The Florence daily tribune. (Florence, Colo.) 1898-1903, 1899-02-11
OLD DUELING RULES.
MUCH UseFuL ADVICE FROM AN
ANCIENT BOOK
n the Comhatsnt Dies NJ Result Of
the Encounter. He IL Told To Go on
with ms Good Grace A. Possible.
Iri-hmen Not Good Seconds.

with Good Grace Possible.
IrI-hmen Not Good Seconds.
To Englishmen dueling is happily =
lost art. but three-quarters of century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue To
induce an anonymous writer to pm blish
book containing much usefnl infnr-
nation ironically dedicated To Daniel
OConnelL Esq. NJ p and james silk
Buckingham Esq NJ P as ENTER
tanning the opinion first promulgated
by the immortal Falstaff of happy
memory that discretion is the better
part of valor
The author advises IAN my country
men who 20 abroad to use the pistol in
stead of the sword when they have thp
choice of the weapon. rs the balance OF
killed and wounded is now much in IN
vor of the French. who. upon the ter
mination of the late war. amused them
selves by occasionally splitting some hall
dozen of our travelling young fashion
ables before breakfast He recon
mends 'Purdey. in Oxford street. n
the maker of the best dueling pistol
locks. care in the selection of stock
which fits the hand comfortably and II
eschew saw handles Barrels should
be ten inches long and half rihed
which. considering that throughout his
volume he poses rs man of the strict
est honor is puzzling for he admits
that wholly rifled pistol is considered
an unfair weapon, therefore one not ap
pearing to be rified should be substi
tuted
On 1.-THE chances he writes ''Many
poor long armed, struggling fellow
has received the coup di (sic) cpnr Cor
fatal stroke) who might still have been
in existence had he known how to pro
tect his person in the field. the neces
sary protection consisting in standing
sideways and drawing in the stomach
SHOULD the party be hit presumably
because he could not draw in his stom
ach-"he must not feel alarmed This
seems difficult, as II man with bullet
in his stomach can hardly be expected
not to display some little natural ankle
ty for. rs is admitted later. "a shot in
the digestive organs must be particu
larly annoying to II bon vivant To
aldermen his advice is 1.-THE old method
of Nightingale back to the adversary
and discharging over the shoulder
THE chances of Il man s being killed
are about ID To /. and of his being
| hit about to He arrives at
this conclusion by dividing II man 5
body. when opposed to his adversary
into nine parts Therefore he says AS
in only three OF these wound would
prove mortal the chances are tu
against his being killed and . to
against his being hit that Is, how
ever, he hastens to add. provided his
antagonist has never read my work II
he has. the case may be different
The combatant is told not to allow
the idea of becoming target to make
him uneasy but to treat the matter
loosely He is to laugh away the
evening over bottle of port and play
rubber of whist hut he must avoid
drinking to excess, or taking ANY food
that tends to create bile. because ''bil
ious objects are not seen either distinct
ly or correctly This would rather be
valid reason for getting as bilious rs
possible A man with an attack of
jaundice should be invisible. and able
to blaze at his antagonist in perfect
safety If he cannot sleep on retiring
to rest, he is to read Byron $ "Childe
Harold His servant is to call him mt j
and give him strong cup of coffee
Then he is to smoke cigar. and ION
his way to the scene of action he is to
take n brandy and soda AS u most
grateful stimulant and corrective
No wonder our author recommends
him at this point to draw in his stom
ach- IF he dies, he is to go off with us
good grace l possible On the other
hand, if he hits his antagonist he is to
take off his hat to him and express re
greet
challenge is not to be in rhyme
such as "a certain poetical, brandy low
ing major general of marines wrote
to n brother officer who ran off with his
wife
Wounds the flesh surgeons skill may
heal,
But wounded honor's only cured with steel
An lrishman is not to be chosen as
second, for nine out of ten have such an
innate love of fighting they cannot
bring an affair to- an amicable adjust
ment, and the first duty of a second is
to prevent the affair coming TO seri
GUS issue Other advice is for the sec
ond TO take care his principal is not in
convenienced by the sun. and to get his
antagonist with something dark behind
him. when it will be much more easy
to hit him
As may be inferred. the author holds
by dueling for 1.-THE man who falls
in duel and the individual who is
killed by the overturn of a stagecoach
are both unfortunate victims to prac
tice from which we derive great advan
tages 1t would be absurd to prohibit
stage travelling because occasionally u
few lives are lost by an overturn. and
unless men endeayored to destroy each
other they might hive to patriarchal
age and multiply 80 rapidly that the