Evening Star Newspaper, November 17, 1929, Page 105

o . THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NOVEMBER 17,_ 1020.__ R S Sy S France Goes Back 10 the O /Z—}MSIZMEI The Good Old Way of Avenging an Insult by Sword and Pistol Combat Again Finds Favor Abroad, and an Average of Five Such Affairs Are Held Near Paris Every Month. BY MINOTT SAUNDERS. HILE the good people of Gas- cony are preparing to erect a fitting monument to one of the greatest of their native sons, d’Artagnan, hero of French schoolboys immortalized by Dumas, men of France fired by the old traditions are still fight- ing duels in something of the d’Artagnan way. Despite Hague Courts and lmitation of arma- ment conferences, chivalry is not dead and in Politicians and highly respected statesmen were continually being involved in affairs of honor, and not infrequently the welfare of the state hung in the balance, as it has done in American history. ‘This phase has passed in France. No longer does a Deputy, heckled in the Chamber, feel that he must respond to oratorical abuse with Qual d'Orsay without personally answering challenges on the so-called field of honor. In the thick of the fight. swords and pistols, But there was & time, within living memory, Dueling has becen definitely forbidden by uv:un—):hmyhpomnthadwmk law in France for several generations and very e and Mmb to keep their position. A notable little gets about these days of such “affaires example i3 Georges Clemenceau, war-time Olub, which comprises heads of old aristocratic Nowadays the total number of fights every yeap d’honneur.” With: something of a surprise, premier and virulent journalist, who was al- famiiies and many of the wealthiest men in the is estimated well below 100, while no death iy therefore, was received the recent public state- ways ready #o back up his bitter words with country, met with swords and ome was badly known to have resulted from a French duel fop ment of J. Joseph Renaud, suthor, swordsman & sword no less sharp. damaged, but the whole affair was held in such over iwo years, and noted referee in duels, that an average of five duels are conducted in or near Paris every month and that almost dally challenges to mmortal combat are being settled, with honor satisfied, by chosen officials and seconds outside the law courts. “Certainly the duel endures,” says M. Renaud emphatically. “It has never actually ceased. In July, I was a witness to two of seven en- eoounters of which I know about; ome with - in the interests of national unity, A'r outbraak of the war, dueling In France was abandoned by tacit consent, There was & more serious business against a common These photographs are of actual French duels. Here is the referee, in the presence of the seconds, “squaring off” the combatants. swords and one with pistols. ‘The first re- sulted in several wounds on both sides, while the second was without injury, although the pistols were charged and the conditions were strict.” These duels, M. Renaud explains, are intimate affairs conducted at the Parc des Princes, long celebrated as a dueling ground, but more often in private places, and he added that the press is not supposed to mention a duel unless it is over a newspaper article. Since romantie French journalists of old were in self-defense obliged to keep their sword as sharp, in ratio, as the point of their pen, the profession still respects the accepted laws of dueling. "MANY offenses cannot be taken before the tribunals, either because of their intimate character or because of the law,” says M. Renaud in justifying the continuance of the ancient custom. “The law punishes severely offenses against property, but is exceedingly Indulgent with offenses against persons. Steal & watch and you go to prison., Commit out- rages, verbal or written, against some one’s character—50 francs fine. “It is better to challenge to duel than to re- sort to fisticuffs, and infinitely more cowardly to send a bullet into the turned back of the offender. Principally because the offended party has the right to choose the weapons and make the conditions of the encounter. Also because, while the smaller man would have little chance in pugilism, his chances are as good as another’s in a duel. “And let us not forget that nine times out of ten the affair is arranged pacifically by the seconds. Thus every one’s honor is placated. I have seen vendettas which have képt families at war for long years terminated with four shots—often without a wound—or with the thrust of a rapier, which very rarely kills. “It is a fact that today we exchange many more offenses without taking action than be- fore the war,” Renaud adds, lamenting tha passing of the old days, “perhaps because we are less well bred.” In pre-war days dueling had become some- u;mzu:r & nuisance and measures had to be enac! to curb it, especially to suppress pro- fessionals and social swashbucklers, - late Spring of 1914, but all were forgot‘en when the crisis came. After the war, under the influence of cer- tain right-thinking personages, laws against dueling were strengthened by the promulgation cf a decree rendering duelists, and even sec- onds and witnesses, liable to serious criminal proceedings. In the old days journalists and photographers were present at these affairs, but now they are conducted in the utmost secrecy, with as few persons as possible present, Duels “a la grand orchestre,” once common, have ceased to exist, but the practice remains. Not long ago two members of the French Jockey - secrecy that not a word of it appeared in any newspaper. In these days all participants to a duel are pledged to secrecy. The combatants, the four seconds, a chosen referee—usually an expert swordsman—and one or two doctors are usually the only persons present. Even intimate friends are excluded. Dueling in the modern sense has been brought down to a fine art, less rough and per. haps less dangerous than prize fighting. French experts claim that the duel of today constitu the most dignified form of fighting that exists, and certainly the fairest from the sporting poing of view. ‘The French dueling code has been developed from time immemorial with a view to placing The “technical knockout,” consisting of a show of blood, no matter how slight, on the sword arm of one of the combatants. THE result is never questioned under the code of honor now in practice, and if the princi- are not reconciled it is their own affair, to be adjusted as they see fit. $fore the war there were on an average 100 pisto} juels and more than twice that many sword duels in France during the course of a year. Many were more or,less harmiess, in intent and issue, but some of them were homerie. The famous fight with cavalry swords between Labourdesque and Max Regis lasted two days, and although neither man was killed, the place where they fought looked like a slaughterhouse. Newspaper reporters and photographers “crashing the gate” of @ pre-war duel near Paris. . the combatants on as much of an equality s possible, no matter what their respective phy- sique or degree of skill may be. Experience shows that, as regards both sword and pistol fighting, the highly trained fighter seldom has much superiority over the comparative noviee when it comes to the actual encounter. It is common knowledge among fencing, mas« ters that the highly trained swordsman is ad- versely handicapped when he faces an ignorant adversary. He may fence masterly and abide by all rules of the game, but a clumsy ope ponent may overwhelm him by a lucky strike. Unlike & boxer, who takes a chance blow, the swordsman usually cannot retrieve. ‘The duelist’s chief attention is always direct« ed to his adversary’s wrist, forearm, upper arm and shoulder, which are the nearest vulnerable points. In French dueling a wound in some part of the sword arm theoretically renders the injured man unfit to fight and honor is dee clared satisfied. A HISTORIC instance of the victory of the inferior swordsman over the expert is the duel botween Gen. Boulanger, when he was the idol of the French people, and M. Floquet, then premier of France. Boulanger, a splendid swordsman, might have become <dictator of France, while Floquet, a rotund little elderly lawyer, had scarcely ever had a dueling weapon in his hand before. Boulanger forced the fight< ing from the start and steadily drove the be< wildered statesman back, but Floquet kept his sword arm well out in front, giving the trained soldier a little temporary difficulty. All at once, Floquet, in backing up, caught his heel in the low box tree border of the gar< den path where they were fighting, and in catching his balance his sword was thrust up< ward and accidentally caught the fiery general in the neck. Officials ruled that Boulanger could not con< tinue the fight and the ridicule incurred by this defeat of the dashing cavalry leader.by the little fat lawyer finished him as a potential dictator. Boulanger finally fled to Brussels and committed suicide over the grave of his beloved. Another example of victorious ignorance of Continued on Thirteenih Page