The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1900-05-18
! WAS A REAL DUEL.
;,No DANISH OFFICERS FOUGHT "
OUT WEI sRoAoswoRos-

OUT WEI 5RoADsWoRos-
~: e yars sondiet Took Place Me-
lore an Audienee In Gymnasiun
IA wnshinRton In Building Which
AAJoined the Police Station.
u have figured in quite a number Of
yaried events during over quarter OF
century Of active newspaper roper
jrial life, = explained an old newspaper
writer to Star reporter, .'but never
OF In but one duel when It was to =
inish, and In the instance refer to It
vas to % finish, assure you. was
Iuly an onlooker, It is true. but l saw
nore than / wanted to see. and more
han would Willingly again see It
vas hgStiy 20 years ago. but l have
lot forgotten Il.
.At the tit-e there was gymnasium
u louisiana avenue, between Ninth
and Tenth streets. The building ad-
Sioining was the old central guardhouse,
the police station.
zone evening was Invited by q
! friend, who was former newspaper
man, but afterward patent attorney,
md who also acted as the resident
Danish consul, to attend the gym
, nasiumto witness q sword combat, In
which two OF his friends were to take
hart. / was told that three or -four
Others would be present and the com.
hat would be rather lively. I realized
that part of It fully, to my complete
satisfaction
.Wlth the others, three newspaper
writers, couple of actors and couple
OF sporting men, we got to the gym.
nasium about 8 O'Clock, but were told
that the combat would not take place
until the gymnasium classes had been
dismissed, as 1t was desired that the
onlocksSs should be as few as possible.
4None Of us had any idea as to who
the participants would be or the par.
tlcular reason for it. but we were told
that II was desired that we should be
present to see that everything was con.
Quoted properly. From this we inferred
4 thss there was stake or something az
issue, and we were to be the Judges aS
well as referees, as 1t were.
"At 10 O'Clock two carriages arrived,
& h'each Of which was single occupant,
Zach having a sword. what is common
~ known as q broadsword. like that
men-of-war's men have They
had but little to say and in a few min
utes they were properly attired IN the
gymnasium suits and announced that
they were ready for the battle.
al had seen some professional broad.
sword combats and rather looked for
some heavy work, but in less than q
minute we all realized that there seem
cd to be more earnestness about the
combat than was customary in meet.
ings Of professionals, It mattered not
bow large the stakes we're.
.NThe men wore the customary wire
head covering. and It was well they did
so. otherwise there would have been
one or two heads scattered about on
the looy, for the fight was fast and
furious At the expiration OF ten min.
utes these was q halt called so that q
terrible cash on the sword arm OF one
Of the combatants could be bandaged
by physician Who conveniently drop
ped in.
"Then the lighters started in hammer
and tongs at each other. and In II min.
utes one OF the men was lying on the
door with terrible CASH in his shoul.
der and rap on his head which sound.
ed 80 loud that It was heard In the DO
lice station adjoining. The clothing OF
the men was as fully covered with
blood as II they had been painted With
It
.That ended n. Both men had 70.
eeived at least dozen wounds, and
the victor fell In faint In less than
minute after be was declared the con-
queror. My friend, on behalf OF the
participants. thanked us for our at
tendance, and we left after seeing the
men lifted into carriages and taken
away.
at was several weeks before we
knew to n certainty what it all meant
and we're not told then until both men
had fully recovered. 1t transpired that
the participants were both Danish OIL
GERS; that they had quarreled In New
York in regard to an official matter,
and that a challenge passed and was
accepted, and that all the details Of the
settlement had been left to the Danish
consul, and that the whole party of us
had innocently presided over a real
duel.
"The strange part Of it was that 1t
took place within sound of the police
station. s-Washington Star.