, 1897-10-28
THEY FIGHT 1T OUT.
HOW ENGLISH ARMY OFFICERS SET
TIE Their DIFFERENCES.

t''IftN VGuGtSAEo.
Tho Plebsian and the Peer-How One
Regiment Was Opened to Others Than
Ofshoots Of the PeeraSe-Eow .Molly'
Crushed the Cheeky Youngst-r.
In view of the disgraceful duel be-
tween the Duke of Orleans and the
Count of Turin we publish the follow.
ing article which shows the manner in
which British officers settle disputes:
Officers have their disagrcements. Of
course, like other men, and they have
to be settled. Duel;ng is forbidden by
law as well as by modern ideas and
common sense Complaints respecting
infractions o, mess etiquette or of un-
gentlemanly or unsoldierly conduct may
be submitted to the mess committee, the
punitive powers of which are extremely
farrcaching. The life of an oficer"sent
to Coventry" by his fellows is uuendura.
BILE, and bis only chance is to exchange.
But all this is moral suasion only,
and i'll the end disputes are frequently
settled by Il resort to first principles
the rule of fist-while redress is some
times obtained in ways as drastic as
they are novel.
a gentleman joined a crack cavalry
regiment. He had no pedigree or tami-
ly to recommend him. In fact, his ia
ther was a retired brewer, and by the
scions of nobility among his comrades
he was rather coldly received.
Are you the son of Dash. the brew
err" inquired one of these.
II am"
"Then why didn't your father bring
you up to his trader
"Oh, well you're the sou of Lord
Blank, aren t your"
Yes"
"Then why didn't he bring you up a
gentleman"
The upshot Of this was a rough and
tumble, wherein was demonstrated that
in the army a plebcian is the equal of a
peer-if he can box as well.
Another gentleman from the ranks of
trade came home one day to find all the
crockery and ~breakable articles in his
room smashed, the same being intend.
ed by the wreckers as a delicate hint
that his presence among them WAS OBJ
%jectionable.
He was late for dinner that g, ening
and apologized to the president Of the
mess for it, explaining what had hap.
pened-that he had been to the rooms
Of the three he suspected and returned
the compliment: il he had wronged
any. lie would apologize and restore the
articlds; if he had hit on the right ones,
they could have satisfaction in the rid
ing school after dinner.
Accordingly. after dinner, two of
them received satisfaction in full, a Ia
COrbett, in drill time. but the third
proved %a~tougher nut to crack. and the
big hearted plebeian twbo. by the bye,
is 20 u general). weakened by his ex.
ertions. was getting worsted, so anoth-
er Of the same social status who was
An expert boxer took up the running.
He soon finished off the third man
and obligingly offered to take on any
one who syn,rnthized with the trio. Ely
this means-apI ropriate to their PRO.
fession-tEcse two officers opered the
door in that regiment to others than
offshoots ct the peeraGe, fy whom it
had previously been regarded as Il pre-
serve.
Among officers exchanging from ono
regiment to another is common. One
little man. II lieutenant, incurred the
enmity of h men of his troop ly cen
%tinunlly finding fault and rubbing it in
by contrasting them unfnvcrally with
his late corps till they hated the very
name of the "Pinks," as we'll call
them.
Not only the rank and Gle. but the
noncommissioned officers, came in Tor
his animadversion till it got unbearable,
and at last the troop sergeant major
told the captain quietly that there
would be n mutiny in the troop before
long If it continued.
1t so happened that he had also car
ried his insulting comparisons into the
mess. and as he wouldn't take advice
and drop it, his brother officers took
the matter into their own hands, with
the result that II cold night i'll Febru-
airy there was a hubbub within the Off
GERS quarters, n window was presently
opened. and little ".Joey." clad only i'll
his ni%ghtshirt, was handed out. seized.
placed and held down i'll u handbarrow.
wheeled Off to the manure heap and
there shot out, to make his way back to
bed as best he could. He soon after left
the regiment.
The nntipodes Of this gentleman was
an officer i'll the same regiment, an
freshman, 9 feet 2 and big i'll proper
aion. but his Ego" was not proportion
ate to Eis size. He was tco big and apa-
fhetic for II cavalry captain In fact.
ms nickname. Molly. we'll describes
him. One cheeky" youngs,er appeared
10 think he could take any liberties
with such an easy going mountain of
flesh. and IN the billiard room IL night
ne Carried his impotence beyond all
reason.
MOLLY said nothing. He simply
dropped his cue, picked the offender up
aud rat him violently down on a side ia.
BILE, ignorant or needless of the fact
that upon 1t were standing glasses n
decantery.
1t was some time before the surgeons
picked the last piece Of glass out of the
impertinent one and weeks before he
could appear In the saddle again. IT Is
scarcely necessary to nay that he gave
molly" Mcguire . wide berth after