The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-20
KNIVES USED TO KILL.
A HARDWARE DRUMNIER's YARN
OF TWO EXCITING FIGHTS.
ROustabOut Duel ON Mississippi
SteambOat-Knife Bests Pistol in
LeadvilIe Fight - Clubs Handy
Against DaEO knives.

hhNG d Sdlu q hardware
drummer. who was industriously helping
perfume the air in the smoking room of the
sleeper, that may or may not be new.
For aught 1 know, some philosophical
sharp may have written books about It,
and may have proved the truth of what l
firmly believe. but if so I never saw the
books, and as for the theory, made it up
myself from the facts 1 have seen, trav-
cling around the country selling goods"
'Tisnt likely, then" said the man
whose speciality is school books, that any
body has written about it. Theories in
books are not usually built upon that kind
of a basis. But what's your theory?"
II believe the degree of civilization to
which an individual has attained may be
told with tolerable accuracy by the wea-
pom he carries"
'Supposing he does not carry any, said
one of the party. II remember hearing a
tough-looking Irishman in police court
trying to defend himself on a charge of
fighting, and he swore solemnly that he
had nothing in his hand but his fist when
the fight occurred"
IF his fist was really the only weapon
he carried habitually," said the hardware
man quickly, The was very high up in
the scale, or else he was pretty certain
that he lived in a highly civilized COM
munity. The ultimate result OF civiliza-
ton, of course, is the doing away with all
weapons excepting those which nature
provides, of which the fist is the best. 1t
Will be some time, though, before we reach
that stage, and until we do / expect to go
on selling a good many knives and pis-
tolls"
Are knives used very generally as
weapons?" asked another.
More generally than people think, even
in the great Cities" was the reply. But
not generally by native Americans in our
principal cities. Everybody knows that
the Italians carry them, and use them,
too, men and women, on what seems slight
provocation. Americans almost always
prefer pistols, and the pistol is unques-
tionably the weapon of the most advanced
civilized type. There are communities,
however, in the south and southwest
where it is still common for men to carry
knives, and where they are very skillful
in using them.
zone thing, I have noticed seems to
dove-tail in with my theory, if it does not
go TO prove 1t. A man who is accustomed
TO carry and even to use any kind of
weapon is less afraid Of that same weapon
in another mans hands than he Is of a
rude weapon. An italian padrone first
called my attention to that. He said: If
an italian ever attacks you with a knife,
don't attempt to defend yourself with a
knife. He knows all about knives, is used
to them, and is not in the least afraid of
them. Use a club. Almost any Italian
will run from a club, even after he has
drawn his knife And l believe that even
the toughest characters in the wilder parts
of the south and west, expert as they are
with the pistol, would rather face lev
elled revolver than a drawn bowie knife.
Yet the knife is certainly less used than
it was a generation ago. when Col. Bowie
designed the knife that bears his name,
and won a worldwide fame by his skill
in the use of it,
But If they are so tough and If they
fear the knife the most, why don't they
carry them?" asked the school-book man.
"Ah! That 1 can't say. Some of them
do, as 1 said, but the pistol is the favorite.
I'm not explaining the theory I'm only
stating it. But those who carry knives
are usually the most ignorant as well as
the most desperate"
did you ever see any fighting with
knives?" was a natural question.
Yes" said the drummer, Several times.
The first time 1 ever saw a man killed
was in knife fight. 1 was standing on
the upper deck Of Mississippi steamboat
south. The boat had stopped at Helena,
Ark, to take on freight, and I was watch
ing the roustabouts bringing it aboard. It
was a tremendously hot day in the late
summer and /, standing in the shade of
an awning on the upper deck, looked down
over the gangway and the lower deck i'm
amazement to see how the poor devils
could work as they did, for they ran to
and fro like ants, while the mate of the
boat stood shouting his orders and ours
ing them for their laziness. They didn't
seem to me to be lazy, but it is the fash
ion to call a roustabout so and to curse
at him pretty steadily while he works,
just as a mule driver swears at his train
on general principles.
Most of the rousters' were black, or
part negro, though there were few who
looked like white men, and probably were,
and there was one fellow that l thought
had both Indian and negro blood in his
veins He was a strapping big man, and
1 noticed that while he carried as heavy
a load each time as any of the others, he
carried it without any perceptible effort
and without the strain of a muscle that
the others showed. They were all stripped
to the waist for the work, as 'rousters'
usually are, or were then, in the hottest
weather and noticed his physique with
admiration He looked the most powerful
man in the gang
s'SuQQenlY ne pumped against
man who was going Off the boat for fresh
load as he was coming on with his. l
could not see whose fault It was, or wheth-
er II was a pure accident, but in an instant
he had thrown his load to the deck and
struck at the other with his fist. The
other man was a very black negro and con-
siderably smaller than the half-breed, but
he avoided the blow and stood on the de-
fensiye.
'IIe was very much on the defensive,
too, for as he jumped he put his hand to
his belt and as he struck his attitude he
held out murderous knife with blade
almost If not quite ten inches long. 1t was
a peculiarly shaped knife too, for a weap-
on. for II was straight and narrow, with
tapering point and only one edge, but the
back was almost half an inch thick, and
of course, very heavy, 1t was almost like
a chopping knife. noticed, too. that he
held Il with the blade out from the thumb.
as a man holds a sword. 1t Is not the way
a knife fighter usually holds his weapon,
and understood, when / had time to think
il over. why he wanted so heavy a knife,
for some Of his blows were delivered
broadsword fashion, while others were
thrusts.
"As Dsay, it was afterward that I un-