DUELLING IN CUBA.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 246, 17 October 1929, Page 26

DUELLING IN CUBA.

LINGERS DESPITE LAW. CHALLENGE MADE IN SENATE. The Plaza de Armas passed into history as a duelling field some ten years ago when the Cuban Government ruled against settlement of differences between gentlemen on the "field of honour" and fmposed drastic punishment for violators. But the proud Wood of Cubans demands personal satisfaction for injuries or insults. Duelling remains, but is seldom heard of publicly. Cloaked figures continue to make their stealthy way through the still morning hours to isolated and .secluded spots near Havana, there to settle grievances by ball or blade. An automobile whisking through Havana streets in the very early morning hours may often convey a mortally wounded man from the "field of honour." Entrance into a hospital is under the guise of an operation; death under the report of septic poisoning. So it- is said. There is an occasional report of a duel in Havana newspapers, but not often. It is considered more expedient and sensible to ignore duelling than it is to trace down the protagonists and thereby open wide an official eye now slyly closed to sanguinary settlement of personal quarrels. Fencing academies flourish in Havana. Young niPii and old practise there for the express purpose of "keeping fit." One of the most efficient fencing schools in nil of Cuba is at the Havana Reporters' Club. Cuban reporters who are allowed the privilege of personal expression and considerable editorial comment in news stories, are often principals in encounters. Politicians may be classified second, for they often enter into heated argument on the street and elid in a palm strove with pistol or blade. Recently two Federal senators fought. The demand for personal satisfaction was entered on the floor of the Senate. The men are now on friendly terms and the police overlooked the incident.