost unnecessa.
ry add, that on comparing notes, it was
ascertained that two honest aud worthy
citizens, mutually mistaking each other
for robbers, had also mutually fallen
10 and given each other most terrific
thrashing.
The Gazette des Tri5uneau1, from
which the account is taken, gives names
dates and all. No punishment was
rwarded to either, they had settled all
this part Of the business between them
selves.-Could each have gone the mex
morning and had his daguerreotype ia
ken, and presented it to his antagonist
as correct likeness Of himself after the
nocturnal encounter, they would have
proved inte resting souvenirs to frame
up in their respective families. The won
der is, that they did not meet each 9th
er at the police Office. ...