The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-11-06
MONKEYS Fight A DUE.


MONKEYS FIGHT A DUE
Both OF the sfmians~ Eound Dead on the
Field Of Honor.
A duel recently took place ina travel
ing circus temporarily stationed in a
village outside Paris and very curious
were the consequences VIC aero
bats" says dispatch to the London
Daily Telegraph, ''quarreled, aid re-
solved to fghtsaz duel The p.acn chosen
was the ring-afser the public psrtorm-
aIlce, Of course--the conditions being
tNsos shpts at twenty-five PAGES. AS
usual, neither of the com batants was
hurt and their wounded honors being
satisfied the incident terminated. The
duelists and their seconds overlooked
the presence of two members OF their
company, who were quietly munchlng
nuts in corner. These were two trained
monkeys, who had been taught to ride
around the ring dressed up as soldiers,
and to fire pistols en- route. The mol
keys saw the performance of their
masters and when the way was clear
they resolved to initiate its Grayely
loading their pistols they faced leach
other-not at twenty-five PAGES, but at
fve-and fred. They both fell dead,
one with its head nearly blown oil and
the other shot in the breast At the
sound OF the shots the master of the
circus rushed in and found the bodies OF
this fmitarfve due1fsrs III TIE rTng WITH
the still smoking pistols lying by
them"
Commenting on this interesting item,
the London Saturday Review observes:
In. a gloomy week-.two4 monkeys haze
considerably sacrificed themselves on
the altar Of gaiety. There is somewhat
wildly laughable, according to French
critic, in whatever concerns DEATH
When we have heard what mirth the
monkeys made it must be deemed APP
propriate-if, indeed, the. story is not
an unworthy aspersion on the intcIli-
gence Of the animals, According to a
correspondent two acrobats in the cir
cus in Paris had a dispute, followed by
an affair Of honor. The distance was
the nice gentlemanly one of twenty We
PAGES, at which even good pistol shot
may miss an opponent with weapon in
his hands. At all events, whether good
shots or not the combatants did miss.
Perhaps they were as nervous as tho
timid duelist whom Guy de MaHpassant
has described twice, once in volume
of ketches and once in novel, Bel
Ami
"Now among the temoins of this af-
fair were two apes. The creature is
TO va nd irr L,tt
monkey carried imitation and ingenuity
further than therSParis monkeys. The
famed ape of the cannon story had no
compurgators. They only made one
difference in the arrangements which
they had observed to be so picturesque,
SO safe, and to honor so consoling
They found pistols and cartridges; they
loaded; they stood up to each other at
fye-not twenty-fye-yards distance,
and they blew each other to pieces. OF
all monkeys concerning whom history
speaks, these alone are dead on the field
of honor. How the details have been,
discovered, as the monkeys chose no
seconds, does not appear Nor Is 10
known whether they had been long on
i'll terms. We seek for the lady Of
this quarrel in vain.
Perhaps that is the wiser theory
which denies that the apes had any hos
tile motives at all. They thought, from,
what-theF observed the dsfelIe-
/ that it was an exercise no less friendl 7
and harmless than gentlemanly. In his
version of The Sleeping Beauty Per.
rault makes the Beauty little boy fenc.
with monkey. This is, perhaps, the
nearest to duel with civilized weapons
that any simian creature ever came be-
fore the monkeys of the Daily Te1e-
graph. The baboon is belligerentan ami
NAL with military discipline, and he is
said to throw stones and do many other
startling tricks ofewar. But aduel with
pistols. and a doubly fatal duel. is a
link too many for him. Possibly tho
monkeys fought on Japanese principles,
wherein it is dishonorable for either
combatant to return alive. But we have
no evidence about the most interesting
points, as who gave tho word. to fire,
whether it was not barrier duel, and
so forth. We only have the sad plain
facts to speak for themselves in the
Daily Telegraph"