The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-08-07
DWELLING CENTRE or rms
Sword Eneounters which Take Place New -.
adays &C the Great wheel.

Since the lie de Ia latte 81 tragic men
ory has been turned irto n gar To- vhs-.
the children play. little mirdfll or 10
ENenes Of bloodshed formerly 81 .,,..,
there. the Grande Rous has l-.' ttc .,,...
oentre of duellinK in FrGr &c. lie l,A.arr
d however. IL innocuous Comyar-I g...
that oT the OLD dnelling gyruunt OF ..,
islsnd In the Seine
One Of the very last Of the meet Q <, .f.-..
hal fatal ending. Tho nI'ur. ui ,.,
husbands engagement IVES k.Ii -. TO-.
from the wife % duellis,. ~" rr.r...,.
her To a restaurant rear hy ~. ....
innocently insisted on accompanying ,,..
and he left her and the child ou IN. ,,..
text Of a billiard match He never .....
them again. ~ he fell. pierced 10 the ue.
in the second bout
DuellinG u less serious hrsirs>s
writes q Paris correspondent 81 m. I'eH
Mall GIsrtts. since these -anRires t'hor.
neur- we're regulated at the foo, ~ the
great Totatory which plunges Parsllr.
in midair The present manager 10.
witnessed some $50 encounters. AMI =.
save one or two have had q serIo-corric
rather than y grave aspect, One Of The
exceptions was the celebrated bArtI.
|
the Baron del Pra'
! IL was a tremendous setto. Nicomip 9e
Pully wGs left handed his right forearm
having been Amputated ~ the result
| OF q shooting accident. Fairly in the Ell
gagement he was badly w-oundei IN the
ribs. the sword point Of his adversarv
having deeply entered his body. Bu
though the blood gushed. he continue
| a. a-hs he
his sword from him by force. A. a oons-
quence Of his wound NJ. de Tully hat 10
keep his bed six months.
Four or five years ago there was another
sensational case Of splitting the enemy
/ The two men who faced one another were
/ NJ. de Villette and NJ de Mallory The
latter was rather seriously wounded
when NJ Dubois. the famous -maitTs
d'armes.- fought with n. Damotte. the
latter received slash thirteen c-ntimeters
long in his leg as n proof Of the proves
Of the professional.
The French law forbids duels. but takes
/ TO steps To prevent them. Yet Il is some-
times moved in spite Of itself. one al
these occasions was when NJ. de YilAz
killed NJ Pistri. Corsican journalist
The latter hal no notion Of the use Of his
NHtEeas lhe Nes al eNprTt
swordsman. He pas found by a Seine
jury Ia he guilty of voluntary homicide
and sentenc..l to three years imprison-
mant In other cases where men have
beer killed ~ occurred a year or two
ago IL a combat between two RumAniAn
students the courts have taken q lenient
view
The historic pitch il Just at the has.
=. ~ A. a
by an English firm named Basset ~ the
time Of the Great Exhibition. A gravells-d
strip bounded at one end by a sapling and
at the other by two palms in tubs meas
ureS exactly thirty metres. the regila-
ton length for a contest with swords The
width IN two meters When q duel takes
plA CO. which occurs about twenty times
a year. the ground receives some sort %
preparation. the gravel being scrapei n
and replaced nv sand The wits Of the
boulev ards declare that the Great Wheel
pays its dividend nv its duels. charging
- time. A. a matter of fact there Ia
no tariff at ell. The only payment paid
~ q -pourboire- to the men who prepare
the ground The wheels interest In the
affair is the advertisement il gains from
an encounter Of the sort
ger tells me. Its present form 10 81 A..
tanuat.d that II il ridiculous. Most French
men will admit IL. hut il 10 a custom and
has q berespected. even by those " no feel
ts absurdity. In the vast majority ~
these morning engagements under shadow
Of The huge machine the wound that
brings the fight TO an end IL n mere scratch
on the wrist This 10 partly due TO the
n ~ Ataalltnw i'm
the -m4thode Baudry- It's chief claim
in that II places the inferior performer 90
a level with the expert
Baudrv. the inventor Of this simple
true il a reputed swordsInan. but in
half an hour he will show YOU how 20 Dis.
concert the ablest antagonist. The prin.
cIple is TO hold your sword out straight
and keep il there By these means you
can. bar accidents. defy the other 70 do
his worst He can hardly press the tiro
for fear Of piercing himself Feints and
counters are rarely practised on thu
actual field movements are the simplest:
the straight thrust IL met by an almost
rigid arm.
Military officers Fight the fiercest: they
do not stop for the first scratch Again.
their reasons for fighting are generally
OF All htHuhtt anu private CnArhCt~'
which give impetus IN the sword arm II
il generally q case OF "Cherchez Ia femme
whereas the civilian Is often inspired hy
political motives. Elections let loose the
duellist Ouarrels between politicians
who we're rivals at the polls led 90 az lea-,
q couple OF encounters at the Great Wheel
this year. journalism and the Chamber
provide the major part Of the scenes a.
this corner Of the Champ de Mars. which.
appropriately near the Ecole MilitAire.
ls opposite the site Of the old Galerie des
Machines. one Of the last Of the vsstige-
Of the exhibition OF ten years ago.
Socialists are by their principles averrH
TO the duel. hut some have recourre
tout de meme 10 the arbitrament ~
arms. Quite recently the Deputy
M--sirny fought with a pennan who bad
attacked him in print The notorious
Sarrant and Puglieaci- Cont duel did mo-
take place here. hut on the outskirts n
Paris. In this case the director Of 'h"
combat was VI. Clemenceau. II. Sarrani y
| chtef at that time at the Ministry ~ the
Interior. The incident which led 10 th-
spectacle OF two middle aged gentlemen
IN their shirt sleeves irving 10 pierce