The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-05
DUELING IN EUROPE.
Trial and Sentence of a Successful
French COmbatant.
From the Neag Yor. Sun.

The trial of VI. Belz, alias Villas, in the
criminal court of AK goes to show that
duellng, as it exists in France, is something
far more serious than il is generally be-
lieved to be in this country. NJ. Bez was
the editor OF paper called the Bulletin
O6tctet du COH1ite ReUiSiOnniSte, and NJ.
Louis Pierotti was employed in the Petit
PrOreRcdt of Marseiles The manuscript OF
a roma zee intended for the fe1illeson Of the
Petit PrOUenoGL was submit ed by NJ. Belz
to the editors of that journal. NJ. PerOtd
was charged with the duty of readi e It,
he reported against it. and it was declined
as unavailable. Tne affair was made the
| subject of a newspaper controversy, in
which NJ. Bez considered himself sufficiently
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 insulting article in his
| paper, ending with a sheer at d. PierOtti,
abiding to his nationality. Pie
| rotti, as his name indicates, was born in
Italy, but he was a naturaliz,d citizen of
the French republic. A fight then became
inevitable. The weapons were, as usual,
| swords. After q short and fierce enCoun ter.
Plerotti was run through. and he fell dead
| in the arms Of his seconds. While his b dy
vas lying in the Hospice de la Conception,
where it was taken in the carriage Of his
| adversary, his wife and little daugh-
ter were waiting for him at
| the Hotel de Marseilles, where
he had promised to meet them to see the
return of the troops from the review. NJ.
Belz then went to a dinner party, where he
loudly glorifed himself on the result of the
combat, which so enraged the rest of the
company that they forcibly elected him
from the dining-room. He then proceeded
to a banquet OF Boulangists, after which ne
was arrested and admitted to bail. The
other day he and the four seconds in the
duel appeared before the criminal court of
AK on a charge OF homicide and coal-
plicity therein.
When Bez came upon the stand to reply
to the president of the court he gave with a
staggering air the following account 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 l were both naked to
the waist. He defended himself very we'll
In fact, he astonished me. The point of my
weapon struck several 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 foaset.
Then riposUed, and ran him through"
The President-You must have used ex-
traordinary force to drive your weapon
completely through your adversary.
BelZ-Why, not at all. pushed the steel
quite naturally. Then, seeing that he was
wounded, | stepped back and exclaimed
You are bleeding!" And be was dead.
The President What was then done with
this unfortunate young man!
Belz lin a careless tone - Everybody
seemed to have lost his head. They all be-
gan to cry, and faith, it wasn't amusing.
The President-Did not Pierotti receive
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 quarrel with
out reason in which you do not figure as
having had the best of it, we find ourselves
in the presence of the corpse of an intel
ligent and kind-hearted young man, who
was beloved by everybody, and is now torn
forever from mis- little family. Volta la
nlOrdlite an dueU
Belz-There might have been two dead
men stead of one.
He received two years. Imprisonment.
But the strangest state of affairs exists in
the German army. A Paris correspondent
of the Courier deS Flats Unis writes:
Among the officers the thing is simple
enough, and it follows its natural course on
one side of the Rhine as wen as on the
other. But that is not the case when
civilian becomes mixed up in the affair. In
France the officer insulted by person ou,-
side OF the army is inspired simply by his
own feelings in the matter. He goes to his
superior, or chef de corps, and explains tue
case. The latter, after having looked care
fully into the matter, advises him 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 ex-
lists in each regiment tribunal of honor.
to whose decis non he must submit. Ii this
tribunal permits him to fight, the Officer.
without further hesitation, goes ahead; bat
If the decision forbids him to go up)n the
uuellng ground, the case bee )mes serious for
the insulted officer, because every officer
who does not obtain satisfaction for an in
suit is obliged to quit the army. And it is
the same If the insulter refuses reparation
y nder these conditions, the German officer
may be com Felled, in spite Of himself. to
hand in his resignation. Even if the tribunal
decides that the lnsulter il not worthy to
cross swords with al officer, the latter.
finding himself ia the impos,ibility of ex
acting satisfaction, has no other resouroe
than to resign. AMI if he does not resign
III twenty-four hours he will be compeIiedto
do so by the tribunal of honor.
These are strange manners that we in
France cannot understand. Numerous and
astounding instances of the application of
this principle are cited in which an insulted
German officer has been compelled to
abandon his uaiform because he could not
obtain satisfaction from mis- insulter.
I'VE remembe, the dramatic suicide of
the young officer of the cavalry of the
guard who could not force a student to
fight him. The officer was the first insulter
and the student avenged himsely by horse.
whipping him in public, and refused the
cartel. Then the young officer did not
wish to survive what he believed TO
be dishonor for him and for his
family. All efforts to bring the student to
the battle ground were in vain. He insisted
that, lasmuch as he was insulted in the
first instance by the officer, and that the
latter having refused reparation TO him. he
had avenged himself and had therefore no
need to fight. Even the father Of the Young
officer, general in the army, begged the
student to come to terms: but, on the lat
ter's hnal refusal, the old man went himself
10 his son and banded him the pistol with
which ne was to blow away the stain on the
family name; and thereupon the young man
blew out his own brains"
TINE Is MoNEY.-A Michigan man buried b;s
wlte, put up headstone, repainted his house