The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-08-02
@ RiDcWAr co.

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men were in a restaurant along with the lady of
their affections.
A duel was agreed ON, and such the wrath
full haste of the jealous sutors that they rushed
forthwith to the apartments of the woman with
out troubling to secure pistols or swords. Um-
breIlas substituted for rapiers, and the fight
followed. Tintard was the victim. The ferrule
Of his adversarys umbrella gouged out eye,
and he fell, half swooning from the pain. The
maddened victor stamped upon the wounded
mans face and skull and Tintard died within
few days from Inflammation Of the brain.
In contrast to the gruesomeness of this hap
penng, there was the happy issue to the predca-
ment of Irishman in Spain, who chal-
lenged by an hidalgo famed for skill in fence.
The Irishman, having art of sWord-play, was
not minded to lose his life unnecessarily, and,
like the Kentucky parson, set his wit for defense.
He chose shillalahs for weapons, explaining, with
perfect truth that these the national weap-
ons of his country.
The don demonstrated In vain. He investigated
the nature of the unknown fighting tool and
what he learned caused him to withdraw the
challenge.
The Most Freakish Of All.
Undoubtedly the most freaksh of all duels was
one fought in 1903 in Paris. The principals were
rivals, between whom the woman in the case
refused to choose. The weapons selected were
blunderbusses, the ground was the air-for the
shots were to be exchanged from balloons in
process of ascension. The seconds exhibited an
astounding amount of sporting spirit by
panying the principals a1oft.
At the first FIRE the envelope Of one balloon
was penetrated and the gas exploded In the
fall to earth both principal and second
killed. Thus simply was the woman relieved Of
choosing.
Two other rivals were Henri Delagrave and
Alphonse Riviere, who confided the arrangements
for affair Of honor to their seconds AS the
duel was to be outrance, of the seconds
who was physician, conceived the idea Of leav
ing the issue to fate, in the shape of a poisoned
pellet.
To this end, he made up four black pills One
Of these contained prussc acid When the meet
ing occurred, Delagrave the toss of the coin
by which his adversary forced to take
pellet first. Riviere selected one Of the black
balls and swallowed it. A brief interval proved
that he had not taken poison. Deagrave then
took his turn and he also escaped. Again it was
the choice of Riviere, who stared for long time
at the twin pellets in which lay hidden his life
or his death. Finally he seized pellet hastily
swallowed it. Within few moments he
dead
Another instance when the determination of
the affair was left to chance was in the case Of
an Engfshman challenged by Frenchman. The
Engshman without skill either for fence or
shooting, while his adversary was renowned for
both. The Englishman had wish to be muir
dered, and set his ingenuity to devise a
of equality in the encounter AS a result Of his
pondering he stipulated that the duel should be
with pistols, but that only of the two weapons
should be loaded with ball. and that first choice
of them should be left to toss The weapons
thus aportioned, the combatants should fire from
stations only two PAGES apart. This, Of course
meant almost certain death for the holder of
the pistol with the blank charge The skilled
due1ist won the toss and had first choice. He
spent considerable time in examination of the
twin weapons, balancing them, first and then
the other, in his hand In effort to distinguish
between the weights, he knew that the fully
loaded one must be the heavier. But chance is
stronger than any skill At the fire the French
man fell dead, while the Englishman suffered
only some scorching from the blank charge
About the middle of the fourteenth century
there occurred in Paris duel unique In all his
tory: a formal combat between a man and a dog,
under the authorization of the king. Aubryde
Montdidier murdered and his body buried
In wood outside the capital. His dog found
the grave and remained guarding 1t until driven
away by starvation. Afterward the faithful beast
led searchers to the spot, and thus made known
the crime
Soon afterward this same dog flew at the
throat of the Chevalier Macaire The suspicion
thus directed against the Cheyalier finally cuImi
mated in the kings edict that the guilt or inno
cenee OF the accused should be put to proof bv
trial of combat between the man and the dog
a huge hound
The affair was carried to conclusion In due
form In the arena the dog when loosed instantly
sprahg for the throat of his enemy and sunk
his fangs there in death GRIP All the mans
efforts to save himself futile When at