Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-07-31
WARS BEGUN BY FISTICUFEs
Punch ON the Nose Led to the
Killing of Twenty Thou
sand People.

A Punch on the Nose Led to the
Killing of Twenty Thou
sand People.
1t is curious, when one comes to reflect
upon the matter, how frequently a COM
paratively harmless bout of flsticuff be-
tween two individuals has led directly to
a great war, in which thousands of lives
have been lost.
A notable case in point, for example,
occurred so late in the year 1891. Two
CHILEAN naval officers, one a COMPRESSION
list and the other a Balmacedaist, were dis
cusslng politics aboard a vessel of the
fleet.
In the heat of the argument one struck
the other. Other officers Joined in the
fray The sailors, too. took sides, and
blood was shed BY nightfall the fleet was
in revolt and the great Gillian civil war
had begun. That single blow cost the lives
of more than 10000 men.
Inflamed with wine at village fiesta, a
Macedonian peasant named Nicholas Mar
tinovitch engaged in a rough-and-tunblo
fight with compatriot whom he suspected
of being his rival in love, and killed him.
Chased by the police, to evade arrest he
crossed the frontier into Thessaly, where
he quickly gathered around him a rabble
rout of desperadoes and tarted raiding
the Turkish villages. This was in March,
1897, and It was the last straw that broke
the back of the sultan's patience Within
a month the Graeco-Turklsh war had be-
gun.
The Canadian war between the Venetians
and the Turks was to have been settled
by the rival commanders, who agreed to
meet one another in single combat ir
front of their respective armies But
neither was victorious, for each succeeded
in killing the other in duel of only about
ten minutes duration.
Thereupon, the two armies, frantic with
rage rushed at each other, intent upon
avenging the deaths of their leaders. The
war which followed was one Of the most
dreadful recorded in history. The Turks
lost 10000 men. the Christians over $1,000
| Curiously enough this terrible conflict
might have been finished much sooner thar
1t actually was but for another contre
temps of somewhat similar nature. Bott
sides had become appalled, at the awfu
slaughter, and terms Of peace had beer
agreed upon, but when It came to rati
flying the treaty, the Turkish minister In
sisted that the Venetian ambassador SHOULD
swear upon his beard and the beard of tbs
prophet'-the ordinary Moslem form Of
oath.
To this, however the ambassador OBJ
jected, for" he said, I'VE Venetians wea
no boards" Neither, for that matter d.
the baboons" retorted the Turk con
ktemptuously whereupOn the Venetian
stung by the insult, struck him in the fac
with his mailed fist The other retaliatet
in kind, the unsigned treaty was torn t,
fragments, and hostilities were resumed tn,
very next day
The beginning Of the great uprising o.
the Sicilians against their French con
querors and masters-commonly known a:
the "Sicllian Vespers'-was intensely dra
matte 1t was Easter eve, and Palermo
was thronged with merrymakers. A sici
liam bride passed by, leaning on the arm
Of her husband. French officer stand
ing near flung at her haunting remark
and the young, newly wed husband spranl
at him and feled him with blow.
The Siciilans were not allowed to ,wea
arms, and the Frenchman carried a sword
This he attempted to draw as he scram
hled to his feet but second time tn
younth's arm shot out. and again the ruff
fian measured his length on the ground
Then. before anyone could interfere. tn
insulted husband wrested the deadl!
weapon from his PROSTATE foe and ran
through his body.
Wild shouts of exultation from the as
sembled Sicillans showed how they, a
any rate. regarded the deed. Cries wer
raised Of Death TO the French XIII tn
insulters of our women!" Seized with
sudden frenzy. the populace rushed wild
through the streets, Staying all OF that ma
tion they could find. Altogether abou
5000 perished and many times that numbe
on both sides lost their lives in the wa
subsequently undertaken by France /
avenge what it stigmatized as a massacre
but which the Slcillans gloried in as a
act Of praiseworthy patriotism.
Somewhat similar was the beginning G
the terrible series Of religious wars whic
I desoated France in the latter half of IN
; sixteenth century.
over 1000 Huguenots were assembled in
large barn near a place called Vasy, an
were peaceably celebrating their religion
rites under the protection of what wa
known as the "Edict OF January" tt
Duke of Guise, with a large escort, roc
by. Some of his followers made game
the worshipers, mmicking them.
The Huguenots got angry, and retaliat,
with certain opprobrious remarks. and fro
! words the rival parties quickly came
blows.
> This was the signal for a general ma
. sacro. About sixty Huguenots were sla
and above 200 wounded. But the rest fle
to arms, The rising spread far and wild
, About thirty years later Frenchmen we