The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-06-21
THE GAUcHo's KNIFE.
Weapon Which the Argentine Plains man Yields With surprising Skill.

man Yields With surprising Skill.
 The Argentine gaucho is not compar- able to the North American cowboy in the handling of stock, but the former makes up for his deficiency in another way, he has no peer on earth in the handling of a knife. It is a common thing on the pampas to say of gaucho that he was born with knife in his hand. I think this is somewhat ex- aggerated, says a correspondent of the Los Angeles Times, nevertheless I have often seen babes scarcely out of arms playing with knifes half as long as their bodies, and when child once takes to carrying a knife 1t never leaves him. To gaucho his knife is weapon, implement, instrument and ut- ensil, and things another man would need a score or more of different con trivances to aid him in performing the Igaucho accomplishes with his knife lalone.
 Though l failed to see a genuine, dead in earenest fight to finish be- tween two of these knife experts, often night after night, in fact, when work is over, 1t is the principal diver 1sion-I saw them pair off and fight one another to a standstill with all the fury of the real thing, except that the knifes, remained sheather in order to prevent serious injury. I was told re- peatedly that the anger and jealousy aroused in these friendly contests more often than not lead to bloodshedl am somewhat in doubt as to the truth of this statement, however, for the scores of fights of this kind that saw were as clean cases of give and take in the proper spirit as have ever seen in boxing, fencing or wrestling con- tests at home or anywhere else.
 Whether the bout be friendly or for blood the method of procedure is much the same The men face each other with their knives in their right hands and their closely folded ponchos thrown across their left forearms. In action the knives are usually held with the points inclined downward. Each man hSNRo LIB NCetPJAA COlloldA4tAS lAA IliOLAOAA in order to deceive his opponent as to the exact moment he is going to strike. The parry is thrust is similar to that in rapier play but the thrust itself is more often downward than horizontal or upward, for reasons l will endeavor to make clear in a moment. If a thrust fails to be parried with the knife the folded poncho is brought into play as a shield, for which purpose it serves better than one would ever imagine.
 The gaucho prizes his poncho second only to his knife, and he would no sooner think of parting with one than the other. As he values the knife the more highly for every opponent it has killed or disabled, so the more store he sets by the poncho for every additional time it saves him from death or disa- bility. The knife ordinarily has little to show for the fights it has been through, but the poncho rarely comes unscathed from a mixup: hene it is that, as gaucho vii never sew up a knife or bullet hole in his poncho, nor likewise will discard it while there is enough unbroken warp and wool left to hold it together, those of some of the seasoned and belligerent old swash- bucklers that one meets would put a historic battle flag to shame on, the score of rags and tatters.
 There is no etiquette in regard to above and below the belt thrusts ir knife play on the pampas; in fact of
 the two the latter is the more popular with the giver, of course, mean
 The result of a below the belt cut or
 thrust is not pretty thing to look at by
 any means, but from the point of ef- fectiveness it is decidedly the best
 stroke in the game It is very easy to speak of stabbing man to the heart F but to actually do it, particularly with { a broad bladed knife, or anything, in ! fact, but thin stiletto or rapier, is 2 quite different matter
 < Steel blades and bones do not mix ! any better than oil and water, and il s' takes a very strong man to drive a ]. knife through another mans ribs. The 5. ribs are placed where and as they are as an armor to protect the heart and E lungs. Your real knife man I near \ the man who fights for his life with 6 < knife, unhampered by tradition or con. vention-recognizes this facts; hence Il 2 is that the gaucho thrusts downward s instead of upward.
 The danger zone encircling a gauchC z with knife in his hand is by no means \ limited to the circle he sweeps with hi' $ extended arm, am not sure just how \ far it does go, and still less have I { ] desire to find out, I have small skill ]. with the revolver; yet were I able to dt { the regulation experts stunt of plotting . out the spots on ten of spades a T dozen paces I would still feel yer! f shaky indeed at taking my chances oi z draw and let go at the same distance Es with a gaucho and his knife.
 I have in mind a machinery exper [ from the States-a crack shot-wh, < had trouble with his Argentine ma
 quinista, had an even break on tn . draw at 25 or 30 feet, and was retiret
 from action with knife through hi e shoulder before his revolver was clea of its holster. From this wound he wa IT, confined a month in the British hospi es tai in Buenos Ayres; yet, good sports t. man that he was so impressed had