DUELS IN GERMANY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1861, 22 September 1913, Page 5

DUELS IN GERMANY.

* MANY AFFAIRS OF HONOUR. OFFICERS' CONTESTS END IN DEATH. In the twentieth century the duel is still a thriving social institution in Germany. ■ Affairs of honour aro far more. numerous than tho newspapers would lead us to suppose. Only duels betwccin officers, which usually "end in tho death of one of the combatants, or between antagonists o<f 6omo note, get into tlic papers. Duelling in the army is really rare. The protests we hear in the Reichstag against the abuse of tlie duel in tho army usually have to do, not with a .fight, but with tho enforced resignation of some officer because he declined to light. In most cases he is a reserve officer; for a man who was resolved on moral or other grounds not to fi<{lit .a duel would hardly take tho trouble to 1 become an active offioer. In the caso of military duels the weapons aro generally pistols, and the affair must end very seriously for ono of the combatants, for the honour of the army canmot be satisfied with scratches and damaged shirt-cuffs such as might suffice for civilians. Indeed blood-letting is a feature of all German duels. Most of them aro not more dangerous than a bout with bare but blood must bo shed. Throughout the length and breadth of Germany all educated men are "capable" of demanding and giving satisfaction. Quite frequently they avail themselves of the privilego. Pistols and sudden death are by no means a necessary concomitant of tho duel, a fact, which probably accounts for its survival. what happens in most cases is a quarrel in a cafo between two gentlemen who have not been drinking coffee, and an exchange of abuse. Suddenly one of the pair , considers himself insulted and proffers his card. Tho other returns the compliment with gjreat dignity, and they separate. The next day the gentleman who reached first for his card-case must send a friend with a challenge, usually to sabres, to his opponent.

The Moasuro of Protection. A court of honour has to decide whether a fight is necessary and under what conditions. It decides probably that honour can only bo satisfied by a "severe" sabre Mensur. Tho two men meet, inflict shallow cuts on each other until tho doctor thinks as much blood as ho cares to answer for has been shed, and then shako hands. Honour is satisfied. Duels of "this kind aro of daily occurrence. They vary in gravity from the student Mensur, in which the combatants are so guarded and bandaged that they can only be cut about the cheeks and tho top of the head, to the "Mensur sine sine," in which the,two antagonists meot stripped to the waist and without any kind of protectio"". This description of duel is only allowed in the gravest cases, as a fatal wound may easily be given under such conditions, and one of tho objects of ihe courts of honour in settling civilian affairs of honour is to evoid explanations with the public prosecutor. Between the severe Mensur and the "Mensur sine sine" (that is, "without," bandages being understood) is .the "Mensur sine," in which only the. neck is bandaged so that the jugular artery Is protected. Honourable scars are the only result in the majority of cases. Probably the desire to possess them on the part of tho challenger is tho most frequent reason for such encounters. It is always easy to pick a quarrel, and extremely difficult for the challenged party, to. refuse satisfaction. Teuton and Scot Clash. Such a duel I recently witnessed in Berlin. The origin of the fight was typical. Two men who had never seen each other before sat at neighbouring tables drinking beer. Each was satisfied that the other eyed him in an impertinent way. Presently ono of them requested his neighbour to follow him outside. Tho invitation was accepted, and an explanation on tho subject of impertinent glances ensued which ended in an exchange of blows and cards. The man who had issued the invitation to leave the cafe was a German ; tho, other, who struck_ tho first blow, a Scot, much older, but in no wise anxious to get out of tho way of trouble. A few days afterwards the challenge to sabres was presented. It should have come within twenty-four hours, but the Scot, who was a generous soul, waived his right to decline on that ground, aud the matter came before the _ court of honour of a student corps with which the Scot was befriended.

