The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-09-11
DUELING AMONG STUDENTS.
YOUTHFUL CoMBATANTs AT GER
MAN UNIvER ST TIES.
Description OF a Duel-FiEhtiug in
which No Lives are Lost, but
Ugly Clashes Given.

which No Lives are Lost, but
Ugly Gashes Given.
An American student at Gottingen,
Germany, writes the following account
of recent student duel:
"A fight was just about to begin.
The combatants, surrounded by seconds,
umpires and friends, had already taken
their places on the floor. Their breasts
and thighs were protected by thick pads
on which the black blood of former en-
counters had gathered for v-a,s past
The veins of the neck wtlt guarded by
winding around it heavy scarf. Iron
goggles, with plate-glass windows, con-
cealed the eyes, and the arms were also
covered with wadding. The swords
were long and narrow, without points
One of the pair of warriors, member Of
the bluc-cap corps, was pale, slender
good-looking youth. He never spoke a
word or took his eyes off his adversary.
The latter, one of the red caps, was
big, burly fellow, whom the pads seemed
to greatly Cypress. Perhaps he was
frightened; l don't blame him.
The surgeon stepped back, looking
like butcher, in his long white apron,
spotted with blood. There had been
another duel before we came. The time
keeper took his place at little table.
The seconds jumped into position, each
at the left side of his man, after po-
lite bows to each other in true German
fashion. The fifty or sixty corps stu
dents who were sitting at little tables
around the room eating breakfast and
drinking rose to see the fight All was
solemnity, and the silence was only
broken by some dignifed fellows call
ing to an acquaintance clear across the
floor and drinking his health, at the
same time bowling profoundly and
lifting his cap. There were a few sharp
words of command repeated by one sec
ond after the other, something like
Make ready! Coz and in an instant
all one could see was the flashing of
swords and the dying of sparks, and all
one could hear was the regular 'whack,
whack, of the blows. There seemed to
be only one kind of stroke, and each
met the other halfway. Haiti cries
the fat fellow, and the seconds run up
to see where he is cut; but it was a
false alarm. They rub him a little and
let HIM sweat moment, then at it again.
Dodging with the head or moving the
feet or body is not allowed, the left arm
must be kept behind the back. 'Whack r.
whack whackv as before, but also a
clear swish! and the next moment the
blood is running from clean, perpen-
dicular cash in the big fellows left
cheek.
"ADout this time wondered how the
hotel woman could stand it. for she had
been carrying meat and drink from table
tnIN 10 al 81 I Lee L.
to see n man who had for two seasons
been punished behind the bat on the
Princeton base ball nine, and who had
risked his life in one or two Thanksgiv-
ing day football games, walk with un-
certain step to the window for breath
of fresh air. 1t isn't pleasant to see a
mans cheek laid open deliberately. The
next round proved even more disastrous
for the plump red cap, for he received an
ugly cash above the eye, which will 90
with him as long as the eye itself. Next
time his chin suffered, and then his nose.
He was out of breath and looked miscr.
able. | went to the window and looked
at the clear blue sky and the golden
fields, and wondered why human society
must SO torture itself with useless and
cruel conventionalities But the fascina-
ton of the raining blows called me back
to the next round. A hum of interest
ran along the gallery front when the
cool little fellow was seen to get by far
the heaviest blow Of the fight across his
brow, which was soon covered with
blood.
They took off the goggles and the
blood ran into his eyes. Then they
mopped it up and he was ready again,
and in the next round gave his opponent
another cash on the left temple. 1t
seemed to me about time to call halt
for good, and presently they did. Under
the rules fight lasts fifteen minutes OF
actual fencing, pauses not counted.
With pauses reckoned in, this must have
lasted about forty minutes. The glad
iators carried their bloody heads into
another room to receive the doctors at
tention, and preparations began for
another duel. / asked a student if either
of our bloody friends had fought before
and he said laconically: "The little fel.
low has fought nine this term"