The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-12
nIJELlNe IN FRANCE.
ms ARE so ARRANGED THAT
y "A ONE Is BADLY HURT.

IL
1.ris Letter in Washington star
sre duels every week in Paris
saber and pistol are at work amid
,r+-of-bonor population of army Of
journalists, politicians and young
How comes it, then, that they SO
'.3om get hurt?
e., Lieut.. Flury-Herard had his arm
.+ hacked off by Lieut.. Auriol at Me-
last week there rose cry of horror
ar France. In modern French duels
unusual to get hurt, because of GER
humane frauds practiced in the in
-+. of life and integrity of members.
.rf had been there to arrange it the
i ..+irr would have passed harmlessly,"
burned Daniel Cloutier of the Intransi-
testifying as a duel expert at the
T. of a recent tragic ACCIDENT" and
Il :. proceeded to give the judges few ex-
i ..r,ss of benevolent trickery. On this oc-
4 ian there rose a cry of laughter in all
Enc. But the cause was soon forgotten,
4 "a tba good people continue to hug an
Illusion. ,...
4 Tho usual exchange or balls without
4 ..s,ifr of pistol duels does not have its
4 .-rIaration.-as has been so often insinu-
etiJ nv the French themselves-in the
a,,rl5yment Of false bullets. Cork bullets
5sIorr TO the infancy of the art. Trick
tnrets. composed of an alloy of mercury
n r5 lead are not unknown to the arr
4 r,nriers of Paris. In weight and general
Aarsarance they are almost perfect
eli ell
4 .5ssa and greasy touch. Though heavy
md solid looking, they do not resist the
s-.t blow of the ramrod, which pulverizes
hem II ought to be stated in this con-
rsc+ion that in France pistol duels are
never with revolvers, or pistols requir-
4 inc oartridges Cartridges, being made up
bsforeband with their charges, &C., con-
called do not present the necessary
Guarantees Pistol duels are fought with
&old-fasmoned dueling pistols, percussion
c,ns and muzzle-loading, with measured
charges and compared balls. Indeed, it is
not unusual for the seconds to agree on
some celebrated armurier, like Gastine-
Pennette. who shall furnish sealed box
8 M veapons, to be opened only on the field
n honor. In it are to be found two pistols,
sealed and certified, a number of charges
of powder. sealed and certified, and the
same number of bullets-sealed and certi-
& fed. Trickery would seem impossible.
Fixing 1t.
h In spite of these precautions the benevo-
n lent fraud goes on. There are usually
four seconds, two for each combatant AS
II is easier for two good men to come to
an understanding than four, the pair
s that has agreed to prevent bloodshed
s manages to take charge of the loading,
3 while their cOnfreres are listening to the
& last nervous recommendations of the
principals. The most frequent trick is to
have a pocketful of real bullets of a
little smaller caliber than the pistols
4 employed A child could effect the sub
E stiuton. Such bullets, at their best,
& cannot be sped with a force sufficient to
penetrate the clothing of the victims
& should they reach them, because too much
Of the gas generated by the exploding
Hpowder will have escaped around the
& loose-fttng ball. But, as the custom to
s hold the pistol with its muzzle pointing
Ito the ground until the command to
Fire is given has become all but uni
versaL these balls of too small caliber
#regularly fall to the ground and are lost
s I'm the grass few seconds after the
Epistols are placed in the hands of the
II
A the pistols, of course, may prevent this
by ramming wads on top of the balls.
4 But why risk bloodshed?
myself assisted at a duel in which a
oloodthirsty principal held himself on the
alert against suspicious benevolence on
4 The part of all four seconds. The two
principals We're Russians, old friends, and
& enc man of such rank that his killing
+ might react on all concerned. The quarrel
was over a tride, and the four seconds,
also Old friends, had determined that
lohe OF the party should be lacking at
4 Tue breakfast of reconciliation" already
oi1ered at the Chateau de Madrid, in the
bos nearby. The suspicious one saw to
4 l-at Inc balls were all right. Trick
pistols could not have deceived him. He
"a,ched the measuring of the powder
s. mat the trick of a 700 feeble charge
could not be effected. There was only
one thlng to do. Both men were known
Ne good shots, so the seconds risked
!" AFTER the powder charges had been
poured into each pistol the second who
Iu tAe balls started off as If he had
i"so'leh something. The suspicious prin-
Pal started to follow him. This was the
3aul,is seconds opportunity. Into each
lqsOoi they hastily poured almost the
was done Both men were good shots. vet
lAe moment after the commend to ''Firer'
was given both balls wn,stled harmlessly
nsn over their heads. This fraud of the
uouoIe charge'-which was common in
nc uueis OF the First Empire-is a GER
,1'" Iecpe Tor making the ball deviate
0"iaI hdoly. In the hands of an unsus.
rI0u"5 GOOD shot, fresh from the pre-
't0ue uay practice with the regulation
lse' IL never fails. To risk 1t with any
"er tnan a good shot, however, is to
u1uole the danger because of the greater
- eUatlon given to the ball and because
us tendency to correct the novice's
Post-DueI Breakfasts.
-. recently heard Paris docter noted
oI MS willingness to "go out"-as doctor.
Ivy, Nv. as principal-explain why he always
,oNea forward to a jolly breakfast of
ncliiation" after the mornings ex-
tIyIse, 1t was the breakfast that drew
'"' ne admitted. And then the country
80 freshly beautiful in the early morn
so s am a sentimental" was his express
so Sl ms experience is that two of the
.ogls can always come to an under
uol'-''s' while he seemed to think the
der cue or too feeble charge of pow
ah,... ''elr most common resource. 1t is
a.. thlrd of the normal charge of
h.oi' lHIee and three-quarter grains of
pror" powder. The ball, even though Of
trs.,. Chloer' has scarcely more pene-
N. T"r man that other popular fraud
,Is, o7I OF too small caliber. There is
T5i remarkable deviation downward
nor, MUSICIAN told me that he had seen
- mat one duel relieved of practical
r,, "hen proper pistols had been prop
p,o.s ,H1rged with proper quantities of
T.' ana the right caliber of balls
err. "..' 1ele was accomplished by hard
-Nt NC trigger hafnrehnnA cnrAnI.i..