The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-05-18
DyELILNG IS SPORT IN CUBA.
Only One Fatal Casualty in Seventeen
Years.-PrecautiOn Taken.


though popular, is exotic), but while
cock fighting is the sport Of all, from
the highest to the lowest, duelllng is
confined to the "caballeros," who
wear coats, says a Havana letter to
the New York Evening Post. The
coatless toilers of the city and the
agriculturalists who wear their shirts
outside, like the Philippine "hom-
bre" of naval song, must content
! themselves with the plebian enter
tainment of the cockpit.
Since the restoration of the repub-
lie of Cuba Libre under President
Gomez, cock fighting, abolished by
the first Intervention, has been law
full: duelling is still prohibited, but
the newspapers publish the texts of
challenges and the results of meet
ings. with the names of principals
and seconds, much as though they
were boxing bouts or baseball games.
Among the friends of the writer is
a prominent congressman who has
taken part, either as second or pr1n-
cipal, in thirty-two duels, and the
speaker of the house, Signor Orestes
Ferrara, is credited with anywhere
from one to two score of duels, be-
sides enjoying the distinction of TAX
ing part as a second in the only fatal
duel in the last seventeen years, dur
ing which there have been some hun
dreds of duels fought" or perhaps
<splayed' would be the better word.
Really Refined Sport.
Duelling as conducted in Cuba is
really a refined sport, not nearly so
brutal or painful to the participants
as boxing, and far less dangerous
than baseball or tennis; sprained
ankles are unknown in duelling, and
uuarrelling such as too frequently
leads to violence and serious bodily
injury at the cockpit is never per-
mitted on the field cf honor. where
the greatest precautions are taken
: for the safety Of all concerned And
no less than the safety is the dignity
of the sport safeguarded by the Gu
ban code, which leaves 10 opportunl-
ty for such a reduction ad absurdum
as that of the giant rsilsplitter Lin
coin naming cavalry sabres of the
heaviest pattern when challenged by
the pigmy Shields.
Unlike the code which prevailed
in England and Ireland. and in our
own South prior to the Civil war, the
Cuban code gives the choice of weap-
ons not to the challenged, but to the
aggrieved party. 1t is for the Sec
onds representing the challenger and
challenged to determine, after full
discussion, which is the aggrieved
one (agraviade), after which the Sec
onds of the latter shall choose the
weapons, but within the restrictions
of the code, which does not permit
too serious form of combat if the
grievance be a slight one. Thus,
pistols may not be used unless the
quarrel is very serious indeed, as
there is always the danger that even
the best shot may in the excitement
of the moment hit his antagonist in
vital spot. To minimize so far as
may be the consequences of such &C
cidents, the pistols are loaded very
lightly, but, even so, the pistol is
considered a risky weapon, to be re-
sorted to only in extreme cases.
A Drop of Blood Sufices.
The duelling sword is the weapon
almost invariably used, and drop
of blood from a prick in the forearm
of ones enemy usually sufices to heal
the wound that honor feels. Fencing
is part of every young caballero's
polite education, and there are
number of "salones de armes' in Ha-
vana, where the young men learn and
; practice fencing.
Cuba has probably the best ANA
teur swordsman in the world in Ma
jor Ramon Fonst, master-of-arms of
the Cuban army. When only eigh-
teen Fonst won the amateur cham
pionship of the world with the duel
ling sword at the Paris exposition,
defeating representatives of France,
Italy, and Spain. A year or two later
he defeated all who met him at the
St. Louis Worlds Fair. Fonst was
designed by nature for fencer. Six
feet tall and lean as greyhound, he
has narrow, sloping shoulders. and
long arms with muscles of steel. His
hips are considerably broader than
his shoulders, and his long legs are
very powerful, enabling him on oc-
casion to escape dangerous lunges by
phenomenal backward LEAPS. But