Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-01-23
puELlNe IN EUROPE.
Trial and Sentence OF n suecesufui Fseseh
combatant-DuellDg In Germany.

combatant-DueliDg In Germany.
The trial of NJ. Belz, alias Villas, in the
criminal court Of AK goes to show that
dueling, as it exists in France, is some
thing far more serious than it Is gener-
ally believed to be in this country. NJ.
Belz was the editor Of a paper called The
Bulletin Officiel du Comite Revisionniste,
and NJ. Louis Pierotti was employed in
The Petit Provencal of Marseilles. The
manuscript of a romance intended for
the feuilleton 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 un-
available. The affair was made the sub
ject of a newspaper controversy, in
which NJ. Belz considered himself suffi-
ciently 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 N.
Belz again came to the attack in an in
sulting article in his paper, ending with
a sneer at NJ. Pierotti, alluding 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 a 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 la
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 glorified 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
lay he and the four seconds in the duel
appeared before the criminal court of
AK on charge of homicide and COM
olicity therein.
When Belz came upon the stand to re-
ply to the president of the court he gave
with a staggering air the following ac-
count of the affair:
an. Bouge had charge Of the combat
In one hand he held his watch and in
the other 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 coup de fouet. Then I riposted
and ran him through"
The President-You must have used
extraordinary force to drive your weapon
completely through your adversary.
Belz-Why, not at all. Ipushed the
steel quite naturally. Then, seeing that
he was wounded, 1 stepped back and ex-
claimed, "You are bleeding" And he
was dead.
I The President-What was then done
with this unfortunate young man?
Belz Tin a careless toneeEverybody
seemed to have lost his head. They all
began to cry, and faith, it wasn't anus
ing.
The Presidential 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 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 everybody, and is
now torn forever from his little family.
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 des 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 civilian becomes mixed up in the
affair. In France the officer insulted by
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.s 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 insulteG
under the same conditions is not free tt
give to the affair the sequel that hi
might desire. There exists in each regi
ment tribunal Of honor to whose de
cision he must submit. If this tribuna
permits him to fight, the officer, withou
further hesitation, goes ahead; but, il
the decision forbids him to go upon thu
dueling ground, the case becomes seri
GUS for the insulted officer, becaus'
every officer who does not obtain salts
faction for an insult is obliged to qui
the army. And it is the same if the in
sulter refuses reparation. Under thes
conditions, the German officer may b
compelled, in spite of himself, to hant
in his resignation. Even if the tribuna