The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-16
LITTLE BoNI AS A scRAPPER.


There are many ways to secure no.
toriety This remark is not strictly orig
inal, nor is It particularly new, but it Is
suggested by the latest move of the In
digent attache Of the Gould family.
Count de Bonis Non Castellane. Not con-
tent with the notoriety obtained by being
declared by the courts a spendthrift and
placed on an allowance, this little royalist
of France sought that wider field and
greater renown, afforded by the pugilistic
ring.
Accompanied by his father. so as not
to get hurt, and by newspaper reporter,
so as to have the affair before the public
as soon as possible, this little boy went
boldly to the house Of De Rodays, the
editor of Figaro-aan newspaper of general
circulation-and then and there, without
waiting for a referee or to agree upon a
set of rules. slapped the face of the meek
editor and slapped it hard, too. It was
fortunate for little Boni that the editor
was seated when he made his assault,
otherwise he would have had to get a
step ladder to reach the face in order to
slap. This shows that the count, besides
man of genius, knowing when to slap and
when not to slap.
Before the astonished editor could gain
his feet, the doting father and the trust
cd fr;ond bod ;,+orfarad making a nor
sonaI retaliation on the part of De
Rodays impossible. 1t is said that a duel
is imminent, but with the announcement
comes the news that the police, where
the duel is to take place, will prevent 1t.
This is another evidence of the genius Of
little Boni. There is nothing like having
every act of the drama prepared before
the curtain rises-the entertainment
moves off with such life-like smoothness
The casus gbelli on which little Boni
relies for justification under the codes
both of international law and of honor
is contained in the-following, which ap-
peared In the columns of Figaro, and
which Boni appropriated to himself
People have been asking who is the
person M. Deroulede wished to desig-
nate. Tt appears that he is a member
of parliament and it is affirmed that he
starting for America with his young
wife, last week. very Loyalty delayed his
departure in order to reply, If necessary,
to the polemics which may develop" ~
Tt is necessary. only to mention that
M. Deroulede accused the royalists of
Paris of giving the police the tip of
contemplated coup d etat.
Now, we submit that such nicely
worded paragraph constituted no ground
for assault upon the editor. If Boni re-
sided in America, from which place he
gets his support he would be kept busy
slapping editorial faces.
True an editor here may go too far
and get his face punched for his temer-
ity, but as a usual thing he must call
man traitor and then refuse to re-
cant before the injured party lands on
his front. The rule is well settled here,
that no man has right to put on a
shoe and then kick because it pinches.
All editors who have had their faces
disfgured by those upon whom they
have bestowed left-handed compliments
have our sympathy, but to M. Fernand
de Rodays we extend our heartfelt COM
miseration. It must be very uncom-
Portable to have ones face slapped by a
being too small and contemplate to
knock down