The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1912-11-14
ALMIGHTY WARRIOR
General Dumas Was a Colossus
In Size and In Heroism.
HIS AMAZING FEATS OF ARMS.

The Herculesn Father Of the Famous
Novelist Had the Strength of Sam
son and the valor of Horatius-His
Son Was Chip of the Old Block.
General Alexandra Dumas. the ia
ther of the celebrated French novelist.
| was a mulatto of herculean build. who
| was renowned as a tremendous tighter
and as man of marvellous bodily
strength.
| 1t is generally believed that he was
the moGel from which his son drew the
| character of Porthos In the Three
tiuardsmen"- sometimes vainglo-
rious sometimes heroic, but always
lovable Porthos.
OF the recklessness and daring Of
General Dumas there can be no doubt.
aud evidently fear to him was an abso-
lutely unknown quantity. 81 had long
thought the feats of arms ascribed to
him in La Vendee, Italy, and Egypt
rather apocryphal, too good to be true"
writes NJ Jules Claretie in French
paper. They seemed to combine in
one the tours de force of PorthOs and
the escapades of Chicot. But one day
when | had promised TO write short
life of the man his grandson put into
my hands all the papers relating to the
soldiers career. and then saw that !
had before me a real epic. describing
a sequence OF glorious actions of un-
doubted authenticity.
"lt was. for example, established by
official documents that General Dumas,
standing. a solitary colossus. at the end
of the bridge of Brixen. in the Tyr
oil. did. like Horatius of old, dispute
the passage of it with cloud of Aus-1
trians, whom he sabered and shot one
after the other until he had broken
his sword and used his last cartridge.
and that he then did convert the body
Of an enemy into a battering ram.
Again. at the theater one day he
was in box with lady who had won
his affections when a gentleman Of the
court. pointing at him, remarked to the
lady, so. marchioness. you have got
your negro here At which the mulat-
to, without q word seized the man by
his collar. lifted him from his seat and
threw him across the footlights on to
the stage.
His son inherited the fathers mus
cles. Travelling one year in the south |
Of France for the sake of collecting |
some amusing impressions he came
to Avignon by diligence with the inten-
ton of enjoying the well known view
of the silhouette of the papal palace. |
The diligence, on stopping. was sur
rounded by porters. who tried to clutch |
the travellers luggage. Dumas insist
ed on carrying his own valise. and this
provoked some insolent remarks from
the porters.
Look. +" said one. at the big lout
who won't let poor fellow earn a
iivingr
"'What's so astonishing in thatT re-
piled another He's A niger. Nature
him for drudge
''The son did not hesitate to initiate
his fathers example. He put down
his valise. seized one of the porters,
took him by the waist. carried him to
the parapet Of the bridge and held him
out over the river, saying:
"'Give me your word that you are
not the assassin Of Marshal Brunei
Marshal Brune was assassinated at
Avignon. in the white terror, 1915.
"I! But, monsieur
"'Swear ! tell you. that you did not
Marshal Bruno or ! will
throw you into the Rhoner
1.-THE mans face became as white as
a sheet, and he gasped out:
81 will swear, monsieur. by all the
saints. did not assassinate him.
"'All right said Dumas. and he
threw the wretched man on to the
bridge. took up his valise and went on
his way, smiling. leaving the porters
gasping with wonder.
ITO return to the old general, he was
coming back from Egypt when his ship
was surrounded by some English yes
sells.
"'Fight to the last was the order.
and when shot and shell are exhausted
blow up the ship sky high
"All very veil, but he could swim
and others couldn't To equalize mat
ters Dumas got two cannon balls, put
them into his pockets and said with
a laugh:
"'Now | shall go all the quicker to
the bottom
But it was not to be. He was taken
prisoner and thrown into foul dun
geon at Naples. from which he only
emerged with his health shattered and :
his magnificent strength dwindled to
the vanishing point"
Eating With the Knife.
1t Is strange that the Italian should