The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-04

On the Field.
The fighting master Of my old club Us
coming in today, said the assistant pro
fessor in the laboratory to me one morn
ing. and you may meet him il you ish.
told him it would give me great pleas
ure We'll" he continued, 'as YOU re-
marked a few days ago that you would
like to see the duels, I have arranged with
our Fighting master to take you with him
10 Halle next Friday. Ten duels are to be
fought and three Of them are TO be heavy
ones. You must not fail TO see them
The fighting master came little later.
He was a student of political economy, but
as he was nursing a deep cut across HE
cheek and was trying to grow some ne"
fish on the side Of his nose, he was not
attending lectures that week. His face,
that morning. reminded me Of paintings l
had seen Of wounded soldiers returning
from the field Of battle The professor eX-
planned that the fighting master had won
a victory a few days before. and. though
be had received one dreadful cut his OPP
ponent had received eleven. and had been
obliged to withdraw. 1t had been a great
battle As I looked at the fighting master
# seemed TO me that he was capable OF
fighting great battle with anyone. He
rose above us a tower Of bone and mus
Gle.
After a little general talk, the fighting
master proceeded TO explain the dueling
system to me- Our fraternity" he said,
was primarily founded to maintain physi-
cal bravery. patriotism. noble character,
and true sense of honor among the high
er classes Of German students. The hight
ing Of personal combats is, ] believe one
Of the best means to promote these viz
tues We do not accept men into our IRA
ternity who are not willing or not brave
enough to defend their honor or their
country. Every man wishing to Join us
must be OF good family, he must be strong
and healthy. have plenty Of money. and be
willing to fight. When We find young
fellow of suitable character we take him
on probation just as they do in the Metho-
dist Church We keep strict oversight
of him. train him to fight and regulate his
beer drinking.
Arranging the Flights
How do you arrange the fighting /
asked You surely do not fight against
YOUR brothers in the fraternity" Ger
tainly not. he replied An our fights
are either with other fraternity men or
with outsiders We have. in fact, three
classes Of duels The first is fought for
sport and discipline. The schlaeger,
straight. light sword is used and the fight
lasts for fifteen minutes. The fighting
masters of different fraternities meet and
arrange these duels We place strong and
experienced fighters against strong and eN-
perieuced fighters, and weak ones against
weak ones.
The second class is fought for light in
suits and is much like the first. but IL
consists OF one hundred rounds. and lasts
TWENTY-FIVE minutes The third class Is
fought TO settle deadly insults and is quite
"a different fight. The seabel, heavy
curved sword, is used and the men really
try 10 kill each other.
But do not the duels seem worse than
they actually are?' / asked.
You may Judge that for yourself next
Friday over at Halle he answered, as he
rose to 90. Remember. the train starts
len minutes past six in the morning.
Before daylight the next Friday morning
/ arrived at the station and found about
thirty stalwart men awaiting the depart
llre Of the train. The greater number bore
scars on their faces, showing that the
business in which they We're about to en-
gage was not new to them. Ny host, the
fighting master came In shortly and imme-
diateiy sought me After a few words Of
greeting ] asked why they started before
daylight.
''For two reasons he replied. The
FIRST is because the police are apt TO nab us
II they find out that we're going; the sec
rslg
time that we must 60 early in order TO get
back the same day.
On the way over he explained that the
police Of Saxony were much stricter than
those OF Prussia. and as Halle was in Prus-
sia. and only seventeen miles from Leip-
sig. students deemed ii wise TO do their |
fighting over there He added that he had
fought twice in Leipsig but il was dan
gerous 10 do so.
Lamb for she Slaughter.
Alongside me in the car sat rosy
checked boy of eighteen. who was going
out to fight his first duel The old fighters
in the apartment joked with him about it. |
asking him # MS people weren't anx-
ious about him and If he was not afraid !
be would spoil his cheeks, etc
After a half hours ride We arrived at |
Halle, and another half hours ride on q
poky one-horse car through the quaint |
old streets Of Halle brought us TO the /
fighting ground This was a large two /
story restaurant situated on the banks OF 1
the river Saale, just opposite the old /
ruins Of Castle Gebicheustein.
The landlord was expecting US and 4
as the morning was cold a bright fire /
was burning In the open stove. Each l
fraternity went at once to its private 1
room, and a few minutes later the mem |
bers appeared with their fraternity caps |
on. One large table was reserved FOR each /
society The whole company took their |
places and ordered beer, bouillon, and rolls. |
The first duel, or mensur as the Germans |
call it, was to be fought for sport between |
matched men from different fraternlties. /
The fighting costume consisted Of a pair
OF blood stained trousers, an old shirt.
chest protector. an arm and shoulder pad !
neck pad, q pair Of goggles, and thick
glove The padding OF the arm and should
ers was wound with silk, as silk affords
greater protection against cutting than
any other cloth. Old scars on the beads /
Of the contestants were covered with mar /
row straps With the exception OF these /
and goggles the face and head we're en- /
tirely unprotected. The schlaeger is a thin, /
narrow sword about three feet long. From /
the point half way back 10 the hilt il is I
ground very sharp; a bell-shaped plate |
over the hilt protects the hand OF the |
fighter.
Preliminary FOrmaIiiies.
When everything is ready the umpire /
takes his place al the side OF the contest |
ants; the seconds bow to him and to the |
principals and to each other; then the |