DUELLING
The mere word duelling appears to shallow minds a subject for so-called
"humour," like mothers-in-law and cats, but a moment's thought will show
that, in certain circumstances, the duel forms the only possible solution
to a difficulty. And it is not an unmixed blessing that duelling is
abolished in England as "Vanoc" in _The Referee_ truly says. "For some
reasons," he writes, "the abolition of duelling [he means in England] is a
mistake. Insolent and offensive language is now too frequently indulged in
with impunity.... The best rule of all is never to take liberties
yourself, and never to allow liberties to be taken with you, and to
remember that self-defence is still the noble art."
I think, though, that the still nobler art is the defence of others, and
there are cases--which need not be gone into here--when a man _must_
fight.
One of the reasons for this "humorous" attitude in the English mind (it
does not exist abroad) is because sometimes abroad young men, wishing to
advertise themselves, or their political ideas, fight duels, all the time
never intending to hit each other, and in fact intentionally firing in the
air.
When two good shots "mean business," a pistol duel is a very deadly
affair, as is shown by the number of men who have been killed in them.
A duel with swords gives more advantage to a younger or a taller man, or
to a man in the pink of condition, but a pistol duel will enable a much
older man to hold his own.
The challenged has the right to choose weapons, and if he choose pistols
it is understood that the meeting should be conducted with single-shot
duelling pistols.
The British public are accustomed to confuse the words "pistol" and
"revolver," and most pistol duels are described as "duels with revolvers"
by those not understanding such things; but the revolver is not recognized
as a duelling weapon, and any fight with revolvers would on the Continent
lead to a trial for murder if any one were killed.
In challenging, the person considering himself aggrieved asks two of his
friends to act as his seconds, and these he sends to his adversary. The
latter at once appoints two seconds for himself, and the four seconds
then make all the necessary arrangements.
First they call upon a gunmaker--combatants in a duel are not allowed to
use their own weapons--and two single-shot muzzle-loading duelling pistols
of regulation pattern are chosen.
In the presence of the seconds these are loaded by the gunmaker and put
into a case, which is then sealed.
This case is taken to the duelling ground by the gunmaker and the seal is
not broken until everything else is ready, the reason of course being to
prevent tampering with the pistols, or loads, or obtaining practice with
that particular pair of pistols.
A doctor is present at the duel with all necessary appliances.
On the ground the seconds draw lots for where their men are to stand, it
being of advantage to have sun and wind at one's back, or left rear.
The distance is twenty-five metres, marked by canes stuck in the ground,
and the shooters stand facing each other.
When all is in readiness, the seconds break the seal of the pistol case,
then the director of the duel takes the weapons out, holding them by the
barrels, one pistol in each hand, and presents the butt ends to the
duellist to whom the lot has fallen to have first choice. The other
pistol is handed to his adversary.
If shots are exchanged without result, the duellists exchange places for
the next shot.
It is not permissible to try the trigger-pull by cocking and lowering the
hammer, but about how light or heavy the pull is can be ascertained to
some extent when cocking. A light click indicates a light pull, and a loud
click a heavier one.
It is usual, especially if the duellists are good shots, and if they
happen to be very angry with each other, to give them a very heavy
trigger-pull in order to make it more difficult for them to hit each
other. For the same reason the words of command in such cases are given
very quickly. This prevents getting aim. It is well always to give a good
strong pull back when firing, so as to avoid pulling off to the side if
you have been given a very heavy trigger-pull.
Finally the duellists cock their pistols, the seconds stand clear, and the
director of the fight stands midway between the duellists and about six
metres back of the line between them.
The duellists stand with their right elbows touching their right hips,
butt of pistol to thigh, and their pistols pointing at the ground.
The director calls: "Attention--Feu! Un--deux--trois!"
If either is not ready at the word "attention," he says so, but otherwise
_after_ the word "feu" he raises his pistol and must fire before the word
"trois" is spoken.
If he does not have the butt of his pistol to his thigh, and muzzle to
ground; or if he raises his pistol or even moves it before the word "feu";
or if he fires after the word "trois" has been spoken, and he kills his
man, he is liable, if his adversary's seconds lodge a complaint, to be
tried for murder.
The usual speed at which these words are spoken is a hundred words to the
minute, but, as I have said, the director often hurries the words in order
to baffle the duellists and prevent their injuring each other fatally.
Whether the duel should continue if neither combatant is sufficiently
injured after the interchange of shots to prevent his going on shooting is
a matter that the seconds have arranged between them before the duel
begins. It depends chiefly upon the gravity of the reason for which the
duel is fought.
The position to stand in, in my opinion, should not be quite sideways.
Of course one should, theoretically, make as small a target as possible
for one's opponent, and therefore the coat should be buttoned close. But
whereas if standing quite sideways one makes a smaller mark, if hit when
in that position the wound will probably prove more dangerous.
A bullet which would perforate both lungs of a man standing sideways, will
most likely go through one lung only if he be standing more full face.
