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Show NOVEL DMH FIGHTS. Some Queer and Usually Satisfactory Methods of Settling Disputes in the West. DUELLING WITH HOWITZERS. A Mortal Combat Beneath the World-Death World-Death as Dealt Out by Reckless Reck-less Men. 1 The riata duel is not ft new thing on the Mexican frontier. Indeed, there is hardly a big cattle range anywhere that has not its gtoriea of hard fights with the lasso. Such duels are bound to he fierce. But so skillful and quick do those rope throwers become that such a duel not nnfrequently lasts for hours. Probably the best remembered fight of this sort was that between a Texan, known as Kid Long, and a little Mexican Mexi-can who was only spoken of as "Gabilan" hawk on the great Lievrerango. They ' circled around each other, dodging the rapid throws from 10 in the morning until after sunset. When the horses had almost given out the Texan threw at his adversary, who threw back so that his nooee passed right over the other man's lasso and hand and caught him fair round the neck and under tbe armpit. In almost no time Kid was out of his addle and being dragged over the ground at a rate that knocked the life out of him before he had gone a hundred yards. The west, during its wild and woolly days, and the Mexican frontier nave had many remarkuble duels. KING OF THE CAMP. That between "Parmer" Peel and a soldier, near one of the forts in Utah, is among the classics of the field of honor or what has answered fur that in tho cow towns and mining camp. Tbe . weapons wore rifles, revolvers and bowie knives. The men principals wore placed on opposite sides of a hillock, around ' which ran a road, and started to meet. The curve of the hill prevented their seeing see-ing one another until they were within hundred yards. As soon as they saw one another both fired. Though part of the rim of Peel's hat was cut off, and the soldier's sleeve was pierced, noither was hurt. Then they pulled their pistols pis-tols and advanced, firing. Both dropped badly wounded when Jess than twenty yards separated them. They lay there squirming and shooting until both had emptied their weapons. Peel was desperately des-perately hurt and his adversary had one ball through the stomach and several others distributed all over his anatomy. When they could shoot no more they lay for a short time swearing. Then Peel, who was so badly hurt that he could not advance even on his hands and knees, began to wriggle toward the fallen soldier. He pulled himself along with his elbows, and with his one uninjured hand finished the soldier with his bowie knife. Farmer Peel already had the biggest private graveyard of any man in the vicinity. This encounter spread his fame all over the coast, and when he went over to Nevada he received everywhere every-where the homage of lesser lights. i DUELING IN COMSTOCK MINE. I. They have lots of deadly encounters up there on the Comstock. There was one a number of years ago fought over half a mile under ground. According to the evidence given at the inquest by the survivor, the two miners were working alone in a drift They were rivah over the affections of a woman, and in a quarrel quar-rel one made a drive at the other with his candlestick. A minor's candlestick consists of a metal socket attached to a sharp steel spike, so that it can be stuck in the face of the drift anywhere. The second miner defended himself with his candlestick, and there, thousands of feel tinder the ground, they wrestled aud stabbed antil one's life was gone. As they did not come up when they should have gone off shift others went down in search of thorn. They found one dead , and the other unconscious through loss of blood. The jury, of course, had to take the survivor's story of the affair, and he was acquitted. A strange duel was fought in a sparsely settled part of Sonora, Mexico, abont fifteen years ago. Capt. Villenueva and a lieutenant of a battery of light artillery artil-lery belonging to one of the posts had some trouble about whe was the best shot with the mountain howitzers. They quarreled and agreed to settle it with the howitzers at COO yards. They took neither seconds nor assistant gunners, gun-ners, but from the top of small hillocks they fired explosive shells at one another. an-other. The captain was wounded by a fragment of a shell, but they fired ton shots before either was disabled, though each was covered with dust. Finally the captain landed a shell fairly under his adversary's gun and the explosion so mangled the lieutenant that ho died before be-fore thoy could remove him to the post. AN APACHE SNAJEB VIOUT. 1 A little blind canyon in the Siena Jlaflre used to furnish the Apaches with the means of formally settling their disputes. dis-putes. This gulch is fairly alive with rattlesnakes. When two bncks hod a quarrel that they did not winii to sottle off hand they repaired to this gulley, and while the remainder of the tribe stood around and watched from the . hills on either Bide the combatants went together to where tho serpents were thickest. There stark naked and weaponless weap-onless they would wrestle. This would wake up every rattler in the glen. The aim of each was to force the other on to the angry snakes. It was not unusual for both to be bitten while they struggled strug-gled and rolled around among the rocks. Each was bound to remain and wrestle as long as his adversary had life or trength enough to struggle with him. : A most remarkable duel was fought at Las Camitas, N. M., many years ago. An under sized stranger came to the town and picked a quarrel with "Handsome "Hand-some Harry," a gambler renowned as a dead shot. They got out Into the road and both fell mortally wounded. It was discovered that the stranger was a woman, wom-an, and though she never spoke after he fell the story became known that he was a sister of a girl whom "Handsome "Hand-some Harry" had wronged years before. San Francisco Examiner. |