New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1899-01-18
OLD DUJ Ell G ri ,ES.

IaMucH USEFUL ADvlc -, FROM AN
ANCIENT BOOK.
/ II the Com bntnnt Dies as q Result of
The Encounter, He Is Told to Go on
With as Good Grace as Possible.
Irishmen Not Good Seconds.
To Englishmen dueling is happily a
lost art but three-q quarters of century
ago dueling was sufficiently in vogue to
induce an anonymous writer to publish
a book containing much useful infor-
lmation. ironically dedicated to Daniel
O'Connell Esq, NJ p, and James Silk
buckingham. Esq. M. p. as .'enter-
tanning the opinion first promulgated
| by the immortal Falstaf of happy
memory that discretion is the better.
part of valor. 0
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 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 ''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 'ssaw 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 wholly rifed pistol is considered
pearing to be rifed should be substi-
| tuted.
On 'sthe chances he writes: .'Many
a poor, long armed, struggling fellow
| has received the coup di (sic) occur 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-t'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
larry annoying to bon vivant. To
aldermen his advice is 'sthe old method
of fghting-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 IT, He arrives at
this conclusion by dividing mans
body, when opposed to his adversary.
into nine parts. Therefore he says, GAS
in only three Of these a wound would
prove mortal, the chances are to
1 against his being killed, and 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 differenS''
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 '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 'tChilde
Harold His servant is to call him at 5
and give him strong cup of coffee
Then he is to smoke a cigar, and "on
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. 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 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, a
But wounded honor's only cured with steel
An lrishman 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 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
to hit him.
AS may be inferred, the author holds
by dueling for ''the man who falls
in a duel and the Individual who is
killed by the Overturn of a. stagecoach