Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-01-20
e,smARck.s NARROW ESCAPE.
His Affair of Honor with q Dead Shot.
Who Was Offended by His Stare.
TO BE CONTINUED

His Affair of Honor with a Dead Shot.
Who Was Offended by His Stare.
In little pamphlet regarding the
state of the Wiesbadeners in Fried
richsruh there has appeared Bismarck
| anecdote. which shows how near Ger
| many once was to losing in his youth
her great unifier. The same anecdotc
also illustrates how duels are still MADE
| IN Germany.
Bismarck first visited Wiesbaden two
| or three years after taking his univer-
| sity degree. He went one evening to
the big dance hall in the Kurhaus and.
| during pause between dances, sat ON
a sofa talking with a friend and look
| ing at the persons who walked by. He
| had sharp eye and a defiant air, even
| in his best tempered moods, and several
| men returned his looks with ili-natured
| stares. Eventually a young doctor,
Gustav LANCE, of Heidelberg. walked up
to the sofa and, fixing his eyes on Bis
marck, inquired:
why do you stare at me?''
| Now LANCE was a very handsome
young man and Bismarck was in a hap
| Ply mood. These two facts distated Bis
| marck's answer:
| Because I like your appearance"
But I do not like yours" was Lange's
reply.
| An animated dialogue followed. Bis
marck at first seeking to appease
Lance'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
l ~ n.
ranged that the meeting should take
place in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, not
] far from Biebrich.
| LANCE was q dead shot with the pistol.
and pistols were the weapons to be used
in the duel. The young physician could
| hit the two-mark piece, Tipped in the
| air, nine times out of ten. 1t looked
bad for Bismarck HIS seconds I'M
doubtedly felt that he was about the
| same rs a dead man from the moment
he stepped into the field, and they Ia
bored hard to find 4 peaceable solution
| of the quarrel. The English captain.
whom Bismarck had made one of his
seconds. was especially eager to pre-
| vent bloodshed, and he proposed to
LANCE, at the place of meeting. that the
principals talk the quarrel over before
risking their lives for such a trivial
cause. LANCE said eventually that he
would do his best to settle the affair
without shot if his opponent would
meet him half way. The Englishman
hurried to Bismarck with the doctors
offer of the olive branch, but Bismarck
would not have it. While the English
man slowly paced off the distance.
| stretching his legs to make it as long
HI Il
with Bismarck. LANCE leaned against
tree and said nothing. Just as his sec
onds were expecting the principals to
| take their places Bismarck yielded. To
| the surprise of his seconds he did not
wait for any preliminary conversation.
| He walked across the field. stretched
out his hand. and remarked:
We'll. we will try to live in peace.
| then"
| LANCE shook hands and the quarrel
was at an end. On his way home from
the field LANCE remarked to his sec
| onds:
1T is better that it ended; it would
| have been too bad to blow daylight
through him.
| Almost so years later LANCE cele-
brated in Heidelberg the jubilee ami
sersary of his graduation After he
| and his friends had reviewed the stir
ring events of the last half century
| and the slow welding of divided Ger
many into one great empire under Bis
lnarck's master hand, the doctor re
marked, quantity:
TT is better that it ended: it would
have been too bad to blow daylight
| through Hmm. Y. Sun.