The proposed duel between Senator Mahone and Jubal Early did not come
off, for reasons that have not been made public. It is well known
that Mahone is the thinnest man in Virginia. We do not allude to his
politics, or his ability, in speaking of his being thin, but to his
frame. He does not make a shadow. He could hide behind a wire fence.
Gen. Early, after challenging Mahone, went to practicing at a piece of
white wire clothes line, hung to the limb of a tree, but he could not
hit it, and he felt that all the advantage would be on Mr. Mahone's
side, so he asked Mahone to do the only thing in his power that would
make the thing even, and that was to eat a quantity of dried apples
the day before the duel, in order to swell his stomach out so that a
gentleman could stand some show of hitting him.
Gen. Early pledged himself, on the honor of a Virginia gentleman, that
he would not shoot at Mahone's stomach, but would aim at it, and then
make a line shot either above or below.
Mahone replied that, while he appreciated the advantage he had over his
opponent, and was willing to do anything reasonable to make the
thing even, he could not consistently eat dried apples, as they would
certainly kill him. He was willing to take his chances on the bullets
of his opponent, because statistics showed that dueling was the most
healthy business a man could engage in; and he pointed to the number
of duellists that were now living at a ripe old age, who had fought
hundreds of duels and never received a scratch or scratched an opponent,
but on the other hand he could produce proof to show that many people
had been injured, if not killed, by an over-indulgence in dried apples.
Mr. Mahone said he thought it was late in the day for him to produce any
proof as to his own bravery, but in the face of the fact that he would
be pointed at as one who had not sand, he should have to decline to eat
dried apples in order to make himself a target.
Gen. Early said he appreciated the delicacy of his honorable and
high-toned opponent, and respected his feelings, and would not insist
on the dried apple act, but that he would go into training to reduce
himself in flesh to the size of Mahone, and hoped that the affair might
be declared off until he could diet himself. He said he should at once
begin a course of treatment to reduce his flesh, by boarding at a summer
resort hotel that he had heard of, where the desired effect might be
produced.
So the duel is postponed for the present. Both Mahone and Early are
high-toned gentlemen, and they will do nothing rash.