Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-05-10

Irishmen Not Good Seconds.
To Englishmen dueling is happily a
lost art. but three-quarters of n century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue to
induce an anonymous writer to pu bllsh
book containing much useful infor-
nation. % ironically dedicated to Daniel
O'Connell. Esq. NJ P, and James Silk
Buckingham. Esq. NJ P. as center
tanning the opinion first promulgated
by the immortal Falstaff of happy
memory that discretion is the better
part of valor %
The author advises "a1l my country
men who go abroad to use the pistol in
stead of the sword when they have the
choice of the weapon, as the balance of
killed and wounded is now much in ia
yor of the French, who. upon the ter
mination of the late war, amused them
selves by occasionally splitting some half
dozen of our travelling young fashion
ables before breakfast. He recon-
mends "Purdey. in Oxford street. as
the maker of the best dueling pistol
locks, care in the selection of a stock
which fits the hand comfortably and to
eschew "saw handles Barrels should
be ten inches long and half rihed.
which, considering that throughout his
volume he poses as man of the strict
est honor. is puzzling, for he admits
that wholly rified pistol is considered
an unfair weapon. therefore one not APP
pearing to be rified should be substi-
tuted
On "the chances" he writes: MANY
a poor. long armed. struggling fellow
has received the coup di (sic) coeur 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 a man with bullet
in his stomach can hardly be expected
not to display some little natural ankle
ty. for, as is admitted later. "a shot in
the digestive organs must be particu-
larly annoying to a bon vivant. To
aldermen his advice is 1.-THE old method
of fighting-the back to the adversary
and discharging over the shoulder
1.-The chances of a mans being killed
are about IA to 1, and of his being
hit about to l. He arrives at
this conclusion by dividing mans
body. when opposed to his adversary.
into nine parts. Therefore he says. "As
in only three of these a wound would
prove mortal. the chances are 3 to
l against his being killed. and 3 to
1 against his being hit-that is. how
ever, he hastens to add. provided his
antagonist has never read my work. If
he has, the case may be differentl"
The combatant is told mot 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
a rubber of whist, but he must avoid
drinking to excess, or taking ''any food
that tends to create bile, because ''bil-
ious objects are not seen either distinct
" or correctly" This would rather be
a valid reason for getting as bilious as
possible. A man with an attack of
jaundice should be invisible. and able
to blaze at his antagonist in perfect
safety. IL he cannot sleep on retiring
to rest. he is to read Byron's ''Childe
Harold. His servant is to call him at
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 brandy and soda. as a 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 as
good grace as possiblep' On the other
hand. if he hits his antagonist. he is to
take off his hat to him and express re-
greet
A challenge is not to be in rhyme.
such as "a certain poetical. brandy low
ing major general of marines wrote
to a brother officer who ran off with his
wife:
Wounds on the flesh surgeons skill may
heal,
But wounded honor's only cured with steel
An Irishman 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-
ous 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 ii will be much more easy
to hit him
As may be inferred. the author holds
by dueling for 1.-THE man who falls
in a duel and the individual who is
killed by the overturn of a stagecoach
are both unfortunate victims to a prac-
tice from which we derive great advan-
tages Ii would be absurd to prohibit
stage travelling because occasionally
few lives are lost by an overturn, and
unless men endeavored to destroy each
other they might live to a patriarchal
age and multiply so rapidly that the
soil would soon be insufficient to sup
ply them with nourishment. with
which reductio ad absurdum the vol
ume may well be put back on the shelf
Navy and Army Illustrated
Double Headed Bull.
On the occasion of a public reception