, 1888-11-05
BEER puELs IN GERMANY.
Privileges of Challenged and Challenger.
The Weapons Used in Combat.

Privileges of Challenged and Challenger.
The Weapons Used in Combat.
The old English custom of ''taking wine
with a person." each merely slipping from
his glass, seems almost n teetotal observ-
ance when compared with the correspond
ing usage of the Kneipe. In the first
place, no one must drink solus. If any
one ventures to take a solitary swig he is
forthwith compelled to drain a full meas
ure to the health of the company gen.
orally. The proper course is to drink to
some one else, at the same time specify
ing the quantity the drinker proposes to
imbibe. The person honored is bound to
accept the challenge, which he may do
with a simple drink away" or some
equivalent phrase when h challenger is
bound to drink off within the next five
minutes the quantity he has named, and
within five minutes more the challenged
must drink to him, 'in response, p" the like
quantity. If either fail in his obligation
communication is the result. But the
challenged party may not be content
simply TO accept the challenge. Stirred
with noble ardor he may Ego higher"
doubling the quantity named. The chal-
lenger may do the same, and so on until
the total quantity reaches q maximum of
eight tankards, which are drunk off alter
nately, one by one, with an interval of
five beer minutes between each. The
beer drunk by the challenged Gin re-
sponsen is not allowed a double debt to
pay"
Probably some craven soul in the past
devised the plan of saving his brains and
his pocket by making the same beer which
he drank in response to one person also
serve the purpose of a challenge to an
other. This is strictly forbidden by the
code under the usual penalty, unless,
indeed, the original challenger has used
the words in die welt schieken ("to pass
around") in which case A drinks to B; b,
with the beer with which he responds to
A, drinks also to C. C., responding to b,
drinks simultaneously TO d, and SO on all
around the table. Speaking OF anything
connected with study Anglice, talking
shop'O is tabooed at the Kneipe. If any
one offends in this manner he is promptly
called to order by the sarcastic remark
from one or other of the company, Gee
lehrtr' ("You learned man. ~ This is
regarded not merely as a rebuke but a
challenge to the duello, the weapons be-
ing, as usual, beer tankards. The person
rebuked may either simply accept the
challenge this, indeed, he is bound to do
in some shape, or he may retort with the
still more cutting insinuation, "Doctorl'
C''You're n doctor'O. This again may be
IllN WIZ lt IL DIOltSSOl, anu
finally, last and deadliest offense of all,
"Papstr' C'You're a pope').
Such insults as these can naturally only
be wiped out with-beer; and according
to the gravity of the offense the greater is
the quantity required. The comparative
ly soft impeachment of being a learned
man can. be wiped out with half a tank
ard; but doctor demands a whole tank
ard, professor two tankards, while
nothing short of four tankards will re-
habilitate the man who has been dubbed
a pope" Each party chooses a second.
The tankard5 are filed and the second of
the challenger "makes the weapon equal, -
i. G., sees that the beer stands at the same
level in both. The second of the chal-
lenged party gives the word: "Grasp your
weaponsl'' CThe combatants raise their
tankardsl. KNOCK They knock them
on the table. "Ready.n Crhey raise
them to their lips. "On." They empty
them and bring them down with a bang
upon the table; the one who first brings
down his tankard fairly emptied being
the winner. If either of the combatants
has not finished his fun quantum within
the usual five minutes-excommunica-
tiOn!-Cornhill Magazine.