The Mena weekly star., 1908-03-26
A DUEL IN RUSSIA
LIEUT.. GEN. sMIRNoFF PROBABLY FATALLY WOUNDED BY
 LIEUT.. GEN. Fock.
THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES APPROVED
The Fight Occurred In the Riding School of the chevalIer Guard Regi- ment and Was Witnessed by sev- eral Officers of High Rank-csuse of Trouble.

St. Petersburg, MsIr. 19.-Lieut. Gen. Smirnoff was probably fatally wound
 ed in a duel fought here Wednesday morning with Lieut.. Gen. Fock. The men met in the riding school of the Chevalier guard regiment and fought with pistols, a distance of 20 paces separating them. when the shots were exchanged.
 The duel was caused by the memor- andum written by Gen. Smirnoff on the siege of Port Arthur In which be questioned the courage of Gen. Fock and reputation were involved and chal- lenged the author of the memoran- dunn.
 The riding school was placed at the disposal of the combatants by the com mander of the regiment, and the duel occurred with the full knowledge and appreciation of the military authori- ties. It was witnessed by several off, cers of high raLk and it Is even re- ported that several women were pres ent.
 Shortly before 10 o'clock Gems. Fock and Smirnoff appeared at the school Without saluting, they took the places assigned by the'r seconds. For Gen. Smirnsff the seconds were his brother in-law, Vladimir M. Purishkevich, member of the duma, and Capt. Schultze of the navy, while for Cen. CfAn al ftta Stoessel. and Lieut. Podgursky, one of the Port Arthur heroes, officiatea. Dis tance between the two combatants was 20 paces, and the duelists were h. structed to open fire at the word of command and continue until one or tue other was killed. At Gen. Fock's fourth shot Gen. Smirnoff groaned and
 sank forward. He had been wounded in the abdomen above the right hip. He was carried In litter to the mill tary hospital, where doctors Wednes-
 day afternoon employed Roentgen rays to locate the bullet.
 The word fire" was given each time by Gen. Kireieff, the Russian au- thority on duelling. At the second
 exchange Gen. Fock's coat was per forated At the third exchange Gen. Smirnoff accidentally fired premature fly but Gen. Fock magnanimously de- clined to shoot at a defenseless op- ponent, and the fourth and final shots were then exchanged.
 This duel will be followed by an- other between Gen. Fock and Gen. sGorbatoffsky. the commander of the western front at Port Arthur, who was severely criticised by Gen. Fock during
 the court martial proceedings. Gen. |Gorbatoffsky sent seconds some time ago to Gen. Fock. but he failed to secure permission to fight a duel. Gen. Smirnor was acting command the siege and at the time of It's sur render to the Japanese. After his re- turn to Russia he prepared secret report of the defence of Port Arthur which was the basis of the indictments
 on which Lieut.. Gen. Stoessel, Lieut. Gen. Fock and Maj. Gen. Reiss were
 tried for their lives before the su- preme court martial. Gen. Stoessel was accused of cowardice and inca
 pacity, and Gen. Fock, according to
 the indictment, displayed thorough in- capacity and want of judgment.
 The outcome of the trial was the
 sentencing to death of Gen. Stoessel,
 which finding was later commuted to
 ten years Imprisonment, while Gen.
 Fock was ordered to be reprimanded
 for disciplinary offense.
 Gen. Smirnoff was also on trial be-
 fore the court martial charged with
 having failed to remove Gen. Fock
 from his command. He was acquit-
 ted of this charge.