Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31

ed to Washington are fencers. Recently
they organized fencing club with head
quarters on 10th street near the British EN-.
bassy.
Will Duels RESULT
VIII the result of this revived interest in
Fencing, especially among the foreign diplo-
mats here, be the appeal of their future
questions OF honor to the sword? While our
laws forbid dueling these diplomatic
agents, by virtue of their privilege of extra
territoriality, cannot be punished here for
crossing swords in earnest. If they hero
commit crimes, acknowledged to be such by
the moral sense of mankind. they cannot
be tried or punished, but may be required
to leave our shores. Private persons here,
OF course, do not lose their rights of self
defense IL these diplomats be agressors
The probability is that a duel could be
fought In any Of the legation compounds
here without attracting any official notice
whatever-from the State Department-un-
less terminating fatally. OF course the To-
cal police could have no hand in quelling
such combat.
The best swordsman by far, among the
washington diplomats is Lieutenant Com
mander Viscount de Farramond de La ia iole,
naval attache of France. He could readily
put any diplomatic rival here out of action
This gallant Frenchmans country has a
fierce record for duels. In the reign of
Henry ~ 1000 duelists fell in two years
The mania for dueling during these times
cost France more gentle blood than thirty
years of civil war. Finally affairs got to
such pass that Louis XIV established a
court of chivalry to decide all questions of
honor. But French duels today are rather
farcical. Antiseptic swords have become
the fashion. Were the Viscount de Fara-
mond to kill with his sword a brother
Frenchman here he would of course be-
amenabe to the laws of his own country,
where killing in duels is now punishable as
homicide.
Diplomatic Swordsmen.
Baron Won Holleben, the former German
ambassador here. had a great record as a
duelist his body being covered with scars
received in his student days. Nearly every
German student belongs to corps as
member of which he is bound to fight at
some time during his career. If after a
reasonable length of time he has had no quar-
rel thrust upon him his corps leader notifies
him that ne must fight "a duel within Il
certain period. He is then obliged to pick a
quarrel with some one-perhapS one of his
best friends. But the German students duel
Is rather tame, when 1t comes down to the
actual lighting. The participants pad all
parts of the body where a wound would
prove serious. The sword arm is also pro-
tected with padding, the throat by a stiff
collar and the eyes by heavy goggles. Real
ly the only exposed parts of the German
student duelist are the face and brow Since
able by imprisonment, but the law IS not
enforced. They have been sanctioned by
various high German Enthusiastically,
Prince Bismarck
Minister Brun of Denmark is among those
who are learning fencing. Among his coun-
trymen savage form of combat known as
the 'girdle duel was formerly practiced.
The two combatants were stripped tied to-
gether by girdle and each given a knife.
They fought until one both were killed.
Baron Moncheur. minister from Belgium.
Is another enthusiastic fencer. But duels
are very rare in his country, although its
SOIL is often the scene of such affairs be-
tween foreigners who meet there to escape
the laws of their own land
Among the other diplomatic fencers here
are Count Cassini, the Russian ambassador:
Count Giuseppe Della Gherardesca of the
ltallan embassy; Viscount de Alte the Por-
tuguese minister, and Baron Covers, minis
ter from the Netherlands
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS JR.