The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-03
Duer and Meade in Boxing Match Right
 On Congress Floor

| We have now come to the ante-beI- 1um days in the history of the Ma tionaI A c. All of us ring lizards have observed that several rounds are often necessary to stir the pep m fighters. This is because they enter the ring usually as friends, and until their hair gets mussed and the pow der brushed off their noses, they're really not peeveG enough to do real fighting. Not so with the members of the National A. c. No watch is ever arranged in that club unless the par ticipants are first 'het up" by an ex- change of verbal punches. The oral cavity of a. congressman is like rich oil well, it gushes until it is plugged. While the National A. c. is a very ex- elusive club, it is remarkably informal in it's ftstic contests. They are often arranged without press announce ments and gate arrangements Such was the case with the Neade-Duer bout.
 Bill Duer, the New York pepper pot, and Virginia Meade were frequenters of the N A. c. about 15 years before the Civil War. Coming from opposite sides of the Mason and Dixon line their inherent militancy found ample cause for disputes in the days when the slavery question was getting hot. The congressional record shows the following col,oquy between the sub jects of this narrative:
 Neade--''It is false''
 Duer---''You are liar sir.'' Brevity is the soul of wit, and who shall say is not the essence of pug nacity. I will not attempt to describe what followed the above tete-a-tete until I explain what went before. Duer was speaking, and by innuendo referred to the existence of disunion- 1sts in the House. A Virginian by the name of Bayley butted in with these words. There are no disunionists in this House. Duer replied that he wished that he could think so but feared otherwise. This Bayley person
 sprang. to his feet and challenged
 Duer to point them out. A tense mo-
 ment fell upon the assemblage as
 Duer turned slowly toward the Vir-
 ginia section and deliberately pointed | his finger at Meade
 | We all know that pointing is not good form and isn't practiced by our most proper pugilists.. Gentlemen 1 boxers who were most proficient in hoisting the foot and crooking the el- i bow never lifted the finger. Such a
 gross violation of the rules of gentle
 manly etiquette would naturally be
 resented by a southern gentleman.
 and there occurred the retort quoted
 above followed dby Duer's use of the shorter and uglier word.
 ! A volume could be written on what 1 happened in a second. Tongues were abandoned as of no further use Fists were raised. Meade sprang for Duer
 as if propelled by a cannon Mem ! bers and spectators and promoters were taken unawares. The gloves, the isponges, the towels, were not at hand.
 This was to be a battle of the raw uns." The Virginian led with a right to the bean and Bill countered in kind The tremendous interest in the bout
 coupled with bad management spoiled the affair. for the crowd rushed to the centre, making it impossible for the
 pugs to employ their favorite hooks and punches. The ergeant-at-arms called it a draw, but the newspaper decision was given to each by the pa
 pers in their respective States
 It is not recorded that these two
 swatters ever met again, unless it was
 on the battlefield of the Civil War.
 In due course both withdrew from the National A. c. Neither was of cham pionship calibre but both added iustre to American Diff biography.