“To the Death!”—Duels of today

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1076, 13 September 1930, Page 18

“To the Death!” —Duels of today

BMjg-nAWN and two men stripped to the waist, pointing swords at each ifMVWrfjH “Engage!” commands one of a S rou P standing beneath a tree. Immediately, the two swords slither against each other. Thrust, parry, guard and counter-thrust follow in rapid succession. The two lighters eye each other with deadly intent. They step cautiously in the soft earth, each striving for some advantage. It suggests a scene from the eighteenth century, when duelling was in" its hey-day. Actually it is one which is happening more and more frequently in France. Germany, and even England, today (writes Wm. J. Makin, novelist and traveller, in ■Pearson’s”). Many people will be astonished to learn that the duel, in secret, still persists. That men should prefer to settle disputes in such deadly fashion, particularly after the experience of the shambles of the Great War, appears incredible. Yet more than one affair of honour has recently been settled in this fashion. it has been suggested that the modern young man shrinks from a combat with fists. It is, to him, brutal and uncivilised. That he is not lacking in a determination to avenge insults, however, is proved by the

number of secret duels that now take place. An average of five duels are fought in or near Paris every month. It is still a commonplace for some prominent French citizen to receive regularly a challenge to mortal combat.

Sometimes these affairs never progress any farther than the exchange of furiously polite letters. But they have also reached the stage of a meeting at the Parc des Princes, a famous Parisian duelling field, or some less celebrated spot. German students of the old universities are also continuing the practice of duelling in secret. Despite the edict of the Government forbidding these affairs, the Kabelmensur, or insult duel, still takes place. Special protection for the eyes and the arteries of the neck is permitted by etiquette in these German duels. But it is rarely that one of the affairs ends without a good deal of blood-letting and permanent scars on the faces of students. Aerial Fight to a Finish Even in England, duelling is not unknown. There was a futile and theatrical affair at one of the universities as recently as two years ago. This duel was hushed up as promptly and as effectively as possible. There are, of course, enough violent combats taking place daily to provide the recorder of duels and duellists with

a sufficiency of exciting material. The fights between rival gangsters of Chicago, the apache knife duels in the slums of Paris, and the fierce vendettas of Corsica —these are duels of a kind but rarely controlled by any gentlemanly etiquette. In Mexico, and certain States of South America, the duel persists in a particularly horrible form. Each combatant is handed a long thonged whip, the kind used to drive a whole team of oxen and horses.

The two duellists, whip in hand, circle slowly round each other. A twitch of the wrist, and the lash flashes toward the eyes. One flick of this deadly thong, and the flesh is seared horribly. It can blind a man as quickly and as effectively as a bullet. The men who work, drink and fight on the estancias are particularly adroit with this weapon. The negro is a sinister duellist. I can recall a night in a hovel in Capetown. A group of half-castes were gambling in shillings with a filthy pack of cards. The only light in this odorous little room was from five candles stuck in bottles on the floor. I was a passive observer of this scene in the African underworld. One hardly realised that a dispute had begun over the cards. A quieter and more deadly quarrel between two men I had never witnessed. It was only when one of the half-castes deliberately drew a razor from his pocket and thrust out a hand toward the man whom he claimed had cheated that I realised a duel had begun. And rather than have this combat displayed in the light, one of the other gamblers swept the candles out with one blow of his hand. The duel that followed in the darkness was terrifyingly silent and smelly. Heavy breathings, the stench of sweating bodies, and a squirming mass of arms and legs were my impressions at the moment. I escaped from the hovel as quickly as I could. I had no desire to see the end of that duel. I only discovered the next day that both combatants had been taken to hospital suffering from razor slashes on arms and legs. Razor blades, but of the safety variety, were the weapons used in a duel between two natives in Northern Rhodesia. These blades were anything but safe in the manner with which they had been utilised. They had been collected patiently from white settlers, and then stuck into the ends of wooden clubs, or knobkerries. The two natives went for each other, whirling their clubs. It was discovered afterwards that this affair of honour concerned the possession of a scraggy bullock which would not have been worth £2 if marketed in Livingstone. And the frightful duel to decide ownership was fought in the presence of the chief and the whole tribe. Unfortunately, both combatants died from the wounds they inflicted on each other. The bullock was therefore claimed by the chief. In the bush or jungle, however, a duel is easily arranged. It is a much more difficult affair in Europe. A man who makes a corpse of his opp.onent may have to answer to a charge of murder. That, perhaps, is the reason why duels fought in the heart of civilisation are rarely fatal. Even in France, the penalties are severe. The days when Englishmen who quarrelled could cross the Channel and decide the affair like gentlemen on the beach are ended,