| Show i f 11 lip DUELS DUE ad S ON LAND AND WATER strange weapons that have been chosen to decide deadly quarrels Qu arrela and conditions that have caused the challengers to withdraw from time immemorial duels have been fought in every land under the gun sun premeditated combats have taken place between two persona persons for the purpose of deciding some private difference or quarrel and have been fought with deadly weapons and with a purpose to take life the challenger haa has gone generally rally been one who was confident that he could borst worst his adversary with pistol or sword but there have been many instances where mon goaded to des pe aeration per atlon ration by persecution or slander have bave challenged tle ones who made life unbearable ablo even when they fi felt it that the chances were against thorn them but like the man who meditates suicide they felt it was the easiest way to end their troubles however in most cases duelists are either selfish or wantonly thoughtless for the duji duil 1st values his honor above the life 0 of f hie his antagonist his owr life and the happiness of his family in france and germany dueling enjoys a certain amount of popularity although the laws forbid it and until a half century ago a fight with swords or pistols between prominent men in this country who wished to bottle settle a contention was by no means runcorn mon and a description of several of these incidents occupies many pages of american history the invariably resulted fatally for one and sometimes for both of the combatants so that dueling became exceedingly unpopular with americans duels have been fought not only with all kinds of weapons but in various other ways some of them under the most dramatic circumstances and with the most tragic results the methods emp employed loed have been most original ome have been fiendish with the outcome utterly hopeless for either duelist davy crockett frontiersman indian fighter and congressman was once challenged to mortal combat by a famous duelist in washington crocketts bravery was unquestionable but the odds were against him with sword or pistol for the skill of the challenger with either weapon was world renowned however crockett accepted and being the challenged party had the right to name his choice of deap ons he ile had gone into the wilderness on numerous occasions and anda with his brawn and a sharp axe had cleared hundreds of acres of timber land his ills prowess with the was fa millar to everybody and when he chose broadaxes as dueling weapons his challenger hastily apologized to him then what might have been a famous duel was averted crockett rAgar regarded ded his would be antagonist as a coward and he proved it the hero of the broa daxe a few years later fought to the death with a little band of brave men in the alamo of whom it was written marathon had hr messenger of defeat the alamo had none the moral of this incident Is obvious A few years ago two swedes went out upon a railroad track in a cut in the mountains of pennsylvania and fought until an express train killed them both saw the approaching and taunted each other to cou coa dinue fighting where they were they battled to the death daniel 0 connell e son wai chal chat ledged by an english student to fight ho ile went to hie father the great emancipator and asked what he should do the father advised him to acre accept pt to choose pistols the cond conditions of the fight to be that facing each other and toeing a mark abay should placa plaes the muzzles of the ills is tola in each others mouth and upon the word from a referee they should fire simultaneously when young 0 connells conditions we ere rc made known the bullying britou briton declined to fight two expert swimmers whose reputations are international engaged in a hot argument one night several years aeo ago at a beach near boston and a novel duel was tho result they agreed to swim at midnight out to sea lo 10 the rays of the moonlight no to boats boal ts to follow until one or the other became exhausted they salim swim several miles and the boston swimmer towed bis his adver ad verry ery back to the beach and restored M to con less than tea years ago two locomotive engine engineers err in texas who had bad several petty differences which they wished to settle decided upon a moat most original duel taking two engines they went out upon a plain on ion the same track and when halt half a mile lay them they whIst whistled lec for the of hostilities opened the throttle wide and burand their locomotives at each other with tremendous IP in a few seconds there waa was a frightful crash the boilers exploded and iha ilia waa wits heard board f for miles attric attracting ting a large crowd to the scene it was found that the two to engines had collided and that the two engi engineer neen had been killed I 1 ahe he ab sence bence of firemen in the locomotives brought out the fact tha a duel had taken place 10 capt Casten tenus barnum e nal tattooed man who died a few years ago engaged in a peculiar duel many years ago Casten tenus was a greek and in early life belonged to a crew of pi pl rates which operated in the aegean sea When pirating ili oved hazardous on account of cruising war vessels he ile bad had himself tattooed from head hea d to foot caine over to america and be came a very popular freak during his career as a buccaneer he became enamored of a very pretty birl girl daughter of the mate of the bLick black flag craft which he commanded but he had a rival under oaths which bound then them together they could not fight and so they appealed to the girls father to decide their respective claims upon his daughters daughter a hand the father knew Casten tenus and his rival as desperate men and so he resolved upon a desperate method to teat test their loe loie for his daughter he ile outlined his proposition to them and boch accept ed one night he went into the small forecastle and set a barrel of sulphur ablaze and then bordere I T both men to go down into tho the stifling stiffing gases and to remain there for ten minutes I 1 ley did a an ho he directed and upon the ex pir atlon of hat time he signaled the lovers to come forth Casten tenus who was fi i man of re physical poa powers ers groped and staggered up the companionway to the deck bearing on his shoulders the limp and unconscious form of his ri val Casten tenus was nas bleeding aiom the eyes ears and nose when he got into the fresh air he swooned lie ile revived an hour later but alu rival rial passed into the great beyond he ile had lived but a few moments after being carried out by the tattooed man the woman for whom the great sacrifice was mas made never married for she was as taken sick and died in a few f e w weel s there have been electrical duels duels with poison wherein two rivals have dared each other to quaff a deadly dra draught tight at a specified time and early last month two tao boston long sh engaged in a conflict that was decidedly novel noiel to say the least the of the battle in which they engaged has only just come to light B d blood had existed between these two bons of toll toil and they con eluded to settle bettie their differences both were fine specimens of that type of hardy manhood which la Is employed in loat loading lIng and unloading the great ocean I 1 liners men who settle their troubles at fisticuffs which fact makes this incident all the more startling and interesting one night the went down upon the new york new england docks at south boston and removing their clothing they plunged into the waters at south bay and proceeded to drown drawn each other they battled for at least twenty minutes during which time the results were about even when suddenly one seized the other by the neck and bagan to strangle him at the same time both sank be ath the surface how many feet they went down Is not to be recorded but the strangler becoming exhausted rose to the surface A moment later the apparently lifeless body of his adver sary made its appearance in the dim lights cast upon the waters by tho the distant electric lamps the victor realized that his deadly work was accomplished the strife at an end thoughts of arrest for murder the electric chair crowded upon bis his mind and bis his almost benumbed senses were quickened he grasped his vie vic urn tim and shouted lustily for assistance A party returning in u c after a pleasant days outing in the harbor his cries and reached both men jut just in the nick of time they were taken into the boat and ann after artificial respiration had been applied for a I 1 time they were restored to conscious ness after a bracer or two of brandy they were put ashore at the public landing on long 1 ng wharf and arm in arm started for their homes A email small paragraph ape appeared arcO in the morning par which stated that two men were rescued by a yachting party and cared tor for until they were able to go home but there had been a duel in the dark waters 0 of bonton harbor the night before the fourth he ile who would bavo have been a murderer became a life u baver his magnanimity has been recognized by the man who might have left him to hie his fate had bad bo he been as in th t terrible Cou the other and nod now both vow etral friendship |
