Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-05-30
YESTERDAYS
SWORD CONTEST

and Sam vidler. claiming champion
ship OF the world and Rock Mountains
respectively. The program began
with come fancy work comprising ring
fitting. lemon cutting. and tent peg
g,ng. which while interesting enough
In their way were OF more Importance
since they gave, TO those understand
ing what broadsword contest re-
quircs OF man. evidence conclusiye
as to the winner.
In the ring fitting. which consisted
Of riding at full gaIlop and capturing
rings. which were suspended on a
wire, on spear. Mr.. Wider clearly
demonstrated his superior skill. not
only In manner OF riding but In aeon
racy of his aim.
While Major Mcclure appeared very
nervous and seemed unable to ride
straight. Mr.. Wider sat firm Ms n
rock and sped straight az an arrow
10 the mark. The MINORS aim was
sadly inaccurate for would-bc broad
swordeman.
In the lemon cutting, whirb vas
sword work the lemons being sus
pended In the same manner MS fingR.
and point being to cut ms many as
possible. the major was rather more
successful. Still. althougfl the judges
announced II as tie. the score did
not agree with that some OF us kept
individually. Whoever made the
mistake, II certainly seemed odd for
the Judges TO consult Major Mcclure.
one OF the contestants. as 10 Mr. Vid
ler'g points II was In this contest
that some one In the audience yelled
out to the major: better get n COW
maybe you can hi. thnt'"
In the tent pcgging. which consist
ed Of wrenching peg from the
ground by means of the spear. Major
Mcclure did his best work, coming
ont four points ahead Of Mr. Vidicr
although In neither round except tho
I'D and ith. when he failed to make
point. did he ride nj full speed.
Then followed the broadaword con
eist, which was OF course the aitrac.
tion OF the afternoon. Those of Ms
who expected to see n good fght were
woefully disappointed. But three
rounds were fought and the announce
mcnt then made that the champion
ship was awarded TO Major Mcclure
who claimed II on foul. having been
wounded IN the wrist.
The rules say Points shall count
only on the nrmor. above the elbow
and above the belt. whether on the
neck. face or arms" II IL on this
that the Judges based their decision
which TO say the lenst Ia interpreting
II rather freely. Any one at all IN.
milinr with sword practice knows that
cut on the arm is never foul In
the first place no broadHwordsmnn
goea into fight without gauntlet
gloves. and In the second place. II n
man can guard at all. and IL any
whore near his opponents match. he
wont be cut on the right hand OF
least
The major was not quick enough
for his opponent--he guarded badly
10 that Il WAS his own fault entirely
that he was wounded A good broad
swordsman needs nerves OF steel. mn
eye keen MS an eagle's. mn arm that
can moyc like lightning. 30 that he "
NhN w PhfiN tN'H Nuii'lphtt
blow There Is no doubt that Mr.
Wider was the real winner In tho
contest. The very point on which
Major Mcclure claims victory proves
II for his opponent II he had beou
properly eluipncd-or leaving that
out " he had been the best swords
man. he would not have been wound.
.i Ia. NntlA hnN., l.I h. lau
This he wns not quick enough to do.
As TO the foul, II should be stated
thai as the right arm moves In front
of face, neck and chest. n blow recclv.
ed there could not logically be called
foul In the same manner that n blow
below the belt In considered. AS be
fore stated there is no doubt that MIR
Nidlcr is the best man and that he is
the real winner. The judges. of
course. were honeat in their decision
but they were mistaken for all that
as the audience did not fail to tell
them. or course We are all likely TO
mistakes, but II they were not sure
OF their ground they should have been
that much more carcfui. - any rate
they shouldn't have let Major Me.
Cures baby act fool them quite SO
completely.
Speaking OF the opinion OF the poo.
pie you wouldn't have doubted what
they thought about II II you were
there. When the decision WIS nm
nounced there was dead silence for .
minute. every one was 20 surprised
Then there was howl of Rats"
Rats You're afraid McGuirc'"
"Hurrah for Vidler'" Go on and
fight" Don't be baby" Rats"
Three cheers for the Rocky" aud
Misses innumerable. Mr.. Wider said
u few words but IL was difficult to
catch what he said. something about
fair play. Many OF the men present
went up to the Rocky Mountain cham
pion and shook hands. expressing
their disapprovel OF the decision.
Groups OF people stood around dis.
cussing the affair. At the gate Major
Mcclure got terrific roasting. Thus
five hundred peoplp went away die.