New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-05

He evidently retains to this day his respect LOT
the duel as a means OF settling disputes speak
ing Of time when single COMBAT ""ppe'e'
to be frequent In his circle, he remarks.
duels. which were only In few instances io'
lowed by dangerous consequences, had' howe'e''
so far 6 very useful effect as they tehoeu ~
preserve a polite tone in social intercourse vi
his own earliest affair Of honor ne mas pre-
served a laughable reminiscence
My brother Hans and were wont 10 as 's.,,t
and not in vain. crows and birds OF prey wi..
self~fabricated cross-bows In the use Vi VIII AZ,
we attained great precision. one gay, q , o,
pute arising In connection with tne cnaas, - ,ba
the liberty OF putting in practice the risht VI ,e
stronger. My brother declared TINS 10 pc tas.
and demanded that the abuse should De se.., ',a
by a duel. in which my superior s,rens.m "vT
| give me no advantage. l found that equ.au,e ,
| and we proceeded to a cross-bow DUEL coIIcc'
according to the rules had learned from o, Ut
sional stories Of my father Of his student me;
| OF command "Now" we both discharged our
feathered arrows, with knitting needle LOT neau
| at one another Brother Hans had aineu wei
trated under the skin to the root Our Joint
cutlery brought the father to the scene wiz
pulled out the arrow. and thereupon hia
| pipestem This conficted with my sense OF
| right. / stepped up with decision between
| father and brother and said:
Father. 1t isn't Hans's fauit we ha'c o'e"
! fighting a duel"
/ see still the puzzled face Of my father. who
! in justice could not punish what ne had done
| himself and considered honorable re puieu!
| replaced the pipestem In the bowl, adoing ohiy'
| "In future leave such nonsense aiohe.
| An example Of his extraordinary luck was
| shown in one episode of his military career. In
| moment of indiscreet enthusiasm ne, as well
| as many other military men at public meet
| ing in Berlin signed violent protest against
reaction and religious cant (muckerthum). IL
was in the days of agitation against Catholi-
cism and also too rigid Professionalism NOW IL
was thing to speak against religious excess
! it was quite another to sign paper at time
when the public mind was painfully excited
The morning after the meeting one OF the
daily newspapers contained the protest with the
signatures, and young Siemenss name led all
the rest There was an omnous silence for
several DAYS. Then came an order in council
sending every offender away from Berlin to his
regiment For me-" adds Won Semens. this
was an almost unexpectedly hard blow, dis
turbng all my life plans. and making it i'm
possible for me to go on providing for my
| younger brothers. The problem was to ma
a way TO prevent this removal. That was only
| to be attained by an important military DIS
| covery, which should necessitate my presence In
! Berlin. Telcgraphy. In which was specially
| interested, could not perform this service, Tor
| only few then believed in it's great future and
my projects were still undeveloped." His good
| fortune suggested gun-cotton. He consulted
| faithful friend, a chemist. who gave him room
| for a laboratory. Then by accident he used
| concentrated sulphuric acid in place OF strong
nitric acid. and to his establishment got a gum
cotton with altogether different properties from
those of the product previously known. AFTER
washing II became white and firm. and eX-
| ploded very energeticay. Before noon lie
| had packed a quantity of fautless gun-cotton
| and sent it with a formal explanatory letter TO
! the War Minister. THE result. adds he,
was glorious The Minister of War Instituted
a shooting trial in his large gardens. and as II
went off brilliantly Immediately induced the
heads of the Ministry to make regular trial
| with pistols On the very same day | received
an official order direct from the Minister to re-
pair to the powder mandatory at Spandau
which had already been instructed to place
everything requisite at my disposal TO ins'i-
| tute experiments larger scale. 1t Is sell
| dom | fancy, that memorial to the War Office
| has been so quickly acted upon. or my return
| ing to the brigade there was more talk.
was soon the only one of my brothers in mis-
fortune who had not been obliged to leave
| Berlin"
There is much technical and scientific matter
| in the book, necessitated by a full history OF
! the authors discoveries and inventions. But
the reader will also find much shrewd general
observation and more than one pleasant cpl
sode in life long, laborious and eventful.