Morris tribune., 1883-04-07
DUELS EXTRAORDINARY.
Fought in a Single Day
Some With Fatal Results.

Twenty-One Fought in Single Day.
Some With Fatal Results.
Vienna Letter to the London Daily News
The University of Jena, and, indeed,
the whole city, have passed through
week Of intense alarm and anxiety,
which are far from being ut an end even
now. On one day 81 serious duels took
place among the students, and, the arms
used not having been properly cleaned,
all those who were wounded had their
blood poisoned. About 40 young men
are lying in the hospittl in a serious
condition. One great fayorite, the only
son of wealthy parents, had his mind
upset by an intense attack of fever and
committed suicide by taking strychnine.
lie died after terrible agony that last
ed many hours. Two more have died
already, and there is little hope of saw
ing more than One-half of these who are
still in Ditiable condition. This
dreadful calamity will no doubt serve to
make university dueling very unpopular
in Germany, if not with the young men
themselves, certainly with their rela-
tons. 1t is difficult for an Englishman
| to believe OH what pretenses duel will
sometimes take place. At Heidelberg
an English friend once dined at the
table dhotel, and being seated right OPP
po5'te to young man who wore the
badge of "corps," across his breast he
| could not help noticing the extraordin-
airy manner in which this young man
took his meals. At first he admired him
for the skiIlful manner in which he man
aged his knife, which necessarily passed
from his plate to his mouth, heavily la
den as it was with green peas. But
when the student, having finished his
me 1t, took up his gravy with the knife
the Englishman began to feel his blood
boil within him. Pudding with apple
sauce followed, and the student oper-
ated with his dessert knife Just as he had
done with the larger knife. But
the Englishman could con-
troll himself no longer. In a horse whis-
per he addressed his Wis, saying:
''You will cut your mouth open if you
don't leave off eating gravy with your
knife" The student looked up and an
swered: "What is that to you? can cut
my mouth open TO my ears for all you
nave a right to enterfere."
"Oh nonsence," said the Englishman,
coolly; lyon can't expect decen person
to let you butcher yourself at dinner"
ooh, but can though, and you shall
see. Dummer Jungew With that the
student rose and left the room. Dummer
Junge! Stupid fellowD signifies as much
as a challenge.
When the students seconds came to
arrange details with the Fnglishman be
was terribly surprised at the serions
consequence of what be had deemed
| most natural remark. He offered to ap-
pologize, and begged them to remember
that he knew nothing of Ger
man customs, and had believed himself
in the right. But the seconds declared
their friend would accept no apology,
and they even limited that the English
man had probably been told that his OPP
pOnent was first rate fencer, the pride
of Heidelberg. Of course, when the mat
ter took this turn the Englishman spoke
in very different tone, and everything
was arranged for a duel with pistols, he
being no fencer. He spent a dreadful
night, because he heard that the young
student was in such foaming rage that
his only desire was to see his opponent
lie dead on the ground. The English
man did all in his power to have the
matter arranged, but he did not succeed,
and on his way TO the TRUSTING place he
said to his seconds:
at is dreadful thing that l should
have to kill this young man because he
does not know the proper use of his
knife and fork Still, it would be just as
UNFAIR to let him kill me-"
The Englishman intended firing in the
air if he had the second shot, but chance
was averse to him. He had the right to
shoot first-the aim was deadly, the
young Teuton fell without groan.
Next day the Englishman travelled to
the town where his victims widowed
mother lived and at the end of two
hours conversation he convinced her of
his sincere regret and his wish to serve
her. She admit...d that he! son had not
died through his fault, but through the
mistaken notions of honor current
among the youth of Germany.
The Science of Certain Mysteries.
From the Boston Transcript.
When we see chairs skip about, hear
music boxes play without contact, wit
ness the writing of untouched slate pen
ellis, and see posphorized tambourines
float and clash in the air above TIE
heads OF an audience, We may, and even
must, admit the operation of some I'M
classified agency, but if we have been
trained in the study of causes and ef-
fects, and liz the conscientious weighing
of evidence, we fhall not at once jump
to the conclusion that our departed
friends have taken to these modes of en-
tertaininent. Sifted down to the most
generaliZed form all these furniture and
slate-pencil tests have one basis, tenn
porary interruption of the action of gray
it4tion. Now human muscle has always
possessed the power of overbalancing
and overcoming gravitatiOn. These
new phenomena seem to say that nerve
power or will power, which is but
concentrated cerebral action,
can do some of the things hitherto ac-
complshed by muscle. AS science has
ceased to believe that gravitation rides
endorsed through space, SO we must in
fer that this psychologist or brain move
ment which opposes terrestrial gravlta-
ton has its medium likewise.
This medium may be the ether ofphy-
steal science. At any rate, it seems like
ly that the metallic magnet, which also
overcomes gravitation, communicates its
power through space in the same way.
We kno v by experiment that common
air is not the vehicle of heat, electricity
or magnetism; all three travel just as
easily in a vacuum. But ether and vac
uum appear to be identical, that is, what
scientists have called a vacuum has the
power of transferring vibrations, and SO
must contain something. Hence we are
not left stranded by our spirltistIc phe-
nomena, but we may cling to the ether
as means ofconveying brain vibrations.
This, at least, is the scientific way Of
looking at these mysufying facts. The
cheap and easy way is to set them down
to spirit power.