Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-07-25
A Dwarf on the Field of Honor.

Another oddity among AFFAIRS of honor had
for one of the principals a dwarf This was Jet
frey Hudson, an Engshman, who from ms
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 height of three feet and nine inches'
Rut diminutiye stature proved no bar to an ad'
venturous career. On a journey from the Con-
tinent to England he was captured by Dunklrk
prvateer Afterward he fell into the hanus oi
Barbary pirates. He escaped finally ana re-
turned home to become captain of horse In the
civil wars.
It was in France however. whittier he had
gone in attendance on his queen, that the duel
occurred Some dispute arose between MIN anu
another Engshman, named Crofts.
A meeting with pistols was arranged. On ac-
count of his low stature, Hudson was accorded
the privilege of being mounted on horseoack'
while his adversary remained afoot, which was
fair enough, s,zs ihsets was tsllg rs ne
enemy at the first fire
Long before the days Of militant suffragettes,
women asserted their rights by engaging In the
duello, although such encounters were 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 lovesick
women, bot, of the nobility, the Polish, the
other French. The weapons were pistols, and
the Frenchwoman was severely wounded An
unsympathetic government shut up the passion
ate French countess in a convent and expelled
her rival from the country.
Something Of the modern pressagent 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 Melinte 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 duelng
until after the Napoleonic Then It prac-
tically 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 tradesmer
to resort to a practice hitherto confined to those
far above them in the social scale The barber
challenged the hardware dealer who sold him
damaged stove The charcoal seller had an afail
of honor with the huckster who sold him onions
In short measure Such vulgarization of the
noble art of manning and killing wrought havoc
with the prestige of the code. Indeed, in France
that stigma has never been wholly removed, and
rule affairs of honor there today with
out that underlying seriousness which they pos
sess in other countries of Europe
Spain, from the standpoint of the duelist. 4
entitled to credit for being both sincere an
an instance in point may be mentioned an en-
counter arranged between two members of
bicycle club of Granada, named respectivel
Perez and Moreno.
This was fought by the men from their wheels
with the deadly knife known as the navaga TIL
place Of meeting lonely bit of the Meag
road Perez inflicted a severe wound In the lei
arm Of Moreno, then was killed by thrust !
the right breast.
Exit the DuelIo.
Maeterlinck wrote wonderful defense of due
ing, but since then he has taken to boxing wit
such enthusiasm that he may believe he has r
canted. Certainly the sentiment of today is no
tile to the code. despite the archaic preference
of car and kaiser. Nowadays we are fosterir
human life to the limit, with science strugglir
wildly for the survival of the unfit. Luckil
while we are saving the diseased and crimins
we also incline to preserve the hale and homo
able. We are not minded to let good men
slain for the WITNESSES Of the code. We leaI
dueling to the stark ignorance Of mountaineer
to tho viciousness of thugs in city gangs and
the Anticipated habit of the finest gentlemen