The Indianapolis journal., 1895-09-08

amount OF bulldog grit 20 stand Up and
be hacked at. especially as a man must
not mcve his head OF dodge during the
onslaught. this being regarded a. a
piece OF cowardice that r. not to he toll
Grated. What Is more. II does not re-
quire much skill. for the welding OF the
swords Is a wrist motion almost entire
~. and there are n great number OF
cuts and movements that mast be well
learned before entering a contest. At
she end Of the battle. as a general thing.
10Th contestants are thoroughly ex-
haustcd.
For side diversion. between battles.
occasionally one OF the oalookers viii
cause little interest. 20 one hot accus-
toned 70 the Ways OF German students.
by rising from his seat with "Prosit-"
shouted to some friend across the hall.
and gulning down. IN rapid succession.
i've glasses of beer. which he had pre-
viously poured out. and arranged I'm q
row before him. The friend &c addressed
returns the compliment BY downing i've
glasses In the same fashion The glass
es are not the largest. but FIVE OF them
would net abou. litre. An earlier con-
testant may he seen. his head encased In
surgeons wrappings. quietly drinking
his beer from a special sort OF glass
having q glass tube arrangement.
The last battle we saw was the most
interesting. The contestants had made
only three onsiaughts. when one OF them
received a clean cut through the nose.
almost severing ft from his face So
nicely had the sword been sharpened
that you might have imagined that the
cut had been made with razor Blood
trickled out and ran I'm lively fashion.
but this did not matter. except that
sawdust was occasionally necessary Tor
the floor. Then the man with the cut
nose received cut after cut. until the
blood was running down the front Of
his protector Although badly siasheo
he continued for some ten minutes af-
ter the cutting of his nose. but was
then. apparently. obliged TO give up.
on account OF weakness from loss OF
blood. on came hissaccoutrements. de
was sitting on a chair. meanwhile. TOO
weak 20 speak. He was panung heav-
lily. Two friends helped him 20 the doc
tor. and there he tainted. The surgeons
best efforts were required 10 revive him.
Stimulants We're applied. but. even at
the end OF an hour. the surgeon Lad
done little more than convince nim
that ne had better live. II was neces-
sary TO hold up his feet in the ar TO
keep what little blood he had In his body
in the neighborhood OF his heart In
cidentally. two others were waiting 10
be sewed up. On our way out II vas
necessary 10 pass tclose TO our young
man who had so close call. and the
sight Of his pale face was ghastiy;
So out we went into the night air. cut
of the odor OF tobacco and disinfectants.
The cool breeze was refreshing We had
seen sport enough for us-but then We
were American students. not German.
In time past more than one man has
lost his life at the ''mensur."
One may And n dance going on In the
same hall on the next Sunday. as though
nothing had happened IL Is a custom In
Goettingen. after church. for about ev-
erybody in the town TO promenade up
and down the main thoroughfare OF the
city. Wanderstrasse. much as one sees
the promenading on Firth avenue In
New York on Easter Sunday morning.
Here ''auf der Weender." one may ma
the contestants of the day precious.
stalking along with other members OK
their corps, and evidently proud OF the
sight they offer.