Smyrna times., 1899-03-01
WHOLE NO. 1892.
OLD DUELING RULES
"mUcH USEFUL ADVICE" FROM AN
ANCIENT BOOK.

If the COmbRtant Dies as n ResuI+ =,
the Encounter, He Is Told to Go on
with as Good Grace as Possible.
trishmen Not Good Seconds.
TO Englishmen dueling is happily a
lost art but three-quarters Of a century
ago duellng was sufficiently in vogue To
induce an anonymous writer to publish
DOCK 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 happv
memory that discretion is the better
part of valor -
The author advises ''all nv conn+rv-
men VINO 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.
Vor OF the French, who, upon the fer
mlnatlon of the late war, amused them
serves by occasionally splitting some half
uozen 81 our travelling young fashion
ables before breakfast. " He recon-
mends 'Purdey, in Oxford street. az
the maker of the best dueling pistol
locks, care in the selection of a stock
which hts the hand comfortably and tn
eschew saw handles. " Barrels shonld
be ten inches long and half rifIed
which considering that throughout his
volume he poses as a man of the strict
est honor. is puzzling, for he admits
That wholly rifled pistol is considered
an unfair weapon, therefore one not an
pearlng to be rifled should be substi-
tuted
On "the chances" he writes: MANY
a poor long armed. struggling fellow
mas received the coup di (sic) coeur (or
tatal stroke) who might still have been
In existence had he known how TO nro-
tect his person in the field, the neces-
sary protection consisting in standing
sideways and drawing in the stomach.
Should the party be hit''-presumablv
because he could not draw in his ston-
ach-'he must not feel alarmed " This
seems difficult as a man with a bullet
IN his stomach can hardly be expected
not to display some little natural anxie-
ty, for, as is admitted later, "a shot in
the digestive organs must be particu-
larly annoying to bon vivant." To
aldermen his advice is ''the old method
OF tghting-the back to the adversarv
and discharging over the shoulder
Inc chances OF mans being killed
are about IA to l, and of his being
MT about 9 to l." He arrives at
this conclusion by dividing a mans
Dody' when opposed to his adversary.
into nine parts. Therefore he saws. "As
IN only three of these wound would
prove mortal, the chances are 8 to
against his being killed and 5 to
against his being hit-that is, how
ever he hastens to add, provided his
antagonist has never read nv work. II
ne has, the case may be different"
The combatant isstold mot to allow
the idea of becoming target to make
MN uneasy, but to treat the matter
Jocosely. He is to laugh away the
evening over a bottle Of port, and play
rubber of whist, but he must avoid
drinking to excess, or taking ''any food
that tends to create bile, " because ''bil-
lous objects are not seen either distinct
ly or correctly. This would rather be
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
satety. Ii he cannot sleep on retiring
to rest. he is to read Byron's "Childe
Harold His servant is to call him at 5
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 possible" On the other
hand, if he hits his antagonist, he is to
take off his hat to him and express re-
gret.
A challenge is not to be in rhyme.
such as "a certain poetical, brandy low
ing major general Of marines" wrote
to brother officer who ran off with his
wife:
Wounds on the flesh a surgeons skill may
heal,
But wounded honor's only cured with steel
An lrishman is not to be chosen as
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 a 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
10 hit him
AS may be inferred, the author holds
BY dueling, for ''the man who falls
N duel and the individual who is
killed by the overturn of stagecoach
ire both unfortunate victims to a prac-
ice from which we derive great advan-
ages 1t would be absurd to prohibit
tage travelling because occasionally a
ew lives are lost by an overturn, and
Unless men endeavored to destroy each
'ther they might live to patriarchal
4ge and multiply so rapidly that the
oil would soon be insufficient to SUD-
'ly them with nourishment, with
which reductio ad absurdum the vol
me may well be put back on the shelf
Navy and Army Illustrated.
No.