Birmingham age-herald., 1894-09-04
DUELS IN THE DARK.
DEADLY CONTESTS BETWEEN MEN WHO COULD NOT SEE EACH OTHER.

Strange Duel Between Officers With Snake and Dark Room For Two-A Ter ribIe Battle For a Mexican Beauty.
 The history of dueling contains many stories of duels that have been fought in the dark The famous encounter between Lord Byron, the great uncle of the poet, and Mir. Chaworth took place in a darken- ed room in Pall Mail. Only rushlight pierced the gloom, and it showed two men fighting desperately for their lives. A terrible enmity had sprung up between them, engendered by simple discussion upon the gamo laws, and the battle was wagcd in grim earnest After some fu- rious passes Chaworth sent his sword through the waistcoat of his opponent and left it there for a second, thinking that ho had pierced the body. Lord Byron took advantage of tho pause to run his sword through his antagonist.
 A strange duel, if such it could be call ed, occurred in the Bengal presidency. Two officers who had fallen in love with the charming daughter of an English planter agreed to n curious mode of arbitra tion They decided to shut themselves up in dark room in which poisonous snake had been confined for several days and leave the reptile to decide their fate. Re- tiring to the room in question, it was not long before they heard the hiss of the hun gry snake as 1t writhed around the room. Presently ono of the lovers felt sharp sting in the thigh, and looking down he saw the glittering eyes of the snake.
 He gave Q wild shriek and fled to the door. His companion, thoroughly alarm ed, did tho same, and they rushed with frightened faces from the room. Once over the threshold, the bitten lover fell down in @ swoon, induced more by fear than actual injury. His rival fled in the direction of the young lady's house, leav- ing his enemy prostrate on the ground. Much to his surprise, however, tho victim of the snake bite appeared on parade the next day as if nothing had happened. It trsnspired that his servant had been in trusted with the preparations for the duel, and to avert tragic termination of the quarrel he had placed vicious but entire ly harmless snake in the darkened room.
 A more serious encounter between Brit ish officers happened in 1858. Captain Phil lips of the Bombay depot quarreled with one of his lieutenants, aman named Shep- herd, and a duel with pistols was decided upon. The two men adjourned to the pa- rade ground in the dead of night, and a native servant belonging to the senior offi- cer held a candle at an equal distance from each combatant. At the first fire the cap tain was killed. His opponent was after ward convicted of the manslaughter of his superior and sentenced to long term of imprisonment.
 India has been a fruitful field for duels of this description. Some years before dueling in the army was prohibited two English officers stationed at Agra fought duel in the dark. The mail from Eng land had just arrived, and the men were naturally anxious to see the newspapers of the mother country. One of the officers took a bundle of papers from the mess room to his quarters, although regimen tai regulation prohibited such practice. A brother officer interposed, words passed, and in the fever of excitement one man struck the other. He resolved to 'wipe out the blow," phrase which was then un- derstood to mean duel to the death. They met by night in a disused quarry, and in the encounter one of the men re- ceived a wound which ended his life.
 A terrible duel in the dark was fought on Mexican ranch not long ago. A girls beauty and coquetry were the potent causes of the quarrel. She laughing agreed to marry the one who could lasso the oth- CT In the dark. They went on the plains one dark night, accompanied by some cowboys who had heard of this novel mat rimonial tournament. Both were mount ed on fiery mustangs, and each had a raw hide lariat fastened to his saddle bow. Among the vaqueros of the plains they had reputation for skill in handling the lasso They could lasso runaway horse or send the snakelike rope whirling around the horns of @ maddened COW.
 The spectators therefore expected that the novel duel would be quickly decided The encounter, however, was @ somewhat prolonged one. For time each kept out of range of the lariat or lodged 1t as it came whizzing through the air. On the prairies men are quick at hearing and each man spurred his mustang when he heard the lasso unourling itself against his head.
 For over an hour this strange fight was waged. Then one of them felt the run ming moose catch, and with wild shout he pulled the rawhide rope until his cap tive was unable to move The lariat had settled on the shoulders of his rival and had firmly pinioned his arms. The vic- torious vaquero pulled his victim from his horse, dragged him hand over hand across the intervening space and in the excitement of the moment shot him dead Little did the Mexican beauty think that her playful challenge would have such a tragic ending.-London Tit Bits.