Smyrna times., 1888-09-05
DUELS AND DUELISTS.
AN OLD MASTER AT ARMS COMMENT
ON BOULANGER.

Various Countries-Rescucdf from an Ex-
tremeIy Embarrassing Predicament.
There is no man living who has fought
more real, hard, to the death duels than
Col Monastery, the veteran disciple of the
art of running ones fellow man through
the ribs. Col. Monastery has fought duels
In Europe, in Mexico, South and Central
America and other countries where the
sword is the arbiter of the quarrel
To a reporter who enjoyed q chat with
him the other day, the colonel explained
why Gen. B0ulanger's course in his recent
encounter had damaged his (Boulanger's)
reputation as a great soldier.
''Gen Boulanger," said he, in his brisk
way, ''from what l learn by the papers,
brought about his defeat by his lack of
soolness and consequent fury of attack.
He rushed blindly on his foe, losing all
sight Of prudence and skill in the desire
60 inhict injury. For an expert swords
man to overcome such an attack is an
easy matter. He has only to wait coolly
for his antagonist to leave an opening and
then sail in. BouIangers fatal impetuOsity
in this instance is the best possible proof,
to the view of any soldier, of his lack OF
ability to command. Such a man makes
a good fighter in ordinary warfare, but no
commander. He is fitted to obey orders;
to give them-neverl I have admired
Boulanger until now, and looked for
great things from him as a general But
In my judgment he has no discretion. His
conduct in this duel justifes the supposi-
ton that in great conflict, in which two
great armies We're engaged, he would act
In precisely the same way as he did in his
AorkaA l. ~. 4, IL
on one desperate move, and as a result
lose. This, mind you, is the view Of an
old soldier, and l tell you it can't be
wrong. A hot head makes agood fighter,
but no general"
Passing on to a general commentary on
dueling, past and present, Col. Monastery
| expressed the keenest contempt for the
average French duel of the day. It is the
explicit understanding, he said, that when
two Partisan gentlemen of today decide to
settle a quarrel with the rapier, the first
| flow of blood, no matter by which re-
| ceived, shall end the combat. He thought
the existence of this understanding was
the French governments pretext for its
recognition of dueling as a national in
| stitution.
"There are, Of course, occasional excep.
tions to this rule, he added, "and there
is nearly always an exception when one OF
the combatants is a foreigner. A French.
man will always kill foreigner in a due
if he can, particularly if it Is an English
man. This was the case in the famous
duel between Mr.. Dillon, an English Jour
nalist, and the Duke de Grammont dc
Chartreuset, which took place in Paris
eighteen or twenty years ago. The duke
was thorough master Of the rapier, and
the Englishman knew nothing of the
weapon. At the very first assault the
duke, by sl1illful play, sent his adver
sary's sword flying from his hand. III
then sprang like lightning on his un
armed adversary and ran him through
As fought today, however, the Frencl
duel with swords is mere child's play anC
Is always ended at the first scratch. 1t 1
different, of course, when the duel /
fought with pistols. Firearms cannot b
fooled with safely, and are much NOR
likely to kill than to MAIN There wa
an instance of this in Paris a few week
ago, when an artist shot dead at the frs
fire journalist who had too harshly crit
cised some of his pictures.
when Frenchman who is challenges
to fight a duel chooses pistols as til
weapons, one may know he means busi
ness. His choice of swords only means
little theatrical display and a reconcile
tion. 1t is evident, though, that th
FlOquet- -Boulanger affair was seriou
enough. Boulanger plainly meant to XII
his adversary, and when Floquet sa7
what he was at have no doubt but ths
he fought to kill also. No man can Sc
: another striving to take his life and Nc
return the compliment. Between you an
me, think Boulanger was in great lucl
A man who employs the tactics he did
the presence Of a slkillful swordsman wi
be killed in nine cases out Of ten"
With regard to the code In other coul
tries, Col. Monsterey remarked that IL
men Of Mexico and the Central America
republics were the fercest and most Il
veterate duelists. Herecalled the famor
duel Of twenty years ago in the City
Mexico, between Col Garcia, an Amer
can, and Col. Mejea, a Mexican. Rifl,
were the weapons used, and Col Garci
. who was lame, chose to fight sitting in
chair. He never rose from the chai
though, for the range w2s short, and Il
Mexican shot him dead at the first fire.
Col Monastery has in his studio the re
ords Of an instance where he was able,
the shortest kind of notice, to eXtricate
~ ASuASAb J OulS NAL JIOul all c1BH6ue
embarrassing predicament He was 81
ting in his Office in New York one gloon
J evening in 1871, when there was a ner
8 Gus knock on the door. Come I'm, cri
8 he, and on the invitation there entered
young man, who proved on inquiry to
: one Col. Canzi, a soldier of the days
Garibaldi, who Immediately began to u
fold the tale Of his plight. He W
under contract, it seemed, to fight
dawn with Gen. Fardella, also q tried a
courageous veteran. The weapons to
used were sabers, and Canzi knew abo
. as much Of handling a saber as he did
, cooking q Welsh rarebit. He need
sleep badly, and two hours was all he
in which to learn enough to save his Il
Those blessed two hours the coloi
employed in teaching him two vicic
cuts, either one Of which, if well del
- cred, was calculated to cut off his adv
u sary in his prime. He was told to b
d. his time, wear the general out by def
ut sive tactics, and then send his cut no
~ at the proper moment Canzi depart
I'd full Of hope, and followed out his ord
to the letter. After twenty minutes
hard fighting, during which he suece
fully repelled Fardella's attacks, he
lvered one Of his two cuts with such c,
- scientious effect that the generals sw,
arm was slit clear from elbow to wal
completely disabling him. The press
- the country teemed with extended
- counts Of the affair, and Canzi was e.
ofko1sxryarad Vsoc.o nj "A n T,,1 -.