The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-04-05
OLD DUELING RULES.

SOEb ~ 0t1AA1A4tS " -AUo
taMucH USEFUL ADVICE" FROM AN
ANCIENT BOOK.
iff the cerbatnnt Dies as Result ca
the Eneounter, he Is Told to Go On
With as Good Grace as Possible.
1rishmen Not Good Seconds.
20 Englis;1r,en dueling is happily
lost art, but quarters OF a century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue to
induce an anonymous writer to publish
s book Containing much useful infor-
nation, ironically Dedicated to Daniel
O,Connen, ESQ, NJ. P, and James Silk
Buckingham, ESQ.,, NJ P, as center
tanning the opinion first promulgated
by the immortal Falstaf of happy
memory that discretion is the better
part of yalor.
The author advises ''all my country
men who go abroad to use the pistol in
stead of the sword when they nave the
choice of the weapon, as the balance OF
killed and wounded is now much in fa-
vor 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 ssPurdey, in Oxford street, as
the maker of the best dueling pistol
locks care in the selection OF q stock
which fits tie hand comfortably and to
eschew sssaw handles. Barrels should
be ten inches long and half rifed.
which. considering that throughout his
volume he poses as man of the strict
est honor, is puzzling, for he admits
That wholly rifed pistol is considered
an unfair weapon, therefore one not ap-
pearing to be rihed should be substl-
tuted
On esthe chances" he writes: "Many
a poor, long armed. struggling fellow
asreceiYed the coup di (sic) ceur (or
fatal stroke@ who might still have been
IN existence had he known how to pro-
tect his person Z 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-eshe must not feel alarmed . This
seems difficult, as man with a bullet
n 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. 70
aldermen his advice is s'the old method
of fghting-the back to the adversary
and discharging over the shoulder.
THE chances of mans being killed
are about IA to 1, and of his being
hit about 6 to IL 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 wound would
prove mortal. the chances are s to
q against his being killed. and 5 to
4 against his being hit-that is, how
ever, y he hastens to add, provided his
antagonist has never read my work. Ii
he has, the case may be diferentp'
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
rubber of whist. but he must avoid
drinking to excess, or taking amy food
that tends to create bile because ''bil-
ious objects are not seen either distinct
II OF 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
safety IF he cannot sleep on retiring
to rest. he is to read Byron's s3Childe
Harold His servant is to call him at 5
and give him a strong cup Of coffee.
Then he is to smoke cigar, and son
his way to the scene Of action he is to
take a brandy and soda. as most
grateful stimulant and corrective
No wonder our author recommends
him at this point to draw in his stom-
ach. eff he dies. he is to go off with as
good grace as possiblel On the other
hand. if he hits his antagonist, he is to
take off his bat 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 q brother officer who ran off with his
wife:
Boands on the aesh surgeons skill may
heal.
But wounded hcror's only cured with steel
An Irishnsan 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 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