Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-02-18
Duelling in Germany among the stua.,,.

/ hat
| are the institution Of Jena Duels SnsI.
every day duels, and scarcely a student rho
does not bear on his face one or more fireman
dous scars, as trophies Of the conflicts in which
he has been engaged. Duelling, as IL is car
| ried on here, is, in my opinion, a very foolish
way Of passing the time. Associations are
formed merely for the purpose Of fighting, and
every member is bound TO fight at least one
| duel. Intervals of intoxication at beer drink
ing bouts are taken advantage Of to insult
each other, and any harmless idle word is
considered sufficient provocstion for q duel
Inc nights are in themselves harmless, as a
general thing, although frequently blow is
received that dis6gures, If il does not main
iSr lie. As have already been present a.
snese connicts, perhaps you might consider .
bret description of ore interesting
There were three dueIs 10 be foupbt in one
morning, and the hour Of seven had been ap-
pointed as the time when the police vould he
leas; likely to interfere with the sport. A
| friend who knew the ropec' called 20 me
and We went together across the little river
Seal to the Gasthaus, in which Is the room
where all these delicate affairs come of The
house is just at the end Of the bridge, and the
room is so situated that the guard, who is al.
ways stationed at the window, can see eyery
body who comes out Of the Jena Duellins
being very strictly forbidden by the Uniyer.
sity regulations, these precautiops are Of course
necessary. As We entered the room the COM
batants were just preparing for the encounter
The apartment was filled with students, smok-
ing their long g-stemmed pipes, aud seated on
benches ranged around the walls. Taking a
seat myself, had an opportunity of seeing
the operation of dressing for the fight The
legs and body are covered with a large shield
of padded buckskin.
The right arm is bound round with cloths os
different cOlors TO great thickness, the throat
is securely protected by high padded collar,
and the duellIng caps have very wide brims
coming over the eyes, so that the face and
chest are the only vulnerable parts Of the
body. 1t is indeed at the face and head that
the blows are aimed. The preparations being
completed, the umpire chosen by the combat
ants called out, and they took their respective
places opposite to each other, each attended
by two seconds, one to support the svord-arm
during the pauSes and intervals of rest which
are quite frequent, and the other also armed
and protected with a huge padded apron, to
stay the fight the moment his principals
sword is bent, or a foul blow is struck. Gross
the swordsn' cried one of the seconds. "They
are crossed, answered the other. son thenih
and at 1t they went, hewing and hacking, and
cutting and slashing at each others heads,
just because, some evenings previous, one OF
them had expressed a distsste Of the beer,
which the other was praising.
Fifteen minutes is the time allowed for each
of these battles, but long before that time was
expired, one of the duelsts had received sew
eral cuts, one on the ear, and two quite large
wounds on the top Of the head, his antsgo-
mist sword having cut entirely through the
duelling cap. At length be received another
wound on the hand, cutting into the bone Of
one Of his fingers. The battle then necessari-
ly terminated. The wounded person with his
face aud body dripping with blood, turned
around family 10 his seconds, who undressed
him and handed him over to a medical stu
dent, who shaved of his hair, sewed up the
wounds and sent him off rejoicing In three
or four days time, however, he was we'll again
The other duelliSt had not received a scratch.
Two more duels were fought then, but they
terminated more happily, the time allotted to
each having expired before any injuries were
received, Such is an imperfect description Of
the duelling, which, with walking, talking,
smoking and beer drinking is the chief occu.
patton of the students in Jena. OF course YOU
will understand me to mean the wilder class
of students only, for have become acquaint-
ed with many who deprecate the institution
of duelling, and who dislike it, perhaps ss
much as l do myself-MeELrath'S Letters
from Germany.