DUEL BETWEEN WOMEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 124, 26 May 1900, Page 5 (Supplement)

DUEL BETWEEN WOMEN.

AMERICAN SENORITAS FIGHT WITH

SWORDS.

Details of a duel in which the principals and seconds were women prominent in Mexican society have just come to light. One woman was so seriously wounded that a surgeon had to be called and this led to the arrest of the participants. The duel grew out of a love affair.

Rafael Riquelme went to a fashionable hall several nights ago, accompanied by Senorita Marta Duran, a belle of the city of Mexico. Senorita Juana Luna, to whom Riquelme had been paying marked attention, also attended the ball, she saw Senorita Duran in the company of Rafael. Her Mexican blood surged in a passion. She confronted Senorita Duran, and after a quarrel challenged her rival. The challenge was accepted and the next morning the two women and four seconds drove in two carriages to a vacant lot near the Romita outskirts of the city. The rivals stripped off their waists and the signal for the encounter was given.

The first round was bloodless. In the second round Senorita Diiran was aggressive, while her opponent'acted on the defensive. Senorita Duran's terrific thrusts began to tell upon her strength and then Senorita Luna, who had been waiting for her adversary to tire herself, took advantage of her weariness and made a savage lunge at her breast. She inflicted an ugly wound, but Senorita Duran again faced her and received a scratch on the cheek. Ip. the third round Senorita Duran was weak from the loss of blood. Senorita Luna inflicted a wound on her sword arm. ' She dropped her weapon and the duel was over. The women kissed and the vanquished one in true chivalry fashion renounced Roquelme.

The seconds placed the wounded woman in a carriage and drove her home. Her condition became so serious that a physician was called in. Under the Mexican law no physician is permitted to treat a wounded person without an order from the authorities. The ciae was presented to the police inspector and an investigation brought out the facts. Senorita Duran was taken to Juares Hospital and the other five persons were arrested and placed in solitary confinement at Belem.