Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-06-11
MAJ. BELLS DUEL.
A Meeting on the Field of Honor That Did
Not Prove Disastrous.

/
Not Prove Disastrous
An emblematical button of the LOYAL
Legion adorned the lapel of a cheviot
coat worn by Mag. Oscar Bell at the Al
bany
a story, eh9" laughed the ex-arrny
officer as he detached his eyeglasses
from the bridge Of his nose and looked
in a good natured way at the expect
ant Republican reporter seated beside
him
We'll, lemme see The smoke Of
\ Shiloh is a chestnut now. and the battle
1 Of the Wilderness probably has been
+ smothered from further interest bv
profuse growth Of weeds By love, l
can give you a little incident that has
never been in type. 1t happened in
/ 1868, when our regiment was in camp
at a little Missouri town called Lex
/ ington. ] wore captains straps at
/ that time and did the shouting for Com
! pany Il.
THE captain Of Company ID was nam
! ed Henry Poor Unknown to me he de-
| tested me, ana al because / once made
/ pun on his name while at West Point
Being young man of stringent means
! he was mortally offended, but later
seemed to have overlooked an amin
/ territorial sally of wit that | got off at
his expense among a group of fellow
! cadets
| Well when we got our commissions
| the loaded dice of faith threw us both
in the same regiment and when the
war broke out we went to the front I'M
/ der the same colonel. As said before,
] our regiment camped at Lexington,
/ Mo. near Kansas City, or Westport,
as it was known in those days Among
/ the events that transpired during the
two weeks Of our soiourn was a grand
/ ball. given at the residence of a loval
northern woman, for Lexington, al
/ though a Missouri town. had great re-
/ spect for the confederate colors. and
/ great many of its citizens heartily SYM
| pathized with the southern cause. At
the ball, several of the officers of our
regiment were invited-Poor and nv
self included
During the evening | placed my
name on the programme of one of Lex
/ ington's bellies. but when | called for
the dance was mortified at the discov-
cry that my name had been deliberately
| erased and that of Poor substituted
| When Poor and the young lady started
off amid the seductive strains Of the or
chestra my blood, which had in the
meantime been increased to l40 degrees
| Fahrenheit by a liberal indulgence in
| champagne, fairly boiled with indgna-
ton. Later in the evening | caught
Capt Poor in the gentlemans dressing
room alone. slapped him roughly in
face and told him just what | thought
of him. lie did not resent it there. but
the next day | received a challenge
from him To fight duel.
Il had never fought duel and hes
itated some time, but rather than be
accused of cowardice consented The
matter was placed in the hands of
friends and one bright moonlight night
five dark figures sneaked out of the
camp and into a neighboring wood.
The fifth figure was that of doctor of
Lexington, who had been let into the
secret and consented to act, in consid-
Grafton of big fee for his services To
every appearance the duel was to be
tragic one, although | thought at one
time | detected Slight smirk in the
features of the seconds. who were mu-
tual friends of the determined princi-
pals.
Measure off ten PAGES" commanded
the doctor as he wiped tiny stream of
Missouri nicotine from his chin whis-
kers, The doctor was TO act as master
of ceremonies, The space was meas
ured.
Bring ON the weapons was the
next command. The seconds brought
forth an old ominous-lool1ing bundle
carefully wrapped up in oilcloth Capt.
Poor shuddered | was equally nerv-
Gus Ugh the weapons were evidently
wicked Sabers and it would be duel
from which neither principal would
emerge alive We took our places ten
PAGES apart and stood glnriug at each
other, patiently waiting for the suppos-
ed swords To be placed in our hands
ready To pierce each others hearts
Gentlemen, here are the weapons"
exclaimed the doctor, is two large base
bali bats rolled out of the oilcloth. He
advanced and placed one IN the hands
Of each principal Mind. gentlemen,
you are not to violate the rule to keep
ten PAGES apart, Are you ready"
Capt. Poor and gazed at each other
The seconds We're doubled up on the
ground in commissions Of laughter Even
the doctor smiled and to cap the eli
max silvery laugh from woman's
lips broke the stiffness Of the air as the
fair cause Of the duel strobe onto the
dueling ground with eyes sparkling with
mirth.
DO be Sensible. gentlemen. and