The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-18
Fair Women as DueIhsts

fair Women as Duellists
Two women Of Vienna. prominent fis-
ures in the upper crust Of the under world.
fought a duel the other day. according to
brief cable dispatch. one receiving a
wound in tie neck. slightly moro formid-
able than a Fin scratch. and the other es-
Gaping with nothing more serious than a
profuse attack Of fright and Precipitation.
In the time Of crusade. particularly in
the 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 sweetheart To
the Holy Land and mixed plentifully in the
constant bro.ls which marked those long
and boisterous marches
She came from England. France and Ger
many by the thousands and figured promin-
entity in the ou,rages which blotted the path
ways OF the blood spillng crusaders. In
some Of the crusades there were as many
as 90 OF the amazons, and naturally they
didn't get on very well together. their rows
invariably ending by recourse TO arms. In
fact. they fought 50 much among them
selves that the leaders of subsequent cur
sades forbade their joining the army. bu;
this edict was futile. Disguised as men.
ard with proficiency in arms equal 10
the average warrior. they easily passed OF
as the masculine article. and continued 70
kill the Saracen and each other until the
last OF the crusades.
The French woman has always taken
front rank in the matter Of dueIs. Italian
and Spanish women have often settled dis
putes with the sword; Austrian and Eng
lish women figure Nightly in the history OF
the duel. and the Instances OF American
women who -escrted to the field of honor
are extremely rare.
One of the few cases Of the latter kind
occurred in France only eleven years ago.
A French woman named Nine. As;ia de
Valsayre considered herself nsulted by
some utterance Of an American girl named
Genevieve Shelley. The French woman de-
m anded satisfaction on the field of honor.
and the American girl. who had lived IN
France from her babyhood. saw noth!ns
particularly strange in thu idea of femin-
inc duel. so she accepted. Seconds. sur
geon and the principals journeyed 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 wound,ng her
antagonist in the sword arm. This salts
fed the injured honor of the combatan,s.
and the duel ended.
The most noted woman duelist was q
mysterious creature named Charles Gene
We've Louise Auguste Andre T.mothee a.
Eon, whose mixture of masculine and fem
mime names was quite consistent with her
mode OF life. One-half OF the time she
passed as a man and the other half as q
woman. So successfully did she imperson-
ate the masculine that after her death
countless disputes arose over the question
81 her sex. and some historians OF today
still throw doubt on the matter
But when everything is considered. 1t
seems that she was a woman. and beau
tiful woman, too. She was contemporary
OF the wicked Nine Pompadour and Nine.
Du Barry. who helped King Louis XIV. 10
rule France. The times were prop.t.ons
for an adventurous person like the Che
VALERIE d'Eon. and IL seems she made the
most of her opportunities. She was fav-
orite Of the king. and In many diplomatic
necessities performed extraordinary ser
vices. at one time wheeling out state sec
rets as a beautiful and fascinating wo-
man: at another time bullying as deadly.
fighting man.
In woman's garb d'Eon was ambassador
to the court OF Empress Elizabeth of Rus
STA from 1755 10 1850. and later, as a man.
was ambassador to England.
The chevalier's face was handsome and
voice high pitched. When dressed in fem
irine attire she was as handsome a wo-
man as any in the court of Europe. and az
man. In the silk and satin bravery O..
those picturesque times. there was not a
noble among all the courtiers who could
drink deeper or throw dice for higher stakes
than the chevalier.
No mans hand more readily sought the
hil- of his sword than did dEon's She
was one Of the best sword wfeiders OF the
epoch. and was a noted and much feared
duelist. She had a notable encounter with
the Chevalier de ST. Georges on a bright
summers day in the Place Royale-a ia
vorte spot-snd was wounded in her sword
arm. As soon as she was recovered from
her hurt she again picked a quarrel with
her former adversary and ran him through
the heart.
Another French woman who earned un-
dying fame as duelisi. was the celebrated
Nile. De Maupin. .mmortalized by The
ophile Gaut,er. She was reckoned the
most expert fencer of her time and the
famous duel!st thought twice before pro-
yoking a quarrel with her. She was an
actress in Paris. but she fell in love with
a fencing master and followed him TO Mar
saiiIes. There they disagreed. fought with
swords, and the returned 20 Paris. leaving
him TO find some one else 10 nurse has
wound.
In Paris she entered the opera and at
tanned great celebrity both by her talent
and eccentirfcites. An actor named Du-
meny displeased her one day and she lay
In wait for him IN the Place des Victories.
Being unsuccessful in provoking him 20
fight, she tore his watch and snuffbox
from him and carried them OF as the
spoils of war. Another actor she forced
10 beg her pardon On his knees before the
whole company.
One night al a masked bali az the royal
palace she was disguised as a man, and
paid violent and unndstskbie t,entlons 70
ore OF the ladies OF the court. Three gen
.Iernen provoked a cOr1Ds. with her on this
account, and she fought them one after
another and killed them all. after which
relying on the immunity which she en-
joyed. owing to her high protectors. she
returned 10 the ballroom and amused her
,elf until dsybreak.
One OF The few cases on record Of Eng
ism women as cUsli.t - that Of a battle
between Lady A,ner.a Brzddock and Mrs
Elph.ns;one. both OF tsen leaders IN Lon
Ion society a; the end OF the eighteenth
,entury. The quarrel arose over Some
.ri,ic.sms which Mrs.. E.phinstone made
concerning Lady BrsEdock History say.
bat these referred 70 re isftsrs age.
Al any rate. Lady Brse5ock felt mor-
ally injured. and. following the fasasoz Of
.er masculine fris1es. sent chsilsnzs &c
drs- Elphinstone The latter dti nos care ]