The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-21


:. .s.,.s :, she,r rcspcctive tables. each corps
~ I,seiI. drinking wine and eating their
lunches. Two or three German girh were
,ending a refreshmeuttabie at the emu OF
the hsIi. and appeared TO take no more IN
terest in the dueIs than they wouio "
chicken fights. ,o
The waiting for the third duel was long
and tedious. The sword.sharpener, an ola
yray.bcaded man, came into the haii Two OF
three times bearing fresbly-grouna "ea-
nons. which he placed In convenient posi-,
lions. Another man came and scattered
fresh sawdust TO cover the blood wnerc tue
last duelIists had stood, that those VINO were
10 follow might not "stand on shppery
n,.cesv lt wss like the little episode In
the spanjsh bu,l-6gLts when The arena mas
hecn cleared Of the dead bull and horses,
and occa.ionaIly the dead bull-fgbter, and
the attendants come in with rakes and
sawdust 10 obIiterate the traces OF
the bloody conflict. Ere long we
heard the noise Of hurried footsteps,
and the two men came sfriding INTO inc
hall. each surrounded by several friends ana
a surgeon supporting their sword-arms.
There was no waiting or hesitaling 10 =
moment the msu were placed In posltion.
swords placed ia their hands, the signal
given. and the bloody work began In earn.
est We were told this was an "af1air Oh
bonor.v and that some sffront or Unsigned
insuIt was 10 be cancelled or wiped out
with blood. It seemed an uneven match.
One was a tall, powerful athlete. while his
adversary was small and below the ordinary
stature. But In sword .duels the victory IS
more apt 70 20 with the smaller and more
agile OF the two. There were several
short and sharp encounters, In which
the contest was about evenly balanced.
Both were splendid swordsmen, and their
skiliul strokes and thrusts were watched 0y
their friends with intense interest. Each
received three or four slight cuts, but 1t was
difficult to determine which drew the nrst
blood. Several times their swords were
disabled and fresh ones called for. once
the sword OF the large man broke ID Inc
centre, and the flying end came whlzzing
past me and struck a student In the
chest who was standing by my side.
He Jumped as il shot, but fortunately
was not injured. Finally the small mnn
received blow on the head, which
was TO end the days "sport." Although
twenty feet distant, we heard the sword
strike the skull with peculiar tbud which
had "A terrible meaning. A large lock OF
hair fell to the floor from his head, and we
could see by the twitching OF bis body and
The partial closing OF his eyes through the
steel goggles that the blow had nearly stun
ned him. In moment bis face was cov-
cred with blood, which flowed freely down
his body and formed pool In the saw dust
az his feet. The seconds instantly cried
" Halt.v and the surgeons and the frleDds
Of the wounded man rushed forward
and caught him in their arms. HIS
wound, after a hasty examination, was pro-
nounced serious, and he was led away weak
and tottering 10 the hospital. The duel,
which was now at an end, had lasted less
than ten minutes. Those who did not be-
long to the corps Of the wounded student
soon left the building and hurried away to
Heidelberg for their dinners. 1t was after
| o'clock, and we were also anxious to get
back to our hotels. Passing through the
hospital, we saw the young man stretched
out on a reclining chair, the two surgeons
and several students busy at work over
him. The surgeons bad partly shaved the
head and were sewing up gha>tly scalp
wound that extended several inches across
the skull. We FASTENED down stairs. jump
ed into our waiting carriage, and drove
away.
Among the sixty or seventy English and
American students at Heidelberg none OF
them belong to the fighting corps. They
are not towards either. 1t is known that
il occasion requires they can fight their own
way, but they have no desire that their
good-looking faces shall be hacked and
chopped uT like dogs meat and be dis
figured ever after. Not long ago an Ameri-
can student had aslight quarrel with one OF
the fighting corps students and received from
him a challenge. Being the challenged
party the American bad the choice OF
weapons. He sent word to the German by
a friend that he would meet him the next
morning at 6 O'Clock at place outside OF
the city and the weapons should be navy re-
vovers (he had a good pair at ten paces.
The German and his friends concluded il
would not be good day for dues and the
matter was dropped.