Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-04-01


inine desire to ape masculinity in all
things. But as far as the duello is con-
cerned the woman of today is an immeas-
urable distance behind her sister of q Gen.
fury or two ago. In fact, the farther buck
one goes into the duskiness of the past the
more prevalent the dueling woman be-
comes.
In the time Of the crusades, particularly
in tho eleventh and twelfth centuries, the
fighting woman was as prevalent as bad
debts are today. Clad in mail and armed
with sword and lance, she accompanied
her warrior husband, brother or sweet
heart to the Holy Land and mixed plenti-
fully in the constant broils which marked
those long and boisterous marches.
She came from England, France and
Germany by the thousand and figured
prominently IN the outrages which blotted
the pathways of the blood splitting crusad-
ers. In some of the crusades there were as
many as $4,000 of tho amazons, and nat
urally they didn't get on very well togeth-
er, their rows invariably ending by re-
course to arms. In fact, they fought SO
much among themselves that the leaders
of subsequent crusades forbade their join
ing the army, but this edict was futile.
Disguised as men and with o proficiency
in arms equal to the average warrior,
they easily passed of rs the masculine ar
ticle and continued to kill the Saracen
and each other until the last of the cru
sades.
Tho Frenchwoman has always taken
front rank in the matter of duels. italian
and Spanish women have often settled dis
putes with the sword. Austrian and Eng
lish women figure lightly in the history of
the duel, and the instances of American
women who rcsorted to the field of honor
are extremely rare.
One of the few cases of the latter kind
occurred in France only II years ago. A
Frenchwoman named Nine Astia de
Valsayre considered herself insulted by
some utterance of an American girl named
Genevieve Shelley. The Frenchwoman
demanded satisfaction on the field of hon.
or. and the American girl, who had lived
In France from her babyhood, saw nothing
particularly strange in the idea Of a fem
mime duel. So che accepted. Seconds q
surgeon and the principals journcyed to
| the field of Waterloo, where the duel was
fought with swords. Both were clever
fencers, but Nine. Valsayre was the more
experienced, and succeeded in wounding
her antagonist in the sword arm. This
satisfied the injured honor of the combat
nnts, and the duel ended.
The most noted woman duelist was q
mysterious creature named Charles Gene
We've Louis Auguste Andre Timothee
DION, whose mixture of masculine and
feminine names was quite consistent with
her mode of life. One-half of the time she
passed as man and the other half as
woman. So successfully did she imper-
senate the masculine that after her death
countless disputes arose over the question
| CT n fnd1v
still throw doubt on the matter.
But when everything is considered, 1t
seems that she was woman, and q beau
tlful woman too. She was contemporary
OF the wicked Mime. Pompadour and Nine.
du Barry, who helped King Louis Nv to
rule France
/ The times were propitious for an adven.
furious person like tho Chevaliere d 'Eon,
and 1t seems that she made the most of her
opportunities She was q favorite of the
king, and in many diplomatic necessities
performed extraordinary services, at one
time wheeling out state secrets as a beau
tl1ui and fascinating woman, at another
time bullying as a deadly, fighting man.
4 In woman's garb Dion was embassa-
dress to the court of the Empress Eliza
beth OF Russia from 1850 to 1850, and lat
er, os man, was ambassador to England.
~AAS'nA . 1dCc Wd6 HtiiiosoihO oA"s
the voice high pitched. When dressed in
feminine attire, she was us handsome a
woman as any in the courts of Europe,
ana rs man, in the silk and satin BRAY
cry OK those picturesque times, there was
not noble among all the courtiers who
could drink deeper or throw dice for high
CT stakes than the cheyaliere
NO man s hand more readily sought the
nit OF his sword than did D'Eon's. She
was one OF the best sword wielders of the
epoch and was noted and much feared
auelist. She had a notable encounter with
the Chevalier de St. Georges one bright
summers day in the Place Royale, IA
Sorlte spot, and was wounded in her sword
arm AS soon as she was recovered from
her hurt she again picked quarrel with
, ner former adversary and ran him through
the heart
Another Frenchwoman who earned un-
dying fame as a duelist was the celebrated
Mile de Maupin, immortalized by Theo-
phiie Gautier. She was reckoned the most
expert fencer of her time, and the famous
dueiists thought twice before provoking
qusrrel with her. She was an actress in
Paris, but she fell in love with fencing
master and followed him to Marseil1es.
There they disagreed, fought with swords.
and she returned to Paris, leaving him ia
lind some one else to nurse his wound.
: One OF the few cases on record Of English
women as duelists is that of a battle be-
tween Lady Almeria Braddock and a Mrs.
GphinStone, both Of item leadeRs In Lon