The Coolidge examiner., 1937-03-04
Bob&49as
DdVi/A2 "
Mcum5Ez
Tales from Vancouver Island;
The Duelling Pistols


~ in the city of Dublin, Dan
iel O'Connell, distinguished
among the Irish liberators,
made a public speech denounc-
ing the Dublin corporation, vio-
lently anti-Catholic, as beg
carly group" organized for the
destruction of Irish ideals in
Erin's struggle for independ-
ence.
Although the broadside, in COM
parison with O'Connelrs usual ex-
plosions, was regarded as some
what mild, one D'Esterre, a mem
ber of the Dublin corporation, chal-
lenged the Liberator to meet him
on the field of honor So definite
and provocative was the challenge
that O'Connell had no option other
than to accept, pistols being the
weapons.
The meeting took place in Phoe-
nix park with the result that DIES
terre received a bullet through the
bladder. O'Connell, desiring only to
wound his antagonist, had deliber-
ately fired low, but the shot proved
fatal; D'Esterre died within forty
eight hours. Despite the sensation
that ensued, friends and families
of the deceased declined to prose-
cute, and the affair, which happened
at the very peak of O'Conneu's ca
reer, was dismissed from the public
tongue.
Not so, however, from the men,
ory of the survivor, who, in his
heart, felt a deep remorse to the
end of his days.
Patriot Makes Amends.
Some years later, O'Connell, hear
ing that Mrs. D'Esterre was in
volved in a lawsuit, threw up two
lucrative briefs, went down to Cork.
pleaded her suit and won. for which
he took no reward.
In after years, whenever he
passed the house of D'Esterre, he
was observed to lift his hat, while
his lips moved as if in prayer. The
Liberator, whose declining years
were fraught with pain and illness,
died, 1847, in Genoa, Italy, while
on his way to the Vatican. His will
bequeathed his body to Ireland and
his heart to the Eternal city. The
former is enshrined in the Gene
terry of Glasnevian outside Of Dub
lin, the latter in crypt near the
| tomb of Lascaris. in the Church
of st. Agatha, Rome.
After lapse Of more than a CEN
tury it would seem that the O'Con-
nell-D'E Esterre affair had been en-
tirely forgotten. Perhaps it might
have been but for the arrival in
Victoria, B. c., shortly before the
World war of a Major Wheeler.
Pistols Travel Overseas.
While in Victoria Major Wheeler
met James G. Yates, from whom
he borrowed a sum of money that
because of reverSeS he could not
return. For the debt Mr.. Yates ac-
cepted as payment in full pair Of
muzzle-loading dueling pistols with
the necessary appurtenances, a ii
snugly packed in an oak case bear
ing on a small silver plaque the
name ALEX Cockburn, Esq"
In 1914 Yates, with his family,
moved from Victoria to Comox, on
the eastern shore of Vancouver is
land, where l found him and learned
the startling sequel to the duel
fought 121 years ago.
With the Alex Cockburn weapons
lying between us, snug in the velvet
recesses of the historic oak box
from which they were last brought
forth to defend the honor of O'Con-
nell and D'Esterre, Yates finished
the story to which the preceding
paragraphs are but an introduction.
After taking up our home here
in Comox, where 1 brought the pis-
tolls received from Major Wheeler,
we soon became acquainted with
the residents, among them the
D'Esterre family, owners of the Elk
hotel, headquarters of tourists who
come from all over the world to fish
for the Tyee salmon that are so
plentiful in Comox bay.
Family Receivers Weapons.
Zone day my daughter, in con-
versation with S. B. w. d 'Esterre,
asked if he knew anything about
dueling pistols, volunteering the in
| formation that on the inside lid of
a box of weapons in my possession
there was written reference to a
De Destee (sic), who had lost his
| life.
Mr.. Yates stopped abruptly,
whilst I read aloud the inscription.
MIR. Stephen DEsterre reported
the matter to his brother, Lieut.
Col. J. c. E. D'Esterre, who called
upon me and asked to see the
weapons" continued Mr.. Yates.
"When 1 opened the box, disclosing
the weapons, he turned deadly
pale. After examining both with
the utmost care, he admitted that
he and his brothers had ransacked
|