The Washington times., 1936-11-25
MISSES FIRST,
SHOOTS NO. !;
SEVEN LEFT
Budapest DueHist t
Tells of Battle;
Wife Worried

BUDAPEST, Nov. IS 0.N.S0. .
DR.. Franz Sargas, Hungary's mara
thon duellist, still has seven more
"affaires d'honneur" to get off his
chest and yet another eight chal-
lenges pending, and the outcome
of the first two clashes indicates
that the chivalrous doctor has a
long life ahead Of him.
An apology was the result of the
first; a light pistol wound in
the right arm Of his adversary the
finale Of the other, both chalked
up as victories for the honor of
the doctor, who fought because of
money,marriage charges.
DR.. Sargas was elated, although
slightly irritated over further de-
lays today, caused by difficulties
with his opponents seconds over
the time, place, and manner that
the next duels should have.
No DuelS Today
He instructed his seconds to ar
range the remaining affairs as
quickly as possible, but he sorrow
fully commented there will prob
ably be none today.
One more pistol duel and six
Saber-Swinging bouts are on the
schedule, DR.. SargaS hoping to
complete the pistol affair first,
then run off the saber battles
quickly.
Telling of his first two, DR.. sar-
gas said:
my first opponent was DR..
Ladar HOsmetz Of the Bank Of
Hungary, We stood at distance
Of Is PAGES, while our seconds
searched us for pOcketbOOks, Gig
arctic cases, and other articles
likely to deflect bullets.
eve also had to turn up our
coat collars, so our white shirt
collars would not make target,
REFUSE RECONCILIATION
I'VE both refused our seconds
requests for a reconciliation.
81 felt very calm. / really had
no intention of hurting this Op-
ponent, because he was guilty
Of only a slight Offense against
my wife and myself,
"After we both missed, DIR.
HOsmetx came and said, 4 apOl'
ogize, Let US be good friends
again / embraced him and we
warmly shook hands.
"He dropped back into the
darkness, and out stepped my
second adversary, DIR. Alexander
K0vaCS, also q bank empl0ye.
"KOVacS was one of my very
serious enemies. He probably
hates me, because he was once
in love with my wife when she
was still a girl.
FIRST SHOT HIT
"My first shot him him. He is
q left-handed man. and the
bullet seemed to hit him in the
knuckleS of his pistol hand,
then bury itself in his arm. He
cried out and stumbled, while
his surgeon rushed to him. We
all jumped into our cars and
rushed away, for the shooting
was attracting a crowd.
81 wish / had killed KOvaCS.
I'm sorry 1 didn't succeed"
One of the reasons, duelling ex,
pertS commented, probably was
that the pistols traditionally used
in duels are relatively harmless,
ancient muzzle-l leaders.
The clash occurred in a stub
hlefield, a few miles from Buda-
pest. The group met at rem
devious beside the Danube and
motored to the duelling ground.
Fought 1t Before
Dr.. Sargas said he had fought
II duels before these episodes,
only two of the earlier ones with
pistols.
Nine, Magda Sargas, his blonde
young wife, revealed that she
learned of the intended duels
only through the newspapers.
When her husband was about
to leave for the first affairs, she
said, Il cried and rushed after
him in q last attempt to stop him."
II thought he was going to his
death. but he calmly explained
that the duelS must be fought in
my interest.
IT went into the house and
waited in an agony of fears. I
took medicine to calm my nerves
and smoked endless cigarettes. But
at last my husband ran in to tell
me he was unhurt."