New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1878-01-30
Duels In Florida.

Duels In Florida.
kF1om the Philadelphia Times.
| Some of the bloodiest duels on record were
fought in Florida. The Seminole war, in
1887, brought to the front lot of reckless
young blue bloods that were full of fire and
sparkle. Gay ivers for the most part, they
headed carelessly through the world and car
ried the whole defence of their lives in their
pistol fingers. A pressure of the trigger was
the answer they gave to protest or depreca-
ton. The brush they had with Osceola and
| his yellow devils warmed them up sharply.
and when Prince Murat settled upon their
coast with a colony of Frenchmen, challenges
flew thick and fast. The Frenchmen, of ne
cessity and with pleasure, fought their way
society of Florida had received deeper tinge
from the splendid drilling of the cut a and
thrust followers of "the Prince.'' It was
in Florida that the feud began IN
which the Alstons, Willis and Angus
tus, lost their lives. I was sit
| ting one night in Browns Hotel-a famous
| old rendezvous Of forty years standing
picking myself in orange brandy and MUNICH
ing soaked biscuit, when shutting old fell
low approached me. recognized him as
| MIR. Zabran, a ragged postscript to the life of
a gentleman, engaged at the time in the
| humble but respectable business of washing
dishes at the hotel. Pushing him glass of
| brandy, asked him to tell me all about it.
Then and there, in that musty and half
ruined hotel, full of its wild and riotous
memories, the old fellow told me story that
for fierce gallantry and recklessness put fcs
ton to shame.
'sIn the Seminole war;" said Mr.. Zabran
evidently ambling down a wel-worn groove
of conversation, "Gov. Call, of this State.
commanded crack regiment. One morn
ing he received a note announcing that his
wife was quite i'll. He at once repaired to
her beside. During his absence a battle was
fought. Shortly afterwa1d an article ap-
peared in the Chronicle and Sentinel Of
Augusta, insinuating that Gov. Call
had purposely absented himself from
the battle. The paper contain tail
ing this cruel article reached the
camp, and was at once the subject of com
ment. Lieut.. Augustus Aston, determined
in the absence of his Colonel, to protect his
honor, mounted horse, and plunged
| that city, he made his way to the Chronicle
the offensive article It turned out that it
was Gov. Reed, of Florida, for a long time
bitter political enemy of Calls. Lieut.
Aston at once sent him a peremptory chal-
lenge. Gov. Reed replied that he would be
| happy to accommodate Lieut.. Aston with
satisfaction as soon as he had concluded an
affair with Lieut.. Williams, of Calls staff,
| who had already favored him with note
upon the same subject. Aston thereupon
had to content his soul in patience until the
affair with Williams was over. He did not
| have to wait long. A meeting was soon
arranged between Reed and Williams, the
conditions of which were that they were to
fight with bowie knives until
one or the other should be cut
down. At the meeting the men came upon
the grouud stripped to the shirt. They adj
vanced until they met each other. They
then elapsed their hands together in a firm
and dead game grasp, standing toe to toe.
The keen and shining knives were then
placed in their right hands At signal
they were dropped perpendicularly along
their legs. At the next word they were rails
ed into the air, and then the terrible fencing
began. It was brief strenuous struggle.
The long knives cut and gashed through the
| flesh of the combatants and clashed and
| spanked against eacn OLneT, now DurleQ IN
vital tissue and now whipped out with a dim,
blush moisture yelling the blades, until at
length Lieut.. Williams fell, hacked almost to
pieces. Gov. Reed escaped without disabling
injury.
ssHe then tnrned his attention to Lieut..
Aston. Being the challenged party he had
the choice of weapons He selected muir
derous weapon, now happily obsolete, but
then of common use, and known as wager.
It was broad-mouthed, funnel-shaped,
smooth-bore gun, that carried a handful of
shot, and was warranted to hit every thing in
the neighborhood of its aim. The duel was
a most unfortunate one in it's direct and re-
mote results. Capt. Kenon was Lieut.. AL
ston's second. The principals were posted
with their backs to each other. AS the word
wheel was called it is claimed that Aston
slipped and stumbled. The command, Fire,
One two-three?" followed almost imme-
diately, and before he could recover, his gun
went off into the air, Gov. Reed took cool
aim, fired promptly at the word, and Lieut..
Aston dropped dead Thus two gallant
young fellows had already fallen in defence
of the honor of an absent comrade. But the
cruel feud was hardly opened. s.
4 ssCol. Willis Aston, then living in Louisi-
ana, heard of his brothers. death, and be-
40 ma ;,,,,,roccod with tha idea that ha had