The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1913-08-02
A Dwarf on the Field Of Honor.


A Dwarf on the FIsd Of Honor.
Another oddly among affairs Of honor had
for one of the principals dwarf. This was JEFF
frey Hudson. Engishman who from his
eighth to his thirtieth year measured just eight
cen inches in height Then this astonishing per.
son began to grow. and kept at it until he had
attained a height of three feet and nine inches.
But dimnutve stature proved no bar to an ad-
venturous On journey from the Con-
tinent to England he captured by DunkirR
privateer Afterward he fell into the hands OF
Barbary pirates. He escaped finally, and re-
turned home to become a captain Of horse in the
civil wars.
1t was in France, however, whittier he had
gone In attendance his queen, that the duel
occurred. Some dispute arose between him and
another Englishman, named Crofts.
A meeting with pistols arranged. On &C
count Of his low stature Hudson accorded
! the privilege of being mounted horseback
while his adversary remained afoot which was
fair enough. since Crofts was a tall man. The
dwarf, unframed himself, MORALLY wounded his
enemy at the first fire.
Long before the days of militant suffragettes
women asserted their rights by engaging in the
duello, although such encounters we're frowned
on by the authorities.
One of the most notable fought over
Chase, a famous singer Of the old French Acad-
envy, in which the principals were two love-sick
women botI, OF the nobility, the one Polish, the
other French. The weapons were pistols. and
the Frenchwoman severely wounded An
unsympathetio government shut up the passion
ate French countess In a convent and expelled
her rival from the country.
Something OF the modern press-agent flavor
clusters about the affair of honor between
Marotte Beaupre and Catherine de URLS, actresses
of the Hotel Bourgogne. Their meeting occurred
on the stage of the theater, and revealed some
clever sword-play, but not too much blood.
In an encounter on horseback. with pistols, be-
tween Meiinte and Prelanie which resulted from
quarrel over greyhound, the fair Melinte was
severely wounded by her charming antagonist.
and too she lost the dog.
France was indeed the happy home of dueling
until after the Napoleonic Then 1t prac-
tcally ceased There had been enough of fight
ing, enough of death. )
But there came revival with the restoration.
which soon waxed absurd and at last made duel
Ing wholly ridiculous.
The influence Of democracy caused tradesmen
to resort to practice hitherto confined to those
far above them In the social scale. The barber
challenged the hardware dealer who sold him a
damaged stove. The charcoal seller had an affair
of honor with the huckster who sold him onions
In short measure. Such vulgarizaton OF the
noble art of maiming and killing wrought havoc
with the prestige Of the code. Indeed, in France,
that stigma has never been wholly removed and,
a rule, affairs Of honor there are today with
out that underlying seriousness which they pos
sess In other countries of Europe.
Spain, from the standpoint Of the duelist is
entitled to credit for being both sincere and
strictly up-to-date In maintaining the code As
an instance In point may be mentioned an en-
counter arranged between two members OF a
bicycle club of Granada. named respectively
Perez and Moreno.
This fought by the men from their wheels,
with the deadly knife known az the navaga The
place OF meeting a lonely bit of the Melaga
road. Perez inflicted a severe wound in the left
arm OF Moreno, then killed by thrust In
the right breast.
Exit the Duello.
Maeternck wrote wonderful defense OF duel.
ing, but since then he has taken to boxing with
such enthusiasm that he may believe he has re.
canted Certainly the sentiment of today is hos.
tile to the CODE despite the archaic preferences
of car and kaiser. Nowadays we are fostering
human life to the limit, with science struggling
wildly for the survival of the unfit Luckily.
while we are saving the diseased and criminal
we also incline to preserve the hale and honor.
able. We are not minded to let good men be
slain for the WITNESSES Of the code We leave
dueling to the stark ignorance OF mountaineers.
to the viciousness Of thugs in city gangs and II
the antquated habit OF the finest gentsrmen @.
Europe