Tho court called the two antagonists bofort' it, lectured them on tho impropriety of striking each other in such an unauthorisodi way, and decided that a severe Mensiir would meet tho exigencies. of the case. Both parties had time to train for the event, which, at the request of. tho Gorman, was postponed for two months. .On tho appointed day I accompanied the Scot to the field of honour. Tho fight was held in a room in a restaurant —a regular Studentenkneipe —in tho centre of Berlin. Duelling, even the harmless student Mensur ; is forbidden by law, so that the meeting-, place is theoretically secret, although it is impossible that the police 1 can be ignorant that fights take place in the beerhouses officially frequented by fighting "corps." Still, we had to make our way through innumerable passages and closed doors to reach tho room where the fights are held, so that if the police had taken it into their heads to raid tho place, we should have had time to reach tho street by a side ■ entrance before they could have laid hands on us. In the duelling-room an ordinary student Mensur was being fought out, both men bandaged beyond recognition _ and bleeding like stuck pigs, tho floor littered with bloody sawdust, and a ring of corps students, including a white-clad student of surgery, surrounding the oombatants and noting tho blows with' enthusiasm. By and by, tho surgeon intervened and the Mensur was over. Tho affair of honour was the next and crowning item of the programme. Tho duellists entered clad only in linen trousers. Each was solemnly invested with an impenetrable leather apron which covered him to half-way up the chest. Bandages of blaoh cloth, thick enough to turn a sabre cut, were wound round* their necks and tho elbows of their sword arms. Their seconds then placed them in position, each behind a chalk line which he must not cross, and the umpire warned them of tho gravity of what the.v were about to do. and appealed to them to be reconciled. This was n mero formality, both men declined courteously, and tho fight began. The weapons wero exceedingly sharp, pointless sabres. Five blows are allowed to a round. Cut and parry must follow instantlv, and it is a high' misdemenn'ourto "lanern," that is, to wa,it for the enemy to deliver his cut. and then attack before he has recovered. Each "Paukant" must deliver tho same number of blows, and there must bo no waiting for an advantage. In practice, the seconds, who stand as close as they can without getting in tho way of tho swords, strike up tho blades threo times out of four before tho statutory five blows have been delivered. Each Paukant, puts as much steam as he can into his slashes, and time and again, at tho end of tho round, tho attendant porter would takn ono of tho sabres with _ the word "Krumm," utterod in a voico that set tho room laughing, and bend it straight. Soma Blood Letting in Sixty Rounds, The first twenty rounds wero bloodless, and it began to look as if no damage would ever bo done. My Gorman friends, however, advised mo not to lose patience on that account, Thoy wore

right. Suddonlv blood appeared on the Scotsman's forenead, and immediately afterwards on tho German's. Tho latter was a huge and immensely powerful man of about twenty-five. The Scot, about fifteen years older and less vigorous, had- the disadvantage as. the smaller man of having tho shorter rcach, His cuts just reached the German, and no moro, while the .German was able comfortably to get homo on his enemy's face and shoulders. At about the fiftieth round the Scot received a cut on the sido of the nose. It was nothing in itself, and tho fight went on merrily with an occasional pause to adjust bandages at the request of the seconds, e!ich of whom looked with maternal caro after his man. Somo ton rounds later the Scot, to his huge annoyance, received a cut on tho other side of tho nose.

Tho men had now been fighting something like an hour and a half, and enough blood had stained the sawdust to wash out tho most indelible insult. Tho Scot's second whispered to tho surgeon. The latter nodded.' The second steppod forward, and addressing tho.umpire, announced that the surgeon considered that the Scot had lost too much blood to continue tho fight. Tho umpire gracefully acquiesced, and tho fight was declared over. The terms agreed upon had been till ono combatant was hors do combat. Tlie Scot was. not really badly hurt, but another cut on the noso would have meant tho loss jf that useful organ, and there must ue reason in all things, so the doctor 'utervened. Tho enemies shook hands, and repaired together to an upstairs room, where the surgeon washed and sewed up their wounds in a horrible atmosphere of blood and arnica. Neither man took, any harm from the experience.

On the whole, the impression one took away from the duelling-room was that the challenger went into tho affair moro from a desiro to fight and earn a few scars than to salvo his injured honour. Ho was a reservo officer, and should, properly speaking, after blows had been exchanged, have challenged the Scot to pistols; but 'his remissness was overlooked, as no ono is very anxious to bo a helper in bringing about fatal encounters. As it was, he was ab!o to give himself all tho airs of a doughty warrior at the expense of. probably not. more blood than a longshoreman . or teamster would shed in the course of a trilling altercation with a friend at any time, and ho ran practically no moro risk. There ifl no pain in these affairs until tho surgeon's needlo gets to work. The sharpened edge of tho sabre cuts without hurting, and the doctor is always there to call a halt :f things begin to look serious.—New York. "Post."