Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-23
OUELlNa IN EUROPE.
Trial and Sentence of n Successful French
Combatant-Dneiing In Germany.

thing faT more serious IMAM IL is SeneI-
ally believed to be in this country. NJ.
Belz was the editor Of paper called The
Bulletin Officiel du Comite Revis;onniste.
and NJ. Louis Pierotti was employed in
The Petit Provencal of Marseilles The
manuscript of a romance intended for
the feuilletou of The Petit Provencal was
submitted by NJ. Belz to the editors of
that journal NJ. Pierotti was charged
with the duty of reading it, He reported
against it, and it was declined as I'M
available. The affair was made the sub
ject of q newspaper controversy, IN
which NJ. Belz considered himself suffi-
GENTLY wounded to call for a settlement
upon the field. After considering the
case, the seconds decided that there was
no cause of quarrel, and the thing was
believed to have blown over, when NJ.
Belz again came to the attack in an in
sulting article in his paper ending with
a sheer at NJ. Pierotti. abiding to his
nationality. Pierotti, as his name indi-
Gates, was born in Italy, but he WAS
naturalized citizen of the French repub-
lie. A fight then became inevitable.
The weapons were, as usual, swords.
After short and fierce encounter
Pierotti was run through, and he fell
dead in the arms of his seconds While
his body was lying in the Hospice de Ia
Conception, where it was taken in the
carriage of his adversary, his wife and
little daughter were waiting for him at
| the Hotel de Marseilles, where he had
promised to meet them to see the re-
| turn of the troops from the review.
NJ. Belz then went to a dinner party,
| where he loudly gloritied himself on
| the result of the combat, which SO en-
| ragged the rest of the company that they
forcibly elected him from the dining
room. He then proceeded to banquet
| of Boulangists, after which he was ar
rested and admitted to bail. The other
| day he and the four seconds in the duel
| appeared before the criminal court of
| AK on charge of homicide and COM
| plicity therein.
When Belz came upon the stand to re-
| ply to the president of the court he gave
with a staggering air the following &C
count of the affair:
IN. Bouge had charge of the combat.
| In one hand he held his watch and in
| the other a cane. Pierotti and | were
| both naked to the waist. He defended
himself very well. In fact he astonished
| me. The point of my weapon struck sew
| eral times the guard of his, and his sword
| pierced my glove. but without wounding
me. At the last moment he rushed at
me with a coup de fouet. Then | riposted
and ran him through"
The President You must have used
extraordinary force to drive your weapon
completely through your adversary.
Belz-Whv. not at all, pushed the
he was wounded. | stepped back and ex-
claimed. You are bleeding!" And he
was dead.
The President-What was then done
| with this unfortunate Young man?
| Belz lin careless one)-Everyb body
seemed to have lost his head They all
began to cry, and faith, it wasn't anus.
| ing.
The President-Did not Pierotti re-
ceive several pricks in the arm before he
received his mortal wound?
Belz-No: those scratches were made
| after the thrust.
The President-And so for a few lines
thoughtlessly written, for a quarrel with
out reason, in which you do not figure as
having had the best of it. we find our
| selves in the presence of the corpse of an
intelligent and kind hearted young man,
who was beloved by every body, and is
POI fnra,ar 10
VOLTA la moralite du duel!
Belz-There might have been two dead
men instead of one.
He received two years Imprisonment.
But the strangest state of affairs exists
in the German army. A Paris CORE.
spondent of Courier dcs Etat Unis writes:
Among the officers the thing is sim
pie enough. and it follows its natural
| course on one side of the Rhine as well
as on the other But that is not the case
when a civilian becomes mixed up in the
affair. In France the officer insuited by
| a person outside OF the army is inspired
simply by his own feelings in the matter.
He goes to his superior, or chef de corps,
and explains the case. The latter, after
having looked carefully into the
matter, advises him only to fight
or not to fight. as the case may
be. In Germany an officer insulted
under the same conditions is not free to
give to the affair the sequel that he
might desire. There exists in each regi-
ment tribunal of honor to whose de
cision he must submit. If this tribunal
permits him to fight, the officer, without
further hesitation, goes ahead; but, if
the decision forbids him to go upon the
| dueling ground. the case becomes seri-
GUS for the insulted officer. because
every officer who does not obtain salts
faction for an insult is obliged to quit
the army. And it is the same if the in
| suffer refuses PREPARATION. Under these
conditions, the German officer may be
compelled. in spite of himself, to hand
in his resignation. Even if the tribunal
decides that the insulter is not worthy
to cross swords with an officer, the lat
ter, finding himself in the impossibiity
Of exacting satisfaction, has no other re-
course than to resign. And if he does
not resign in twentyfours, he will be
compelled to do so by the tribunal Of
honor New York Sun.
compressed AR as a Motive Power.
The use of compressed air as a motive
power for tramways in France is ex-
tending. The system adopted il that in
vented by VI. Mekarski. the director OF
the Nantes tramways. which have been
opened since 1879. Two wears ago the
system was successfully applied on the
tramways at Nogent, in the neighbor.
hood Of Paris, and more recently on
those of Berne and Limoges This year
1t is to be substituted for horse power on
the tram~ays Of Lyons. The inventor
asserts that his system is far more eco
nomical than horse traction-the cost of
coal per day Of a machine equal to eight
or ten horse power being only four shil.
hngs-much cheaper than electricity or
steam power, and that the machinery in
simple and does not require a skilled
mechanic to control it.
The British consul at Nantes, in a re-
cent report. states that 1.-THE tramwavs Of
that town, which are worked by the svs.
tenn OF u. Mekarski. alluded to above
continue to give satisfaction. The car,
are comfortable and run smoothly. with
little noise. They do not interfere with
the general traffic in the streets. and their
immunity from accidents is remarkable,
The average speed is about eight miles
per hour; but it can be easily increased
or moderated. and in case Of need an
almost instantaneous gtoppape effected y