The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-07-23
-t&iH5s &c II T.. IN assssa sE''a
0UEI3 N FRANCE.
Why Pistol Duels Are Very
Unpopular.

Why Pistol Duels Are Very
Unpopular.
Pistol dueling il in France looked
upon, and consider rightly, with con
siderable disfavor. The pistol is consid
cred the towards weapon, unless th'
conditions of the fght are such that ther'
is fair chance of q serious: termination
Pistols ere Usually chosen by people VIII
-dott want to get hurt, though also b.
duelists who want the duel to end in the
death of one or the other. 1t is difficult
to find seconds to assist you in pisto
duel, because, as pistol duel ends either
harmlessJy or else very seriously, because
a wound with q dueting pistol is always
a grave one, people don't want to stand
between having engaged in a farce OF
being involved in q matter of some
responsibility.
It has been my fate to fight several
pistol duels, always against my will, and
/ have always found it exceedingly diff
ficult to get two friends to take charge OF
my interests in these affairs. "If It is
with swords, with pleasure, but not with
pistols, Is what is the almsst invariable
remark of man whom you ask to assist
you in an "affalr" in which you may be
engaged. And even when you do find
men to help you in pistol duel, there
are few whose friendship for you is suf-
ficiently great to prompt them to agree
to any but easy conditions.
In a recent affair in which I was en-
gagged, a pistol duel being forced upon
me, as did. not wish to appear to be
taking part in the farce, and had decided
that if I fought pistol duel 1t should
he serious one, requested and begged
my seconds to secure for me as conditions
Of the encounter, firing on aim at fifteen
PAGES. Firing at command is method
of dueling which l consider should be
abolished, because if man engages in
pistol duel it ought to be for some
result. ~ W W2
Now "le fcu au commandment" means
that the combatants are placed pistol in
hand, with the muzzle pointing down.
ward to the ground, that at the word,
''Firem they raise their arms and that
these must be discharged before three
has been counted. Unless a man be
ve.y good shot what chance has he of
hitting his adversary, especially if the
latter be placed twenty PAGES away under
these conditions2 There you are, pistol
in hand. The director of the combat"
asks you: fare you ready9" You say,
ayes" He cries, Fire one, two, three!"
and you have to get your shot off before
he has said "Threev'
In the pistol duel on aim, you have
full minute in which to fire at your man,
which gives you plenty of time for your
work. If he fire first and wound you,
youar allowed two minutes before firing.
In the duel on aim, the duelist who knows
what he is about lets his opponent fire
first and then takes deliberate aim at him.
Even if be miss him, the sight of his ad-
versary standing as a dueling code obliges
him to stand, Sin q posture of complete
immobility," for large number Of Sec
onds, each of which must appear an
eternity to the man he is covering, will
more than compensate him for any offense
he may have suffered at the hands of
the man.
The question of the number of PAGES
j. e., of the distance at which the COM
batants are placed, is an important one.
The minimum allowed by the dueling
code is fifteen PAGES, equivalent to about
ten meters, the maximum being thirty.
five PAGES. Pistol duels at twelve PAGES
never take place In France, because that
distance being below the minimum which
is allowed by the code, no seconds would
incur the responsibility of duel, which,
if it ended fatally, would expose them to
q prosecution of the most serious kind.
This is why people were so very skep-
tical about the accounts of q certain duel
alleged to have taken place recently in
Belgium, where the CONTESTANTS were re-
ported to have been placed at distance
IF twelve PAGES from each other.
The pistols used in France are invar
ABLY the old-fashi0ned muzzle- loading
pistols, which make a big noise in ex-
ploding and carry a heavy ball. 1t is
often said that the seconds, in French
pistol duels, never load the pistols prop
srly. but though this may occasionally
be so, it is certainly more often the ex-
ception. These pistols, charged as they
are. kill at forty PAGES, and one can often
Judge from the noise of the explosion
whether the seconds have fooled YOU
Or not.
The weapons are usually hired from
inc of the big gunsmiths of Paris, who
keep sets of dueling pistols in stock for
his purpose. 1t is against all etiquette
Tor man to bring his own pistols, the
rule being that he never has had the wea-
Don with which he fiOhts in h;s horde 10