Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-02
CUTTINL AODEADLY SWATH
In the Hands Of Men Truly Brave the
Knife is Better Than Gun.
DaUMMER'S YARNcoF TWO HOT FIGHTS
Roustnbout Duel on n Mississippi
Stcnmbont-i<ntrcB Bcsts Pistol in
LcndNIiic Fight-DnGo
Dread of Clubs.

/ luhe lut air III the SuOhlHB lOOlu vi Nhe
sleeper relates the New York Sun, that
may or may not be new. For aught know,
some philosophical sharp may have written
books about it, and may have proved the
truth of what | firmly believe, bu. If so |
rever saw the books, and as for the theory,
l made 1t up myself from the facts | have
seen, travelling around the country selling
goods"
"'Tisnt likely, then" said the man whose
speciality is school books, that anybody has
written about 1t. Theories in books are not
usually built up on that kind OF a basis. But
what's your theory?"
II believe the degree OF civilization to
which an individual has attained may be
told with tolerable accuracy by the weapon
he carries"
"Supposng he does not carry any said
one of the party. II remember hearing a
tough looking Irishman in a police court try
ing to defend himself on a charge of fight
ing, and he swore solemnly that he had moth
ing in his hand but his fist when the fight
occurred
"If his fist was really the only weapon he
carried habitualy," said the hardware man
quickly, "he was very high up in the scale,
or else he was pretty certain that he lived
in a highly civilized community. The
ultimate result of civilization, of course, is
the doing away with all weapons excepting
those which nature provides, OF which the
fist is the best. 1t will be some time, though.
before we reach that stage, and until we do
| expect to go on selling good many knives
and pistols"
"Are knives used very generally as
weapons?" asked another.
More generally than people think, even in
the great cities" was the reply. But not
generally by native Americans in our
hoo hnt hp
Italians carry them and use them, too, men
and women, on what seems slight provoca-
tion. Americans almost always prefer
pistols and the pistol is unquestonably the
weapon of the most advanced civilized type.
There are communities, however, in the
south and southwest where it is still com
mon for men to carry knives, and where they
are very skilful in using them.
WHEN CLUBS ARE BEST.
zone thing, / have noticed, seems to
dovetail in with my theory, If 1t does not
go to prove 1t. A man who Is accustomed
to carry and even to use any kind OF
weapon is less afraid of that same weapon
in another mans hands than he Is OF
ruder weapon. An Italian padrone first
called my attention to that. He said: If
an Italian ever attacks you with a knife
don't attempt to defend yourself with
knife. He knows all about knives is used
to them, and Is not in the least afraid of
them. Use club. Almost any Italian will
run from a club even after he has drawn
his knife And believe that even the
toughest characters in the wilder parts OF
the south and west, expert as they are with
the pistol. would rather face a levelled
revolver than drawn bowie knife. Yet the
knife is certainly less used than 1t was
generation ago very much less than seventy
yeats ago, when Colonel Bowie designed the
knife that bears his name, and won
worldwide fame by his skill in the use of
it,"
But IL they are so tough, and II they
fear the knife the most, why don't they
carry them?" asked the schoolbook man.
"Ah! That | can't say. Some of them do
as | said but the pistol is the favorite.
I'm not explaining the theory, I'm only
stating it. But those who carry knives are
usually the most ignorant as well as the
most desperate"
'Dd you ever see any fighting with
knives?" was a natural question.
YES" said the drummer Several times.
The first time i ever saw a man killed was
in a knife fight. l was standing on the
upper deck of a Mississippi steamboat, about
thirty years ago. on my first trip south.
The boat had stopped at Helena, Ark, to
take on freight, and | was watching the
roustabouts bringing 1t aboard. 1t was a
tremendously hot day in the late summer,
and |, standing In the shade of an awning
on the upper deck, looked down over the
to see how the poor devils could work Gs they
did for they ran to and fro like ants, while
the mate of the boat stood shouting his
orders and cursing them for their laziness.
They didn't seem to me to be lazy, but II is
the fashion to call a roustabout so and to
curse at him pretty steadily while he works
just as a mule driver swears at his train
on general principles.
A DUEL TO THE DEATH.
Nest of the 'rousters' were black, or part
negro, though there were few who looked
like white men, and probably were, and there
was one fellow that | thought had both
Indian and negro blood in his veins. He
was a strapping big man, and noticed that
while he carried as heavy a load each time
as any of the others, he carried it without
any perceptible effort and without the strain
Of muscle that the others showed. They
were all stripped to the waist for the work
SIS 'rousters usually are, or were then, in
the hottest weather. and l noticed his ply
slque with admiration. He looked the most
powerful man in the gang.
Suddenly he bumped against another
man who was coming OFF the boat for
fresh load as he was coming on with his.
| could not see whose fault 1t was, or
whether 1t was a pure accident but In an
instant he had thrown his load to the deck
and struck at the other with his fist. The
other man was a very black negro and con
siderably smaller than the half-breed, but
he was as quick as a cat, and jumping back
ward he avoided the blow and stood on the
defensive
HE was very much on the defensive, too
for as he jumped he put his hand to his belt
and as he struck his attitude he held out
murderous knife with blade almost If
not quite ten INCHES long. 1t was a pecu-
liarly shaped knife, too for a weapon, for il
was straight and narrow, with a tapering
point and only one edge, but the back was
almost half an ilich thick, and, of courCQ
very heavy. II was almost like chopping
knife. | noticed too, that he held 1t with
the blade out from the thumb, as a man
holds a sword. 1t is not the way a knife
fighter usually holds his weapon, and !
understood when had time to think II
over, why he wanted so heavy a knife, for
some of his blows were delivered broad
sword fashion, while others were thrusts.
"As | say. 1t wss3 3afterward that under
stood this. | hadn't time to reason 1t out
till the affair was all over, for the half
breed whipped out his knife as quickly as
the other, and Jumped forward like a cat,
in attack His knife was a regular bowie,
shorter of course, than the other mans,
and much lighter and he held II in the
approved style, with the blade at the little
finger side OF the hand. They were together
in an instant and there was an instantane-
GUS babel around them, for the other men
yelled savagely as they crowded around
and the mate roared like bull as he jumped
toward them with the evident intention OF
separating them or perhaps OF knocking
Z hap fagh Whota