The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-02-09
B1sMARoxs Bg0APB.


VINO Wha UutnNeA nN his nAANos
In q nttle pamphlet regarding the visit
Of the W~iesbadeners In T~riedriohsruh thoro
has appeared a Bismarck anecdote which
shows how near Germany once was to los
ing in his youth her great unifer. The
same anocdote also illustrates how duels
are still mode in Germany.
Bismarck first Visited Wiesbaden two or
three years after taking his university de-
gree. He went n evening to the big
dance hall In the kurhaus and during o
pause between dances sat on a sofa talking
with a friend and looking at tho persons
who walked by. He had q sharp eye and a
defiant air even in his best tempered
moods, and several men returned his looks
with III natured stares. Eventually a
young doctor, Gustav LANCE of Heidelberg,
walked up TO the sofa and fixing his eyes
on Bismarck inquiredi
"Why do you stare at meP"
Now, LANCE was q very handsome
young man, and Bismarck was I'm a happy
mood. These two facts dictated Bismarok's
answer:
because I like your appearance"
but 1 do not like yours, - was Lange's
reply.
An animated dialogue followed, Bis
marok at first seeking to appease Lange's
wrath and LANCE trying his best to make
trouble. The upshot was that cards were
exchanged in order that LANCE might wipe
out with blood the deadly affront Of being
stared at by Otto Won Bismarck. The sec
onds arranged that the meeting should
take place in the grand duchy of Hesse,
not far from Biebrich.
LANCE was a dead shot with the pistol,
and pistols were the weapons to be used in
the duel. The young physician could hit
a 2 mark piece tipped in the air nine
times out of ten. 1t looked bad for Bis
marck. His seconds undoubtedly felt that
he was about the same as dead man from
the moment he stepped into the field, and
they labored hard to find a peaceable solug
ton of the quarrel. The English captain
whom Bismarck had made n Of his SEQ
onds was especially eager to prevent blood
shed, and he proposed to Lange at the
place of meeting that the principals talk
the quarrel over before risdng their lives
for such u trivial cause. LANCE said that
he would do his best to settle the affair
without a shot if his opponent would meet
him half way.
The E%nglishman hurried to Bismarck
with the DOCTORS offer Of the olive branch,
but Bismarck would not have it. While
the Englishman slowly paced off the dis
tance, stretching his legs to make it as
long as possible, the other second argued
with Bismarck. Lange leaned against a
tree and said nothing. Just as his seconds
were expecting the principals to take Their
places Bismarck yielded. To the surprise
Of his seconds, he did not wait for any pre-
liminary conversation. He walked across
the field, stretched out his hand and re
marked;
"Well, we win try to live in peace then. ,
Lange shook hands, and the quarrel was
at an end. On his way home from the
field Lange remarked to his secondst
1T is better that 1t ended. 1t would
have been too bad to blow daylight through
him."
Almost so years later LANCE celebrated
in Heidelberg the jubilee anniversary Of
his graduation. After he and his friends
had reviewed the stirring events of the last
half century and the slow welding OF di
vided Germany into one great empire un
der Bismarck's master hand the doctor
remarked quantity:
at Is better that it ended. It would
have been too bad to blow daylight
through him."