The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-10-04
1HE MAJESTY oF r4e SWORD.



tied Race.
It is impossible to name any weapon
Is interesting us the sword. which may
le traced back till 1t is lost in the mists
If the most ancient tradition. Though
Is blade hears the blood stains of
very civilized race under the sun, yet
halo of romance is cqally insepara
DE to It's presence among most civil
lZed nations.
Probably there Is no one better read
II the history of the sword as there
: no man better Versed in its use,
han Captain Alfred Hutton. T.. $. A..
who Inherited his love of fencing from
MS father himself pupil of the fa-
nous Angelo. as Captain Alfred Hut
ton was of that great Instructors we'll
>nown son; while the Huttons. both
father and son, belonged to the Ora.
gono Guards.
Captain Hutton lives in spacious
chambers in Jermyn street-and one
If his rooms makes convenient
'chool-of-arms, and its walls are deco.
rated with trophies like those of an
armory. Here You may note plate.
scale and chain armOr from AfghanS-
tan, oriental dragers and war quoits;
loublc handed swords and cuphilted
rapierS of the seventeenth century,
Milancsc sword with swept" hilt,
dating between 1jIO-I5; Elizabethan
rapiers as used in Shalicspcare's time.
n bucklcr of Henry the Wits reign.
"A gorget In use when Charles IL was
king and case of double-swords. as
used by Tybalt when fighting Mcrcu-
ito with n sword in each hand: aud
these lead the conversation to the
sword practice as introduced by
Shakespeare in his plays.
TO the swordsman Shakespeare's
plays are essentially interesting but
none more so than the play Romeo
and Juliet said Captain Hutton. "The
play is full of fighting in single COM
bat. Firstly you have the encounter
between the retainers with swords and
bucklrrs; secondly, the duel with sim
gle swords between Tybalt and Ben
vollo. which finishes with peculiar
seizure of the wrist Then there is
the encounter between Tybalt and
MercutiO. each armed with two
swords. Afterward comes Romeo's
fight with Tybault with rapier and
Il dagger. illustrative of the death of
Tybnlt by means of the thrust, pas
sato sotto. delivered on bended knee;
and lastly. the fight between Romeo
and Paris in the tomb with rapicr and
dagger the final blow being given
to Paris ms his wrist is seized.
"The history of the evolution of the
sword from its first simple form
would be scarcely possible without H.
lustration| was suggested.
Not easily. OF course, | can explain
the changes by the swords hanging
on yonder walls. But, when you come
TO description, that the simplest form
hilt like n cross. gradually developed
TO two or more branched guards till
ii became 'swept" hilt. AS to the
blade. In the course of the sixteenth
century the ordinary straight. two.
edged sword was heightened, mar.
rowed into what is known as the Ital.
ian or Spanish rapier. Afterward, in
the early part of the eighteenth cen.
tury, the use of the edge was practl.
cally abandoned in rapler play, and
| the French bayonet-shaped duellng
sword. and so led to the permanent in
PRODUCTION for military purposes of the
| times.
"Duellng Is nowadays, of course, alb
solutely Illegal; besides, il is unneces-
sary since the legislature has provided
| remedies against injuries to ones
honor as well as to ones property and
person; but formerly duels formed II
handy means of redress, yet one much,
much abused. At one time men fought
| for any or no cause of quarrel, while
the seconds frequently engaged on
their own account. Doubtless the do
nestle use of swords greatly fostered
ducling, and so great did the evil be
| come In France in the time of Henry
| ". that il is said no less than 1000
gentlemen fell in the duelS in period
| of eight years during the Kings reign.
Many edicts and ordinances had been
made against dueling in France, but
| Cardinal Richelieu was the first to en-
| force the death penalty; this and other
examples which were made. for Il
time, checked the evil. London
| Sketch.