, 1870-07-16
THE ST. LOUIS DUEL

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THE gT T0NTs nrrEr,
- A~ ~AS
"
A Newspaper Man and q Fencing.
Master test Their Skill with N.
Lrcs-The Euxmer Haatr scratched
The Io.ter Loses an Eve.
~, N. (, I.v;. n..-s.. ,.,.
bioooy island is historic ground IN this 10.
'T,,1of mere many sn nana5 Of honor
.aa oIeu eat9tae1oi1's aqJuetea. Neh us
ttngulshed u their day and generation have
repaired thitheF to settle their grievances BY
the coae aneAo ana esen the great Benton
!slaIa 6anos' " 42tsei years tlo maicn OF
improvement mas been slowly ob1ter-
atlpE tho quiet spots where gentle
men were Wont TO aaJ ast taelf 1ltlle glle7ancet,
and mecca me spaces WheTe such aettie-
menus mleht nave peen mado nave 6een @ dls-
Mets. LAG prulsers, the Plugs, and the prlze-
lighters haqe assembled there-not to defend
their "sacred honots' according to the
ccae, hut 10 batter each others muga Tor
1llns luGle. according 10 "the fnles OF tho
London Z. H.
sieLdhng many OF our people thought (more
Of them hopeu) they would come again no
more.
A real, genuine duel took place across the
river, but We do not assert that it t1anspired
on Bloody Island proper, It did. however.
take place there or thereabouts.
The parties to the "affar' were-Grst Ma
jor Henry Keith. at present on the editorial
staN Of the st.. Louis Times genial, kind
hearted, intelligent gentleman; highstrung,
perhaps, but bravo, ~ his record, mast and
present. will show, The Major served with
distinction in the Union army on the Potomac.
and WAS for sometime On General Pratt's star.
He ls. perhaps. IS years Of are. single. and ia
\ man Of fine presence.
Second. Captain Vanstein, known to some
as +" captain Van" who engineered the lack-
this liz Of JuIy, Captain van ~ was aiso En-
officer in the Union service, and. 30 far az We
know. his record ie uaimpcachablo. Slnce the
var, Ne understand, he has taurbt fencing.
He i foreigner by birth. of rood appear-
apce, and viii probably never See 10 agaip.
Onr information in regard to the ttonnIea.
antneas' ia perhaps. nof no full M desirable.
as the parties to il conducted tLeir little mat,
trr wifi, rreat nriyacr. Maior Keith WIFI a
ret,cence more creiiit3lle thau Otherwise. ra-
fused. couIteouslT vet peremptoriIy. to ciya
follow We believe to lie o1,ite or raalIv anthem
tic. The Major also refu8et1 to give The mama
nf hin antaCnn;rt hrt from irforn,,t;on at
hand We helioye va have Committed m error
in fixing hin identify.
From what could yesterdav ha asoartained
4ffH5f fkH3 fall 1lr,zvr
Mainr Keith. arcompanieli hr serarai
ceLtIemen we'll known In tbe city- stennei
into the ealoou Of Genrpa navar. IN tfhirIf
street. Yesterday morning to lat a cIass If
vine. There thev mel several othar Eentle-
men with whom they we're ac1usinted. some
Of them gere of French decent. and were
speaking of tho war st. present threatened
in Europa. From this The conversation turned
mon the French war and finally IN swnrrl ~.
etcise. Major Keith, WHO il an e1pert swords-
man, ard one Of the othez gentlemen. who, bv
the way, was formerly Colonel in the army,
stepped out in the open floer and commenced
to practice some difficult passes with canes,
They then concluded to prAcure masks and
txnriis and haya bout. Accou,nanicr} hv
several Of their friends they accordingly ID
iourued to q fencing hall. ylare they had
friendly passage at a11ns While there they
met tho other principals in the atiair Of yes-
terday.
IL some manner m alteration occurred be-
tween tho Major aud the fencing master, and
tho latter finally applied to the Major an in
sulting epithet, to which he replied With
and tbe Iaior inforned him III that tbst i Won1d bs
granted immediately Il desired. sabres ware
11oa;ona.ei1 ~ Tia wasnons and zach 1,a !, usaa
ailowed the selection df h;a own. ''"''1- '''
4 mace Of meeting WA "a At % once agreed pnon
sach sccomnanied hp second I nat p.tao1s, ~, ts
illinois sitlo ST the river. and nrenare1 tLems
aaixcs for E tba a. co1nh,t ' ""o p'epA1so 1neA1'
II was fonnfl nnnn ar,m,,,io,, ,,o ,1ro,,, .,
the profesgonal va nearly fonr ncbe. E s" lnnrer
.1an tl,at of is arnn;ni thoue ti,e wea IN
~ the SIaior w,s 7nnch he hc,x ,x;ast
EysrTthtnp heinz - M in rcais,nesa tha ma, +oo1
their rosit;ons end crosse1l swords n st-anrti,
nd arilitr ther snnoaTcs3 to he 1,raItr sva1ig
,nn,cSod TIA nna;t;ona sssnn1a5 ~ 4' +1'a-t'
:."~a ~ ;i,fo-1sa11 he "+n =. y easa.
n.'ssas 1oro st.;t;,,1i. '3s,;1,1a 9ue ~ "no WIZ
~ Ma;nr ston1 r. W 11 aos,- .+.;t,,5o will,
tba ro;t ~ 1;s s-ro-a ,1a,1 iIey VIII III
p..4e ~ ne aaesa "o La. xio tAg
siinsneS ar,, ha,d II. ,.s"na, "am 1t Ell poay sna
nn;nt .n u;,h .s+1 t1-s.1, ~. ~ - WILL 'o"es
po+i 49, &c a,;asntIr s,t sI;Ite1 ~
,.ats!d enaua s"oiost4sn " anu
a. ;n 49, ~ tt,it ~ 9pee me
~ ,ha Ws;n, he. wss .,,iiu ~ ~ osi,s- s1o
ad 10 9a:sr.1 rsn;5 so'u5 - 4'a IN
~ lSp,1 h; "Ge nao, Haen,
- pa.i 8. Ise", ne na{"t Ma1 PalntuaY
M a,t nar,sa ~ ~, 49,, s H.
lnyct;s ~ tha fra 41aar n1esr, "1''~n 1"o 11'e
T1,a ra.;n;a0+ ~ he,a1 eboTaa m ,;c,, ~
min .nG rW;ihnnt cHanG,ine = nnsc,a - h;s
F.~a' c11,1;nra3 ~ 1re-3 ~ ;,sts-t .t.n-
in attempting to e pa!TY desperate % blow sinoai %
at lis head, lis wrist, weafeued by the Tor
mer cut. partial]v failed him. allowing hia
swnri to psrtiaiv falf rniiar We;ubt NJ the 1,1ov
His eRiIitv. however. eayed hfs lie. for ha
sprauc back lust in tiuo to psrtia,|v avoid II
although the point OF hls adve1saiys weapon