Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-01-19
OLD DUELING RULES.
"MuCH USEFUL ADVICE" FROM AN
ANCIENT BOOK.


With as Good Grace as Possible.
IrisI,men Not Good Seconds.
To Englishmen dueling is happily a
lost art, but three-quarters of century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue to
induce an anonymous writer to publish
a book containing much useful infor-
nation, ironically dedicated to Daniel
O'Connell, Esq, NJ P, and James Silk
Buckingham. Esq. M 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 ''all 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 CT
killed and wounded is now much in ia
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 ''Purdey, in Oxford street, as
the maker of the best dueling pistol
locks, care in the selection of stock
which fits the hand comfortably and to
eschew ''saw handles. Barrels should
be ten inches long and half rifed
which considering that throughout his
volume he poses as a man of the strict
est honor, is puzzling, for he admits
that a wholly ritied pistol is considered
an unfair weapon, therefore one not APP
pearing to be rifed should be substi
tuted.
On 1.-THE chances" he writes: MANY
poor, long armed. struggling fellow
has received the coup di (sic) cnur Tor
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 Il man with a 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 bon vivant To
aldermen his advice is ''the old method
Of fighting-the back to the adversary
and discharging over the shoulder
''The chances Of a mans being killed
are about ID to 1, and of his being
hit about to L." He arrives at
this conclusion by dividing a man 8
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 3 to
1 against his being killed, and 5 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, OF 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 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 "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 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 /; possiblel" On the other
hand. if he hits his antagonist, he is tc
take off his hat to him and express re
greet
A challenge is not to be in rhyme.
such as ga 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 as
second. for nine out of ten have such al
innate love Of lighting 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 hi.
antagonist with something dark behint
him. when it will be much more easy
to hit him
AS may be inferred. the author holds
by dueling. for ''the man who fall.
in a duel and the individual who is
killed by the overturn Of a stagecoacf
are both unfortunate victims to prac
tice from which we derive great advan
tages 1t would be absurd to prohibi
stage travelling because occasionally .
few lives are lost by an overturn ant
unless men endeavored to destroy eacl
other they might live to patriarcha
age and multiply so rapidly that tn.
soil would soon be insufficient to sup
ply them with nourishment will
which reductio ad absurdum the vol
ume may well be put back on the shelf
Navy and Army Illustrated
A Double Headed Bull.