Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-12-31
EXPERT FENCING.
rxr.riences Of . Well Known Professor in
Loudou.

rxr.rience, Of We'll Known Professor in
Londen.
ror forty wars II. bertrand has been the
heading and ruoss intelligent exponent In
london az thia admirable art. This sketch
was begun with reference TO the duel Ia the
mDead Heart a. I'D intentionally 30, beca8se
the main inspiraa ion OF that duel was NJ
Bertrand'S
For veel,s before the Introduction OF the
NAV Mr.. Irving and Mr. Bancroft were dill
gently rehearsing the uel scene in warwick
street Just eight and twenty years ago a.
Fechtar and Mr.. Herman 7ezin were rehears-
ing. in the same place ana under the same
tuitiou. the duel in 'Hamlet- Charles DICE
ems and Rev. ]. c. " Below whose genius
as reader equsled Dickens as "riter' were
occasional witnesses of the reheas. sals.
Their names remind me how UIaA " famous
men have handled the foil or waA cneo us
handling in Warwick street. Some OF 1ne
best swordsnen in the army had then ruol-
ments or ito quote Mrs. Maj. O'Dow6 Aaer
Finishing" from NJ Bertrand. In the dA vs.
when Napoleon III was bordering the vanit.
of things rnonarchial at Chislehurst, his brill
liant. impetuous boy was fencing with ali
corners at Bertrands. Napoleon himself
looked in frequently when the room was
quiet, and the master remembers vividly the
brusque bon jour, Bertrand" with which
the beautiful Eugene used occasionally to
present herself in the doorway.
The Napoleonic affections OF d. Bertrand
are Unborn, for his father was an officer OF
cavalry at Waterloo. The sahe d'armes, IN
its pictures, its sculptures and it's trophies, IS
eloquent of the associations that have con-
tributed to its fame, and museum In little
of all that appertains to 'escrime as an art.
In the forty years that have whitened the
aggressive mustache and imperial OF NJ. ber-
trand, he has taught fencing to three genera
tons of the bluest blood of England, and he
is teaching now the great-grandchildren OF
his earliest pupils Par parenthese, he can
tire out, foil in hand, the most stalwart
fencer in his school-which, think, says
something for the art as preservaave OF
health and vigor questioned him on this
point.
aGo to the doctors and ask their opin-
ion.n answered NJ. Bertrand. 81 class my
pupils in three divisions: First, there are
those who want fencing as a pasnme, an
accomplishment Then there are the actors
and the operate singers, in whose art
whether they agree with me or not-a knowl-
edge of the foil is absolutely Indispensable
Thirdly, there are the people who are sent to
me by the doctors Half my pupils are Or
dered here by their medical men-overworked
students, barristers and literary men whose
livers have got out Of order, hypochondriacs
and sentimentalists Of all sorts. Voyez vous,
there is not nervous disease of the century
which is not durable by the fencing master:
'sOf all the physical exercises, this is the
| most thorough and complete. 1t calls into
play every muscle in the body 1t acts and
reacts on every organ Fencing is harder
work than boxing, and more wholesome.
though far less severe, than riding. And it
is so entioing. That is half the good of it.
1t allures much more than any gynlnastic
| exercise. Advance little in fencing, and
| YOU cannot leave it Of The first steps
over, the task becomes a delight: the teacher
has no longer any need to gid the pill -
Pal Mall Budget