Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-11-23
FEMININE DUELISTS.
Instances Showing That Women
 Have Observed the Code.
Preparation by Arms Resortad to by La, dies of Nobnity-Blood Shed by Fair Flghtera in Defense
 of Honor.

l UT course there have been duels be. tween women ever since Leah and Rachel pulled each others hair for | jealousy of Jacob. But duels on the field of honor between women, or be- tween woman and man, are rare. About the first, says the New York
 World, according to the code, between women, took place in the time of Louis XIV. The great and honorable la- dies" we are told, fought each other with pistols in the Bois de Boulogne for love of the handsome eyes of Due de Richelieu. They were Marquise de Nesles and Comtesse de Polignac. "Fire f1rst," said the countess. The marchioness fired and missed. Rage made her hand shake," ex- clalmed Mme. de Polignac. She fired.
 Mime. de Nesles fell, swooning Her adversary's bullet had struck the tip of her ear.
 "They tell at Paris" writes a con- temporaneous historian, "of two ladies Of the court who fought duel with pistols. The king said, laughing, that there was no moro excuse for them than for the men,"
 Tallemand des Reaux relates the story of two sisters. One, Mme. de Chasteau-Gay, having taken offense against one of her friends, challenged him and on the field wounded him. The other, more original, Mime. La Douze, 1, wished to punish her own husband and having dragged him to the duelling place gave him, by way of conviction, three sword strokes that would have done credit to the fencing master.
 About the year 170O there lived in Paris young woman, very beautiful, as witty as beautiful and saucier than either. She had, the writers of the time say, the prettiest eyes in the world and the waviest hair. She sometimes called herself Mime, dAubigny, some times Mile. de Mauple. Falling in love with provost she followed him to Marseilles where she did all sorts of foolish things. Then returning to Paris she entered the opera, where she met with extraordinary success and con- tinued her exploits.
 One night, wearing mems clothes, she went to a masked ball at the Palais Royal. She made herself disagreeable to lady of the court and three gentle men who were with the lady challenged her. She confronted them one after an- other and successively placed her three adversaries hors de combat. A few days afterwards she had duel with fourth man, whom she seriously wounded.
 In November, 1884, Baron de Traut- mandorf, a diplomat, was on the eve of marrying a young widow, Countess Lodowska de R, a Pole by birth. An unknown rival of the baron saw fit to ridicule him in a piece of verse signed Baron de Ropp." The diplomat chal- lenged the poet On the ground friend of the poet took his place, with the con- sent of Trautmandorf, who was killed in the encounter. Trautmandorfs sec- ond bitterly reproached De Ropp for his conduct. In an hour they met on the field, sword in hand. De Ropp wounded his antagonist, but what was his surprise and sorrow when he rec ognized in Trautmandorfs second Countess Ladowska. The countess died of her wound; De Ropp committed sui eide
 As late as 1886 Miss Shelley, an American, fought duel with Mme. Astie de Valsayre, at Waterloo. The young Yankee contended that Ameri- can female doctors-she was one-knew moro than the French. The fiery Frenchwoman denied it. Miss Shelley retorted, the word idiot" was uttered. Mime. Astie de Valsayre demanded reparation by arms, but as Miss Shelley was as ignorant of the sword as she was skilled with the scalpel, the French doctor generously gave her fifteen days respite to get her hand in. The Ameri- can did not back out. She was pinked in the arm, honor was satisfied and the combatants were reconciled on the prOund