The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-20

! N0Spt Who went through the concert ndltS
| on the Bruhl and the Koenigsplatz weekly
for almost whole winter picking fights
right and left, smashing glassware and up
settlns tables, until the long-suheHng Do
ice lost patience and the city became too
warm Tor them. II is a curious illustra-
| ton OF the effect foreign air has on the
young American-this carnival OF rowdy-
ism in which the youngsters spread ter
ror and confusion through the smaller
nisht resorts OF Leipsic. Now two of them
! are professors In large eastern colleges,
| several are praticing doctors in this city,
| ana the rest are as sober and dignified men
! as the world produces. All that Is left of
their crazy winter In Leipsic is the repu-
tauon Tor pugnacity which they bequeath-
ed TO their successors in Leipsics Ameri-
can colony.
In big cosmopolitan city like Berlin the
American, like everybody else, seems to
lose his distinctive Identity, and he has to
take things pretty much as would anybody
else, except for the help that he gets from
the general American reputation for reck-
lessness and good pistol practice. Just
what this means was shown by the expe-
rience of a San Francisco man of the
writer's acquaintance. The man had gone
abroad with is wife for a six months va
cation. baby girl was born into his
family under the supervision of Berlin
physician who practices much in the
American colony of the German capital
The physician bungled the case from the
start. The San Francisco mans wife was
not convalescent until he had overrun bis
vacation time four months and was re-
ceiving daily cablegrams from his partner
TO come home or the business would 90
to the devil"
By the time his wife was fairly on her
feet he was desperate in his haste to go.
He wrote for the doctors bill, and got one
for 1000 marks--an amount that, all things
considered, corresponds with about $3.50 in
America. The doctor apparently thought
he had caught a rich westerner TO whom
money was of little account and he had
made out his bill accordingly.
The San Francisco man did not think
twice before writing across the bill a bit
ter denunciation of the doctor, and a chal-
lenge to pistol duel, sealing the com>
munication and addressing 1t to the doc
tor The proceedings were not in har-
mony with the German code-especially
as regards the challenger naming the
Weapons-but the effect was not the less
on this account. The next morning the
doctor called on the San Francisco man,
apologized for any offense that he might
have given Internationally, and reduced
the amount of the bill to $50 marks, which
was about the proper figure. He ex-
plalned that he was the head of a family
and did not feel that he could risk his life
in duel with the American especially as
| he understood the gentleman was an in
fallible pistol shot, like all his compatrlots
from the western states" Thus il is evil
dent that even in Berlin the fear that an
American may select pistols for weapons
has a deterrent influence on bellicose Ger
J mans. OF course, the doctor knew moth
ing in particular about the San Francisco
mans abilities at using the pistol; he
| judged merely that as an American the
challenger was unerring in his use of fire.
arms.
In Heidelberg, too, the American usually
enjoys immunity from challenges to seri-
Gus duels-students' duels are not counted
| as serious, as they almost never result in
! severe injury-owing to the general belief
that with a pistol he can plug a silver
/ quarter as easily as he can swallow whis-
| ky. Recently q crowd OF Americans had
a small roulette wheel in operation in the
| rooms of two American brothers Au der
| Audage near the Heidelberg park. They
! all were students, and they whirled the
! wheel only for the fun of the game. The
/ corps to which one of the brothers be-
| longed got wind of the game and came in a
/ body to the rooms one afternoon to see
| the fun. The members had the German
itching for gaming, though not the Ameri-
| can fortitude in bearing losses, and soon
! one of them was looking glum over the
/ loss of 10 or 10 marks. Every hour the
bank was sold at auction. 1t usually
] Drought from OU TO ~ marks, anu Ln6n
| paid the purchaser from 10 to 40 marks
profit. Meissner, the German who had
| lost decided apparently to get even by
! plunging. He borrowed all the money in
! the German crowd and bought the bank
| for 81 marks.
! Curious to relate, for the first time in a
week the perverse wheel upset all the
bankers hopes and whirled money out of
his pockets instead of in. At the end of
| the hour Messner was not only out his
| original 10 or 10 marks, but also the 81 he
paid for the bank and 40 besides.
"Himmel- Kruez-zehn million Donner-
wetterw he thundered as the chips were
! piled before him for redemption. "Zum
| Teufel nit dem verdammten RAD Schwin-
| dell Cheat Mate in Amerika, bel Gott!'
came in almost incoherent gasps as he
ripped the layout from the table, threw
| the chips on the floor, and, hurting the
wheel after them. stamped on 1t in wrath.
Most of the Americans grinned. Two,
! who had been in Germany long enough to
scent insult. looked grave. One, who did
not unders tand nonsense when play for
| even small sums OF money was in pro-
| gress. went up to Meissner, seized him by
the arm, and giving him shake, ex-
claimed:
"If there's anything crooked here you're
| the only man in IT, Now pay up those
chips, and II you don't like the game get
/ out of It,"
Meissner didn't understand the words
probably, but he understood the shake and
scowl that accompanied them, and at once
drew out a card. The American, who
meant business, took II and gave back
one of his own. He then remarked that
he didn't know about fighting with a
"welcher," but this fling was lost upon
even the most erudite Of the linguists
among the Germans, for "welch" is not
In the Amercan-German dictionary.
At the corps meeting that night Meiss-
ner selected his second and prepared to
challenge the American, who had insulted
him. one OF the two American brothers,
who belonged 10 the same corps, happen
ed and tried to dissuade him. 1t was Of
no avail; he must have blood. The chai-
lenge was sent and accepted. Pistols were
named as the weapons. The American
brothers were in despair. A pistol duel
would raise a big scandal; besides some
body might get shot, as the American in
sisted on the condition that shooting must
continue until one OF the principals should
be too badly wounded to continue the
duel. What could they dor After hours
| Of anxious reelection they formed a plan
] Of action ThqV went 10 Meissuer together