The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-08
fourth fight, and I am not humiliated to

fourth fight, and am not humiliated to admit that l felt physically weak and Y that my curiosity was satisfied. It was
 only my sense of the ridiculous that
 kept me still watching, fascinated by the knees of one of the fighters. He was a plucky and skilful swordsman, l receiving never scratch from his op- I ponent, but he was suffering with in
 tense nervousness and oh!-horrible to l write it--evidently greater fear shown, | however, only by his expressive knees, | which wabbled and shook in true bur- l lesque fashion. The contrast between his brave, immovable face and his Bob | Acres legs was truly amusing.
 Is duelling barbarous custom and entirely absurd, or does it afford dsci- | pline? And is it worse than our own | football? These were the questions we
 asked as we rode away. In its favor it | is for an object, it is under the sanction of the law, the boys are in the constant care of the physician, and it Is fair~and 1 square. Yet it seems so foolish and un-
 necessary. It is extraordinary that it is accepted so seriously. One marVels
 at the time spent on it. In reply to the
 natural question of when studying is
 done? we were told frankly by the Rus sian that the students didn'G study in Heidelberg; they went to Bonn for that. The object in fighting seems to show inconsistency, for Bismarck enjoyed the
 happy distinction of having fought thir- ty duelsWithout receiving scratch, and yet-ih seems treason to tell of such an
 unexpected vanity in man-the stu
 dents are guilty of inserting an irritant
 into the wounds to exaggerate the
 scars. The fair maids of Germany eV-
 idently admire this disfgurement quite
 as much as the men themselves, which
 is high praise indeed, and if we cannot
 appreciate this idea of pulchritude we
 must respect the point of view even
 the Hottentot has his standard of
 beauty and it is not for us to criticise
 gash on the face or a ring in the nose.
 Real duelling or fighting for ''satisfac
 ton" is general here and far more seri- ous than the farce In France, where the
 men stand back to back, turning to
 fire, when their honor is avenged. An officer in the German army is compelled
 to fight whenever insulted, which shows one of the inconsistencies of the gov ernment, the civil law forbidding duel lllS ttllNl tIC lltiillaly ldN CoIllpClllhS It. The knieppen or fraternity apartments are most attractive, the smoking looking much like bierstuben, but filled with interesting things which include all sorts of plunder in the way or signs, &c., beer mugs with the clubs crests, countless silhouettes. silver cups pipes and stuffed dogs heads, former pets of the students, used as racks for the caps and canes
 I came from Heidelberg bearing one of the white broadcloth caps and the cherished ribbon of the Baroussen corps my only but very satisfactory proof that it was not all lovely dream. 1 Several visits to the famous old ruins of | Heidelberg castle and the sight of the dueling had cast a spell over us mak ing us fancy we had stepped back century or two, and we pictured our selves as lovely, noble ladies standing | on the great stone turrets watching our knights come galloping up the hill, or leaning over the pictureSkque balconies to a serenade; and it was only the clank of the electric car in Munich that brought us back to cruel reality. where we havelaid poor romances away forever, and where our heroes ride wheels and telephone their lady loves. Chicago Evening Post.