The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1900-01-18
Famous Duels Recalled.

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consecutive duels in one day, and con
fdent that he will kill or defeat all his
adyersaries.
Such are the latest developments of
the Dreyfus case. Such, too, are the
indications from which keen observers
draw the conclusion that dueling is be-
coming more prevalent in Europe.
1t is only few days since word ar
rived of the death of Col. Schneider,
formerly Austrian military attache in
Paris after a mysterious fight with
Captain Cuignet, who had denounced
him from the witness stand during the
recent trial as a man whose word should
be received with distrust.
And now Henri Rochefort, the fa-
nous Partisan swordsman and editor,
has dared twelve partisans of Dreyfus
to meet him in one day during the
tournament which he hopes will last
twelve hours.
The fight between Schneider and
Cuignet was lacking in the theatrical
element which has characterized most
modern French duels. There was a
fierce sincerity about it, more charac-
teristic of the fights Of the sixteenth
century, that prevented the parties from
allowing their arrangements to become
known. They feared the Intervention
Of well-meaning friends.
After the details were arranged,
Schneider returned very secretly from
Switzerland to meet his enemy. Not q
hint of their intentions was allowed to
leak out The men met early on the
morning of October 10, and the first
known of the fight or it's termination
was when newspaper correspondent
recognized Col. Schneider as he was
being carried, wounded to death, to the
railroad
Capt. Cuignet was a blind supporter
of Mercier and the French generals in
the war against Dreyfus, Schneider
was one of three military attaches
whose oaths helped to clear Dreyfus.
History is full of the story of famous
duels.
Imagine whole army in warlike ar
ray outside Madrid. Thirteen men are
to fall by one before the sword of sin
gle man, while 10000 of their comrades
look on.
The drums roll. The two men face
each other.
One is Giacomo Ferrari, the great
italian swordsman; the other Jean
Louis, champion of France.
cen gardel"
Ferrari lunges at his opponent with
Again his sword dartes for
ward.
In vainl A parry meets his every
movement.
"An-h-h!"
The italian has jumped aside, with a
piercing yell, lunging sidewise at his
adversary. 1t is ,Florentine trick
Jean Louis is not to be caught by such
ruse. He has parried, and the Itali-
an is bleeding.
IA scratch!' cries Giacomo. "a
mere scratchl" But he never speaks
again. The Frenchman's blade is thro'
his body and he falls to the turf ,ad.
At last, when twelve corpses lay in a
CHASTITY row, Jean Louis's own colonel
intervened, and the French champion
reluctantly left tie field.
This tournament had been arranged
in order to put an end to the duels be-
tween the French and italian soldiers
who camped before Madrid in 1918. 1t
did,
One of the most noted political duels
Of modern times was that between M
Floquet, prime minister of France,
and General Boulanger.
In the third rally Boulanger received
a slight wound on the hand, the round
ending with first blood for Floquet,
whose hand was also little scratched
In the third round the general rushed
at his antagonist with the impetuosity
of wild bull. The spectators were
thrilled with excitement. Floquet, not
expecting such an assault, retired pre-
cipitately, holding his sword before
him with no regard for the rules Of
fencing. Boulangor followed furious
ly.
But suddenly, slipping, he fell for
ward and literally spitted himself on
prime minister's sword.
Next day Floquet delivered the ora
tion at the unveiling of Gambetta's s
statue amid the plaudits of thousands,
while Boulanger lay forgotten in his
bed recovering from an ugly wound.
"You have been very beautiful wo-
man-in your time" said Lady Mary
Elphinstone to Lady Almeria Brad
dock in the year 1799.
''In fact" she added, "you have a
good autumnal face even now."
Arrest