The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1876-04-28
Mark T.vai.a.s Duel.

The only merit claim for the follow
ing narrative is that it is a true story.
It has moral on the end of it, but I
claim nothing on that, as it is merely
thrown in to carry favor with the relig-
iOus element.
After [ had reported couple of
years on the Virginia City (Nev.) Daj-
tsi Enterprise they promted me to be
Editor-ilI-t hief; aud / lasted just a
week by the watch. But / made an
uncommon1y lively newspaper while /
did last, and when retired I had a
duel on my hands and three horsewhip-
pings promised me.
The latter | made no attempt to col
lect: however, this story concerns only
the former 1t was the old tsfiush
times" of the silver excitement, when
the population was wonderfully wild
and mixed every body-went armed to
the teeth, and all Sights and insults
had to be atoned for with the best article
of blood your system could furnish. In
the course of my editing made trouble.
with Mr.. lord, the editor of rival
paper. He flew up about some little
tribe or other that said about hlm-T
do not remember now what it wa,
suppose I called him thief, or body
snatcher, or all idiot, or something like
that; was obliged to make the paper
readable, and couldn't fail in my duty
to a whole community of subscribers
merely to save the exaggerated sensi-
tiveness of an individual. Nr. Lord was
offended, and replied vigorously in his
paper. Vigorously means a great deal
when it refers to q personal editorial in
a frontier newspaper. Dueling was all
the fashion among the upper classes in
that country, and very few gentlemen
would throw away the opportunity of
fighting one. To kill one man in a
duel caused man to be even more look
ed up to than to kill two men in the
ordinary way. Well, out there If you
abused man and that man did not like
it, You had to call him out and kill him,
otherwise you would be disgraced. So
l challenged Mr.. Lord, and did hope
he would not accept; but knew per-
fectly well that ne did not want TO fight,
and so I challenged him III the most
violent and implacable manner. And
then sat down and snuffed and snuffed
till the answer came. All the boys
the editors-were in the Office sshelping"
me in the dismal business, and telling
about duels aud discussing the code
with 10: of aged rufiians, who had
experience in such matters, aud alto
getller there was a loving interest taken
in the matter that made me unspeak-
ably uncomfortable. The answer came
If -
furious, and so was on the surface.
sent him another challenge, and
another, aud the more he did not want
to fight the more blood thirsty be-
came. But at last the mans tone be-
gan to change. He appeared to be
waking up. 1t was becoming apparent
that he was going to fight me, after all.
I ought to have known how it would
be-he was man who could never be
depended upon. Our boys were ilbi-
liant. / was not though | tried hard to
be.
It was now the time TO GO out and
practice. It was the custom there to
fight .duels with navy six-shooters at
fifteen paces--load and empty till the
game for the fnDeral was securce. We
went to q ravine just out of town and
borrowed barn door for target
borrowed it from gentleman who was
absent and we stood his barn door up,
and stood rail on the end against the
middle of it to represent Lord, and put
= squash on top Of the rail to represent
the head. He was very tall, lean
creature, the poorest sort of material for
q duel !, nothing but line shot could
fetch him, and even then be might split
your bullet. Exaggeration aside, the
rail was, Of course, a little too thin TO
represent the body accurately. hut sLe
squash was all right. Ifstnere was any
intellectual difference between the
squash aud his head it was in favor Of
the squash.
We'll, Ipracticed and practiced at the
barn door and could not hit that; and
tried for the squash aud could not hit
that would Lave been entirely dis