SOME TEUTONIC STUDENTS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1904, 11 June 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

SOME TEUTONIC STUDENTS.

».+4 — All About The Fighting Corps.

From the time that tho average German youth enters the gymnasium, aa the preparatory echool is called, until he has prepared himself for the university, his leisure momenta are spent in dreaming of the good old time he will havo when, once entered upon hia university course.

It it a v/ell-known fact that the majority of Gorman students attend tho Heidelberg University solely for the fun there le in it. This is, perhaps, putting it ft little strong, but nevertheless it i 3 true. The university life of the average student may be looked upon aa one ooafouuous dream of case, beer, einoke, and, with seme, duelling. Now, it ia no easy matter to " loai" as fc'io German does. Wo shall take the ca?e of a German who haa a fair amount of money to spend, and who bas entered tbe U/iirersity and identified hiojpelf with a fighting oorpd, and endeavor to chow what his liio would bs. There are a great many lighting corps p.t Heidelberg, and the fctlirsg manifested between them ia about the B&nie as that of different college fraternities on this side the ec<\, noly much stronger. From the timo of his initiation ths young man ia expected by his comraiieu, and evpryono else in fact, to fi.^ht & certain nunabsr of duel>3 a year, 'drink beer, emoko, fl'rt with every pretty girl he mebis— in fact, do everything but study. The German student ia "very fly." He does not recognise hia best friend in the street if he is a member oi E/nother fighting corps — in fsict, he ignores all but members of hia particular corpo. He wear* a little cap, called a " mutze," which ia rnueh too small for his head, arid after having won in a certain number of duels he ia allowed the privilege of wearing a strip of ribbon aorosg his breast. This ribbon eignifies that he has fought tho allotted number of duels and is now exempt from duty, he cac, however, offor himself as a candidata and fight again. Tha students glory in their scars, aud love to purade the streets where every one oan gizo at them.

Possibly you msy think it necessary that Borne one be insulted in order to arranga a duel. Bat you are very much mistaken ; the nff iir ia arranged very sadly. At certain times daring the year the head 3of different ccxps meet and a conversation something like this ensuca :

" We have f^ur members who are ready and willing io n",;ht. If you v, ill match thiru and set the day vva will ba glao."

Tho day is promptly arranged, and the two corps mast at tho duelling ground, which io in a house on the bank of the Neekar.

The eight there is a strange one. A large room, with table* around the wall filled students, drinking, Gating, and ssrokinj?, bat conversing only with members of tbci? own oi pi. A Burgeon is ou band to attend to the dueilista should they -oeed hira. Tho firat duel ia aunounctd, and the contestants appear ; Ihey prorent a very comical sight. Tfcoy are padded from the head down, and have goggles ovar their eyes ; the eara are also covered by a band passing about tho head, pre:sliig them fist.

The sworda they uaa arc long, slender, and very phable. They aro sharpened on both edgeß. and are liko r-..zors for keenness. At a given sign tbe fighters begin to rain blows upon each other co rapidly that one oan hardly see tbo sword?. Tneir fighting ia Eometimea very skilful, and it requires a groat nerve to stand up and have blows showered upon one'a head. Should either of the fighters retreat a step, or try to avoid a blow except by parrying with h : 3 weapon, hG would instantly be hissed off tho floor in disgrace. It h the custom to light until tho curgeon oonsidois one of tha. £ighl?xg sufficiently hacked.

Some of the wounds arc very p.HJBfal, and the fighters display great fortitude while under the suifgQon's hands.

A certain tbeologioßl student, who was studying because his family wished him to become a minister, juined a fighting corps and tried to receive a wound which would prevent him from occupying a pulpH. Ho puocceded very well, for in hia first duel he lost tbe tip cud of his nose. It ia Eaid that he actually oried for joy when the surgeon informed him tbat he would bo dipfiqured for life. During the timo that the fighting is going on, the students at the tablfa have besn calmiy drinking and eating, hardly earing to see how the duel progresses- The German student is proud of his wounds, and often pours claret in them in order to tnako the Gc&rs more prominent.

The^o is a law aqainat duelling, but ifc is seldom enforced, though occ&RioaalJy some or.o is arrested ; but it is a mero farce, a3 he ia allowed to go to the prison, or "karcer," whenever it euita hia convenience.

So much for the c'uellißi, Now for tho essy-going, care-freed loafer of the university. lid does not trouble his head wivh duelling. Ob, nol He spends hia time in tha " kneipe" playing the German national card game, " scat," and driakinghie beer. There ere laany queer customs connected with beer-drinking, and a word or two abou*! a few of them may prove interesting. Whenever a student ot the "kneipo" happens to forget to close tho lid of his beer mug, the otheis quickly seize the opportunity to place their rnuge upon his, and be is ob jged to fettle for the crowd bs a penalty for his negligence. Frequently the mugs are piled up so high that it is ceoessary for the la?t man to stand upon the table Jn order to reach tbe top.

Sjmetimea tbe students appoint a man from their number to act as referee in a beer-driaking contest. At a given signal all Btand up, gulp their beer down a% rapidly aa possible, taking care, however, not to leave a drop in their mugs — then they all whistle. The last man to whialie pays for tbe crowd. The referee ia generally tho " beer king" — that is, the ono who can drink the most. Some students drink from twenty to thirty nniga an evening and go home little the worse for it.

On warm Bnmmer nights crowds ol students oan be seen at the concerts in the gardens of tbe castlo, as usual, drinking and smoking their long pipes filled with strong tobaooo. Others spend the evening on the Neckar in little fiat-bottomed boats, singing and shouting, for the average German student ia not happy unless making a great noise.

It seems strange tbat a training like thi3 should be beneficial, end yet it baa made Buoh men as Bismarck, Von Moltke, and many other men oi note in Germany.

A talent, often litsle thought of, is the power of making othera happy. All have this, inoie or less, and he who haa it, in however small a measure, will have to give account for bis nee of it. None are bo poor or so desolate, or so much aloae, thai ethers are not in some measure dependent upon them for their happiness. Every day, some- | times every hour o£ the day, we may drop a little seed of pleasure or good along their path, and it will epnng up and grow, and sweet flowers will blossom by the way ; one fiowßr will bring another, one kind deed or word will bring another. Or, on the other hand, the seeds may be scattered from which thorns grow, and one thorn will bring another, and that another, and so on till the ' way is strewed with thorns, when it might just as easily have been strewed with flowers.

A remarkable spot »o Vermont ia the farming town of Waliham, which contains 9,760 acres of land, and bas 24S inhabitants. It has no pest-offiae, church, townhouse, poorhouae, store, lawyer, doctor, blaoksmith'e shop, or even a bridge, and yet itia one of the thriving towns of Addieon county. Its taxea are merely nominal ■

At Hamburg giraffes sell at one thousand pounds a pair and ohimpanzees go at L l6O apiece.

Fabulously rich gold mines have (a Washington telegram says) been discovered in the Monte Cri3to mining district, and solid bodioa of gold are paid to be lyicg c-xposici. The deposit is stated to bs ionr hundred fees long.