St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-01

France, probably for the simple reason
that as usually praetieed it is skilled
and artistic display OF the brute in
stincts which lie under the scratched
skin of a Partisan and as close to the
surface as a Tartar lies TO 4 Russian,
saws the Paris correspondent of the
Chicago Post. DueliiStS are held in
popular favor so long as their fighting
displays no unnecessary brutality and
everything is done CONNIE il faut. WHO
is this tOplofty-looking gentleman"
YOU say to your friend, Partisan
scribe, as you sit in front of cafe on
summer afternoons between and 3
o'clock. or in winter, as you look
through the frosty panes.
Hal ha! haw!" he laughs. THAT is
the good Paul. Paul what Can 1t be
possible that You do not know our
Paul. the only and Inevitable Paul.
called after the great apostle? That
Notwithstanding gentleman, sir, is
Paul Granier. whose DE CaSSagnac' Is
said to be derived from frog pond
bought somewhere in the country by
his father, the late pugnaeious and
bOisterOuS person known as Adolph
Granier de Cassagnac, founder and ed
ltor of the Pays" And then the whole
story IS related of the most expert
swordsman in Paris, who, since he
came here in 1866 to assist his father.
has been the fighting editor of the
Second emDire-during its lifetime
and the champion of its claims since
Sedan. My friend is a thoughtful and
conscientious Republican. many of
whose intimate associates have carried
away flesh wounds after an encounter
with the blatant CasSagnac; but, in true
Erapah fashion no canloC only IN SpP
now the humOr and absurdity of the
career he describes with such Infinite
fun.
The journalistic bully of Paris is now
In mis- fOrty-Seventh year and comes of
creole family from Guadaloupe. His
ancestors emerged from Obscurity when
the first Napoleon was on horseback.
Paul comes naturally by his disregard
for human life. as on both sides his peO-
pie have been swashbucklerS. His ma
fernal grandfather fought against Eng
land and cherished the usual hatred of
per6diOus Albion. which he took pains to
crafty in his own unusual fashion. One
evening at a theater this ancestor sat
next an unoffending British tourist.
He took occasion to tread heavily on his
toe, and after some very simple. prelimi
narieS he slew the Saxon upon the fol-
lowing morning. During the reign of
Louis Philippe the father of St. Paul
established a spitfire reputation as
editor of the ministerial Epoque, so
that it comes as natural for the present
representatives of the family to fight as
1t does for a Well-bred Scotch terrier to
eat rats. The valiant Paul is a tall,
thick-lipped, black-eyed, swarthy per-
son. with the short, bristllng mustache
so appropriate for man with his turn
Df 10 oil hu
than thirty duelS, and has refused more
challenges than he has accepted.
Several of his own cartels have
also been declined. GambeJta took
no notice of his call to battle,
and do what he would Cassagnac could
not induce NJ. Vermorel, Of the Courier
Franchise. to meet him. VermOrel raked
up some old scandal about Paufs father
and published a couple of columns of
it every day for a week. The son sent
several challenges, which were not even
acknowledged, so one afternoon he lay
III wait for NermOrel aSthat gentleman
left the Courier ONCE and Spat i'll
his face. The insouciant Republican
brought an action for assault, and Cas-
Sagnac was condemned to term of i'm
prisonment, but the fighter always man
ages to get into his troubles under
Conservative government, so that al
though he has been committed several
times he has never spent day in prison
for his duelling. His fines have almost
invariably been RENTED.
To write in paper like The PAYS. an
acute observer SAYS that ''you must
have good command OF violent adjec-
tiVrS. and must be an adept with swords
and pistols. You must. further, wor-
ship the memory of Napoleon Ill. be-
lieve that the second empire heaped in
Vulnerable blessings upon France, and
that the restoration of the empire is the
only political move that can cOnduce to
the welfare of the nation. You
must also be well verified in
all scandals pertaining to leading
Republicans" Cassagnac possesses all
these gifts, and has developed his nat
ural capacity to a high pitch of eff
cheney. Shortly after he joined the pa
per. in 1866 he worried himself into tie
good graces of the emperor and empress,
and was quite prepared to defend their
poodle dog, If necessary, against all the
Republicans in France. The Soleil con-
tanned an OppOrtune article by Henri
ROchefort, rejecting upon Marie An
tOlnette. written with full share of
singing insolence,
CdsSagnac replied, comparing Roche
fort Ito the snail which left its glowing
and Shiny trace upon the white marble
of a chaSte statute" A meeting with
pistols followed and Rochefort was
wounded in the hip. In 1878 Cassagnac
had sword encounter with NJ. Ranc,
another scribe. Both men were wounded
and Ranc disabled. There Is one
Tedeeming feature in CasSagnac,
in that he makes it a point never to
kill his adversary. The fight with Gus
taye Flourens. Republican journalist,
was ferOciOus meeting. Flourens was
defending the reputation of certain Lib
eral politicians. He was wounded and
fell, and hence was sufficiently vindi-
Gated. But he insisted upon fighting as
long as both cOmbatants could stand,
and allowed himself to be removed from
the field only after he had received
twenty wounds.
Aurelian Scboll, another Journalist.
was Drlcked by CaSSagnac, and it NAV
be said that some time or other almost
every vigorous Republican writer
among the younger men has had to &C.
count on 1.-The field of honor for some
reflection upon the imperialist saviors
of society. CaSSagnac is regarded as a
dull, ignorant, incompetent fellow as a
writer; nevertheless he spends all his
time-when not fencing in the gymna-
sium-at grinding ont his three-cOlumn
twaddling editorials. When another
great flood comes upon the earth and
the animals are paired off into the ark
Cassagnac and John l.. Sullivan should
be mates.