Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-11-11

washington. Nov. 11.--Can fencing
bo revived in thin country NJ popn-
lar form of nthIctics2 An effort 10
create interest in 1t Is now being made
by deyotces Of the sport.
When looking tw.ce al a pretty wo-
man might mean - challenge 10
lduc,. dexterity with a blade was a
matter of life and death To any mar
of rank. In consequence. every gem
| .ernn studied fencing earncstly as
n part Of his training to grace so-
ciety. And when hand 70 hand en-
countors with swords wore still cus-
tonary method Of fighting battles.
| swordplay was an important part Of
u soldiers training. With these uses
for skin at handling blade, the art
Of fencing nourished.
Now dueling Is against the ;aw
everywhere Even in the Latin coun-
tries. where an encounter Is stIll oc-
90 slonaily reported, the ouelist Is NJ
honger regarded as the dashing and
romantic hero he once vas. II is
even said that II is no heinous crime
TO refuse q challengo--aDd this means
la big change in public opinion for
Ito refuse fight once meant os-
1 tracism.
Modern warfare has almost banished
the sword. In the few cavalry
charges of modern battles. the rider
swings 10 one side OF the saddle with
his head close to the horses neck and
lhis sword thrust ahead If he misses
cne man, he rides on To the next
There Is no swordplay Of defense
More often, when q cavalry trooi
fights, 1t puts its horses together and
Eattacks afoot with carbines or pistols
Since its practical uses have beer
abardoned, fencing is neglected, ir
this country. especially. Now, the in
Iernational fencing match between ;
British team and an American team
which is TO take place this month, Il
expected to arouse popular interes
in this old sport.
This country has had flares OF H..
terest i'm fencing since its duelini
days. IN Roosevelts administration
notably, fencing and horseback rid
ing became the fashionable sports
The President fenced. so did hi
daughter. Alice. and General Leonar'
Wood, and so, in consequence. did N
. luiBioll"tiS Sac Dif'Aet' SSeo - -
, Capital.
, Chiefly An Army Sport.
Since then the fencing clubs hay
. been maintained chiefly by officers 0
the army and navy. Fencing alwav
2 attracts some college students. too. 1
fact. many Of our swordsmen tooa
: are coIiege-trained men. But fencin
>. draws small crowds compared wit
2 lfootball and tennis. and this account
lpartly for the small number Of swords
I men developed by the colleges. ]
= continental Europe fencing tourna
' ments are backed by public interes
q champion teams go from place
lplace, as the tennis stars do, TO con
8 ipete in well attended matches.
}. In spite OF the slump in fencin
= In this country, we did get togethe
r enough good swordsmen to make up
team for the Antwerp Olympic Came
a The story goes that when this teaI
A won third place against the crac
). teams Of Europe. there was muc
] surprise. The captain of the Belg.a
D team came to Major f. w. Honey
: cutt. captain OF the Americans, an
2 asked if st could be true that tn
: American fencers had won from th
{ strong Danish. team Major Honey
e cutt said that il was true. "Ther
a please accept my most cordial con
d gratulations." said the Belgian "Yo
know, you Americans were not SUP
= posed 70 win from anybody"