The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-07
Dron Stories of Due1s
and Due1ists

The old story of the Irishman who
called a man out for expressing disbe-
lief in his having seen anchovies grow
ing on a tree, and when his opponent
lay wounded on the ground repentant-
ly owned to suddenly remembering it
was capers he meant, may be an in
vention, but duels have been fought
for equally trivial reasons, says Lon
don Tit Bits. One of the members Of
Louis XVII's bodyguard fought three
times in one day; the first with a gen.
tleman who had offended by looking
askew at him; next, with one who had
looked him hard in the face. and third
ly, with a stranger who had passed by
without defgning to look at him at
all.
Men disinclined to make targets OF
themselves in obedience to a conven-
tional code of honor have often got out
of the difficulty by availing themselves
of the right accorded to the challenged
to choose the weapons. A Missouri
backwordsman daunted his antagonist
by insisting upon a combat with raw
hides, limited to half an hours dura-
ton. An old whaling captain declared
he would fight with harpoons or not
at all, an alternative declined by his
adversary. A French journalist fonder
of fun than of fighting, on being chal-
| lenged, accepted the cartel with, "Of
| course, I claim the choice of weapons.
You wish to kill me; 1 will do my best
to kill you. Good ] have in my house
twenty loaves of siege bread, which 1
have kept for souvenirs. We will sit
| down and eat against each other One
| of us is sure to die" Knowing by ex-
perience the nature of siege bread, the
challenger did not care to run the risk
involved in such contest and, like
a sensible fellow, laughed and shook
| hands. Equally satisfactory in its re-
suit was the very wise method adopt
ed by two Americans, who having
| fallen in love with one lady, found it
necessary to settle by force of arms,
which should retire from the field.
| Having no desire to hurt one another,
they concluded the matter could be de-
oided by proving which was the better
| shot by each trying his skill at a tree.
| The worse nnarksman acknowledged
that If they had confronted each 9TH
er in the approved way he would have
| been annihilated, and left his rival to
| win the lady unopposed.
In another duel without danger only
one of the parties concerned was aware
OF the innocent character of the en-
counter. This was Gen. Putnam, who
being challenged by a young officer.
| proposed that each should sit upon
powder key. with lighted fuse in the
bung. AS he would hear of no other
| terms, the general had his way. At thu
| appointed time the belligerents took
their seats the fuses were ignited
The veteran watched the progress O.
| the f1ames-as well he might-with un-
| moved countenanCe. Not so his oppo
nent; he took intense interest in the
! fast-lessering match, and when the
flame got SUCCESSFULLY near the bung.
hole showed his possession of the bet.
ter part of valor by jumping off the
! keg and making for the Open till ar.
| rested by Putnam roaring out, "IIol6
on, my boy; it's only onion seedl"
With conamendable discretion die
some fun-loXing rascals act when call
| ed upon to assist a couple of coloreC
| gentlemen of, Monticello, Mobile. who
| agreeing 70 differ, determined to settl
! their differepces, white mans fashion.
| In very few Minutes arrangement
We're made for bringing the affair of
in the orthodox way. The seconds ant
1surgeons stood sin d grove hard by
and rifles 'l6aded with blank cartridg.
| were placed in the hands of the belli.
-cose paif.iS They presented a curious
contrast, Gone being as cool as the pro-
verbialaeucumber. while the other was
| nervous and excited-a veritable black
| Bob Acres. When his eye caught the
gleamaof the rifle-barrel he exclaimed
| Look here. gentlemen; dis ere guns
| too bright for me-" and tried to leave
| his ground. till brought to a sense of
| his position by an intimation from his
[ to4 ~ 80
he would shoot him down. Dropping
his gun, the frightened fellow seized
his second by the waist and placed him
between himself and the leveled weap-
on of the foe. The barricade quick
ly removed itself, and then, the negro
fled the scene at racing speed follow
ed by shouts Of derision from the
amused onlookers
When Egan and Curran met to de-
eide their quarrel with the pistols aid.
the former complained that he might
as we'll fire at a razor's edge as at his
adversary's thin body while he himself
offered as fair mark as a turf stack:
whereupon his lready-witted foe de-
clared he had no desire to take any
undue advantage, and was willing to
let his size be chalked out on Mr..
Egansi side. and agree that every shot
outside the mark should go for moth
ing.
When Gen. Shields challenged Abra-
ham Lincoln, on account of letter IL,
newspaper rejecting on the general.
which Lincoln had avowed to save the
real writer from the consequences, the
latter, having the choice Of weapons,
elected to fight with the broadsword
Not that he was skilled in its use but
because he had such a trem sndous
length of arm. combined with grent
muscular power, that he calculated
upon being able TO chop off his adver-
sary's hand before he couId treat him
to scientific thrust. Lin
coin was first on the ground
and when Shields arrived was
hard at work with a hatchet clear
ing away the bushes. 1t was decided to
sink plank perpendicularly in the
ground, leaving four feet of it protrud-
ing from the earth--the combatants to
fight up to, but not beyond it. Shields
examined the swords. and then looked
doubtingly at Lincoln's arm Noting
the look, Col Hartin told the pair not
to make fools of themselves; and, like
wise men, they concluded they would