The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-07-07
LAST OF GREAT ouELs

supplanted the sword the duel was no
longer sport" Half the run OF the
thing vanished and people were soon able
to discriminate between the natural fight
in hot brood which VIII never be abolish
ed while there are any men 10 fight az all
and artificial comDat in cold blood by
predetermination, a purely social neees-
sity which might force The best of frienOs
TO attempt each others lives merely Tor
the sake of public opinion.
The Latin races stick TO this still, and,
as IL IS more a matter OF temperament
than of logical argument, there is no use
in trying 70 persuade them TO change
their natures But duelIing Is b. no
means so old fashioned as many people
think on either side Of the Atlanuc-
Neither was it always an unmiNed evil
Duels with pistols are not only uns2tis-
factory from the point Of view OF sport;
they are often intolerably monotonouss
unless their ending is Of such a peculiarly
dramatic nature as was that Of the en-
FILTERED quarrel between Dr. Smith and
DR.. Jeffreys. fought in Philadelphia in
1850, which seems worse from the fact
that the men concerned from being warm
friends. haO been changed.
The first fire al eight PAGES produced no
result. vt the second fire DR.. Smiths
arm was broken. At the third round he
stood up in spite of excruciating pain, and
T. y
wounded men tottered forward and for
final effort. determined that one or both
should never leave the field alive. Smith
fell dead instantly, shot through the
heart. Jeffreys sank back with & bullet
in his lungs and died four hors afterward-
i here is q horrible deliberation and
fatality about this which would have
been Impossible with swords. did good.
perhaps in that il finally disgustel. the
A. IL 81. E,.-t p
plains good deal Of the preference eX-
hibited for the sabre or the duelling sword
in Italy, in Germany and in France az the
present time.
In the first named country the duels
reported with ull details in the press
amounted to 2739 in ten years Ninety
three per cent were fought either witn
the light sabre or the rapier- Three
thousand nine hundred and one wounds
were inflicted OF which fifty proved i'm
mediately fatal Thirty per cent Of these
duels were the outcome of journalistic
or political disputes.
The writer knew a young Italian who
in his first duel cut all his opponents
front teeth out at the roots with that
deadly weapon, the light Italian sciabola.
Another officer of his acquaintance was
once compelled to rid the clubs of town
in southern France of a notorious bully
He used the same weapon, and he cut
open the rascafs body from thigh to
shoulder.
The duel with pistols between Fourtou
and Gambetta in 1887 was so ridiculed by
Mark Twain owing to the care each took
not to get hit, that all Europe rang with
laughter, and in the next year the two
most famous antagonists who appeared
upon the field of honor" We're careful to
use swords. They We're Floquet and
Gen. BOulanger The civilian was older
than his fiery military opponent and
much out of practice; but he went 20 his
fencing master a few days before the fight
for a little advice and the master very
wisely told him only one stroke: Direct
~ you see the general rush forward. stand
up firmly on both legs; stretch out your
right arm, strong and straight; Just keep
your adversary throat on a line with the
ball of your own thumb; and stay there. -
BOulanger was nothing if not impetu-
Gus and when the meeting came of in
Count DillOn's garden at NeuilIy he nuug
himself on the president OF the chamber
of deputies like a bull into china shop
Floquet extended his arm with quiet
precision. an dthe unlucky general spit
ted himself neatly upon the point OF the
sword which remained immovable while
his ran his own throat further and fur
Their UP the blade He only Just recov-
cred: and it you'd perhaps have been bet
ter for his reputation if he had died then
and there.
People who know no fencing often laugh
al French duels because they are so inuO-
cuous. But the Frenchman is glad
enough TO save himself from being thrust
through the body by interposing mis- fore
arm and the attacking party who runs
his opponent through the wrist is often
perfectly satisfied with thus disabling
him; ana how disabling the least wound
in your hand can be you VIII only know
when you have received one.
The year 1904 was memorable for its
duels both in England and~the United
States. In the older country that perni-
cious creature. the bully was as prom
inent in those days as be was half a
century later in the new western states.
Fighting Fitzgerald" was one of the
worst examples London ever knew. He
tried 10 murder Captain Scawen by the
accidental" discharge of his second pis-
tol and came on the field TO fight major
Cunningham with swords wearing a steel
breastplate.
Another of the same kind, though not
quite so disreputable. was Lord Camel
ford. whose rooms at No. Jas New Bond
street we're decorated with an assortment
of his favorite bludgeons. Relying on his
well known capacity Tor butchering other
people. he went up TO -aptain Best Ia
the Prince of " aIes coffee house and call
ed him "a scoundrel, liar and a rufiian
and Best very properly shot him dead ia
the fields behind the Holland house next
morning
ABOUT the same time. during the presi-
dency Of Thomas jefferson. the long riv-
airy that had existed between Aaron Burr
and Alexander hamilton came TO its cli-
max
When Burr failed to be elected governor
Of New York state 10 1894 he put the fail-
ure down 10 Hamilton and on the
strength Of certain comments published
in newspaper he demanded that Haun-
ton should either deny ever having sui-
madverted upon his character or should
meet him In mortal combat
Hamilton found il ss impossible 20 re-
fuse the challenge 70 a duel as any mod
ern Freuchman would find il today. They
ment or the nth day Of July Ct Wechaw-
ken on the Hudson river. Thirty hours
later Hamilton was dead. tho whole na-
ton was mourning for him and Burr had
10 rs for his life before the verdict Of
murder brought f. ~ tie con0ners
JURY.
This had some effect IN dlscouraging the
SueI But II was far from killing &c De
either country. and IT IS Characteristic -
the tenacitv with which The northern
races hold bT ancient statutes that the
right T. appeal - the Judicial combat
was only erased from the laws re Eng
land ~ the beginning Of the nl1eteeufh
century n 1ss Caunins then f0rsIEg
secretary. was badfy wounded &c the ie1f
thigh by Lord Casriereagh. secretary far
war who's second was the Earl ~ var
uogfh IN waterloo year uariei ofcl-
nelE having referred - fhs city fathers -
the Irish capital az IRE beggzriF cor-
porasiau ~ Dublfr was challenged ~
one ~ is members Mr G Esterre. ard
promptly proved l.s case - sh1ru-e
him rortsilr fn ire thiUa-