The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-08-22
HEIDELBERG STUDENTS.
They Pour Beer in Their Wounds
to Retain Scars of Duels.
1t Is Thought Strange That the Government
Does Not Put Stop to Dusling Among
Young Men in Germany.

faSSing, therefore, lower ana Dattlement,
portfolio and rampant, boudoir and bed
room, banquet and drinking hall, chapel
and picture-gallery, RENTING to the back
recesses of the brain the retrospections
which crowd thick and fast. they will only
be asked to look into the cellar, where the
stun of Heidelberg" reposes on the ample
rotundity. 1t has been dry for more than
$50 years Yet. strange to say. its stout
slaves cling together as closely as when
it held $1,000 gallons of wine and
the iron pump from which the jewellers in
the drinking hall above quenched their
thirst ratified and turned in the reach for its
contents. What a tale could it tell Of
swelled and aching heads, of dry and
parched lips, OF acid stomachs, and per-
haps, of good resolutions made only to be
broken. AS to this latter there is 10 GER
tainty. for there is little if any record that
the sports of those times who kept late
hours and prided themselves on being
'three-bottie" men were ever overtaken
with remorse or perjured themselves
by ill-kept promises of reform. Indeed,
three bottle " man was consid-
cred of very little account by Them
ers, whose effigy in wood stands on a
bracket Just opposite the ''tun," was a
'ffteen-bottle" man, and was regarded as
nothing very extraordinary at that. On the
top of the "tun" is platform surrounded
by railing. on which twenty persons or
more could execute antics without any diff
Guilty. 1t is a tradition that Clement and
the other hard drinkers, when they had con-
sumed all they cared for of the 283, 600 bot
ties which the tun contained, would stagger
down into the cellar, climb on the platform,
dance jigs and sing For He's a jolly Good
A IN HA,,. rtll
ing" or whatever else were the bacchana-
liam
DITTIEs OF THEIR DAv.
Every one knows the University of
Heidelberg is one of the most famous of the
world, and by many it is considered an I'M
doubted mark of distinction to have gradu-
ated from Heidelberg. For 500 years has
the University tlourished. and, though it
has passed through perils and vicissitudes
OF an unusual character, its reputation and
its prestige have not been diminished Its
history is unlike that of any other similar
which were first conferred upon its
students begot feeling which TO
this day finds expression in the IL
am .holier-than-t thou" air which all the
Heidelberg students think they must affect.
The Elector Rupert, who founded the insti-
tuition, exempted the students from taxa
ton; he cOnfiscated the houses and prop
erty of the Jews and bestowed them upon
the students and their tutors; the citizens
were forbidden under any pretext to lay
hands upon the students, and as this was
resented any attack upon them was declared
punishable with death. The consequence
was that constant outbreaks occurred be-
tween the students and the people, who
were driven to desperation by the over
bearing conduct of the former. For GEN.
tury or more, as may well be appreciated,
there was not much attention paid to studies
To the contrary. the students thought of
net much else than the exercise of their
privileges. Finally. in 1909, the university
was completely remodeed by the then
Elector. From that time matters Improved
until the Thirty Years War, when the oper-
atoms of the institution were for long
period practically suspended. Sharing the
fate OF the town, the university was at the
mercy OF invaders, and it was not until the
nineteenth century that it had revival of
the prosperity and success under the auspices
of the EIector Ohio Henry. In 1902 the
triumphant march OF conquest of the French
threatened
THE UNIVERSITY
With total destruction, as its revenues were
all lost by the seizure of the districts on the
left bank of the Rhine In 1903 the Grand
Duke of Baden reorganized it on basis
which has made 1t an intellectual center
and instituted a career of progress of which
il may justly he proud. Some of the fore
most writers and thinkers of the age have
gone from lis walls.
The students, though shoru of their an
cient privileges, hold to usages and customs
which have long since become obsolete else
where. The citizen is no longer punishable
with death if he attacks them. but the spirit
of "crowding" on him is still prevalent with
many of them. Many of the students who
come to Heidelberg come with the sincere
purpose ofimproyement. Others have no Oh
ject different than to have what is styled in
American nomenclature a good time. These
hold SO far as they cab to the past. Ii has
been supposed dueling was at an end among
the university students. Far from it, This
very day two were fought, and It's said these
affairs occur at least once or twice week.
| was talking with one of the participants in
the affair of this morning. His ear was nearly
cut off. He had it bound up with raw cotton,
but taking good care to show blood. He APP
peared to consider himself quite hero. With
him were two companions, both with SCARED
cheeks. One OF thess students had at least
five distinct gaShes, and every one deep
enough TO mark him for life. These gashes
represented as many duels. For fear the
wounds may heal too quickly the students
put beer in them, which has the effect to
keep them open. The scars, which they
consider badge Of honor, disfgure them so
that they look perfectly hideous. 1t seems
strange the Government does not or cannot
put an end to this ridiculous business The
importation of the whipping post would be
effectiye.-Heidelberg letter to Baltimore
Sun.