The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-03-01

the Encounter. He In 1oiu 10 to OH
with ns Good Grace ns Possible.
irishmcn Not Good seconds.
To Englishmen dueling is happily Il
lost art. but three quarters of century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue 10
induce an anonymous writer TO puhlish
a book containing much useful infor
nation. ironically dedicated to Danisl
O'Connell. 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 betttT
part of valor
The author advises 'all my couLwy
men who go abroad TO use the pistol in
stead of the sword when they have the
choice of the weapon. rs the balance ID
killed and woundei 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 hal
dozen of our travelling young fashion
ables before breakfast He RECON-
mends "Purdey. in Oxford street, Gs
the maker of the hest dueling pistol
locks. care in the selection of a stock
which fits the hand comfortably and to
eschew "saw handles Barrels shonld
be ten inches long and half rified
which considering that throughout his
volume he poses rs 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 rifled should be substi
tuted
On "the chances he writes MANY
a poor. long armed. struggling fellow
has received the coup di (sic) cpur 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 ana drawing in the stomach
"Should the party be hit presumably
because he could not draw in his sto:n
ach--"he must not feel alarmed. This
seems difficult. as 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 particn
larly annoying to bon vivant To
aldermen his advice is 1.-THE old method
of fighting-the back to the adversary
and discharging over the shoulder.
"The chances of a mans being killed
are about IA to 1, and of his being
hit about to l. D." He arrives Mt
this conclusion by dividing man :
body, when opposed to his adversary
- ta 40
in only three of these wound would
prove mortal. the chances are 8 TO
1 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 IF
he has the case may be different
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
q 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
ly or correctly" This would rather be
a 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's "Childe
Harold. His servant is to call him at 8
and give him a 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 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 possiblel" On the other
hand, If he hits his antagonist. he is to
take off hN 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 surgeons skill may
heal,
But wounded honor's only cured with steel
An Irishman is not to be chosen II,
beCOuu, IOr nine OUT Oh Ten nave SUCH III
innate love of fighting they cannot
bring an affair to an amicable adjust
ment, and the first duty of second il
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 hi.
antagonist with something dark behind
him, when it will be much more easy
to hit him
As may be inferred. the author hold,
by dueling. for ''the man who fall
in duel and the individual who il
killed by the overturn Of a stagecoacl
are both unfortunate victims to prac
tice from which we derive great advan
tages 1t would be absurd to prohibit
stage travelling because occasionally 1
few lives are lost by an overturn, anC
unless men endeavored to destroy eacl
other they might live to patriarcha
age and multiply 80 rapidly that tn
soil would soon be insufficient to sup
nlv them with por,riahmant - witt