Several other internal organs are also safer when the shooters stand full
face; by leaning forward the ribs are closer together and afford
protection to the heart and lungs; also from a shooting point of view, one
can make much better practice when standing more or less facing the object
to be hit, than when craning one's head round to try and look over one's
right shoulder, and so hampering one's right arm and straining the eyes.
It is generally considered that one should look as dark as possible to
one's opponent, and turn up one's collar to avoid showing a white mark.
But with this I am not sure that I quite agree. Personally I should prefer
to shoot at an entirely black target without a white collar or white patch
anywhere diverting one's eye, unless that white was at a place one wanted
to hit.
But, if a very bad shot were going to fire at me, I should prefer his
trying to hit my collar, as he would then be more likely to shoot over my
head, or to miss me by shooting past me, than if he tried to hit me in the
middle of the body.
The white collar would, however, be hidden by the right hand and pistol
as soon as the pistol was raised, if aim were taken at an opponent's head.
The position safest _for yourself_ is to aim at your opponent's head, and
to get on to that position immediately after the word "feu," keeping your
own head low.
Your right hand and the pistol-butt protect your throat and a good deal of
your face and head if you lower your face as much as possible.
Some men stand in the position of lunging in fencing, which makes a still
smaller target of the body, but then this exposes them to a more raking
fire, and a shot which would only pierce the thigh of the right leg, if
the duellist were standing upright, might glance along the thigh and
penetrate the abdomen if he were standing in a lunging attitude, but it
looks more manly to stand perfectly erect.
A level-headed man would never agree to fight a duel unless he deemed it
justifiable, and then most likely his whole attention would be
concentrated upon killing his opponent, and considerations of personal
safety would be neglected; in the same way that a steeplechase rider
thinks only of winning and not of his personal safety--if it is otherwise
he is no good as a cross-country rider.
As the great object is to hit an opponent before he hits you,--as, if he
hits you first, even slightly, he may spoil your aim,--it is better to hit
him as low as possible, provided the bullet strikes high enough to injure
him.
It takes time to raise the pistol to the level of his head, or even of his
armpit, whereas with practice you can flip the wrist up and hit him in the
thigh or hip without raising the arm at all, and immediately after the
word "Un."
If you hit him in the thigh it would not be of much use in a serious duel,
so the hip level is the point to try for.
An instance of perfect timing was that of a recent fatal duel where one
man killed the other immediately after "feu," before his adversary had
time to raise his pistol.
In the report of a certain duel which took place in France recently
several of the English papers made stupid jokes because one of the
duellists did not fire his pistol (he placed it behind his back) at the
word "feu." The writers seemed to think he had forgotten to fire, because,
when questioned as to why he did not fire, he answered, "_J'ai oubliƩ_."
Of course any one conversant with duelling would have known that by acting
thus he meant that he did not desire to kill or to wound his adversary. A
good shot who for any reason did not wish to hit his adversary would
always put his pistol behind him rather than shoot wide and get credit for
making a miss. It is more dignified to do this, if one does not want to
shoot an adversary, than to miss on purpose. Moreover, the latter act
might be misconstrued into an attempt to kill.
By French law, if a man is killed in a duel, the body must be left where
it fell and the police informed at once. The police then make an
investigation. The adversary is arrested and tried subsequently at the
Court of Assizes. He ought, of course, to stop by the body and give
himself up. He and his seconds may be condemned to imprisonment.
Not wanting to kill an adversary is also the reason so many duels are
bloodless. Men, in the heat of an argument, challenge each other. In
cooler moments, they see that the cause of quarrel was not of sufficient
importance to warrant their killing, or attempting to kill, each other.
Yet neither likes to apologize lest this should look like cowardice; so
the two exchange a shot, and both miss on purpose.
In this connection I may mention that the American law does not apply in
the case of a duel fought by a citizen of the United States outside the
geographical limits of that country; for, according to Mr. R. Newton
Crane, no offence is committed by the fact that an American citizen has
participated in a duel beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. The
citizenship of the combatant is, in such circumstances, immaterial.
"On the other hand," he continues, "sending, knowingly bearing, or
accepting a challenge, in England or America, renders the sender, bearer,
or accepter liable to punishment by the laws of England or America as the
case may be, whether the duel is subsequently fought or not, and whether
it is fought in England or America or abroad, and whether the offending
party is an Englishman, American, or a foreigner. Provoking a man to send
a challenge is also an indictable offence.
"The law applicable to the punishment for actually fighting the duel is,
on the other hand, the law of the place where the duel is fought, and that
law only applies to the offence.
"Provocation, however great, is no excuse, though it might weigh with the
Court in fixing the punishment. Under the English law the punishment for
sending, bearing, or accepting a challenge is fine or imprisonment without
hard labour, or both. Each of the States of the United States has
penalties for the offence, which though differing in detail are
practically the same in substance as those provided by the English law."
Whilst for a revolver I advocate holding the thumb along the top of the
grip, the stock is too straight for this hold with the duelling pistol,
and the thumb must therefore be turned down.
How far you hold up the stock must be determined by practice. If you hold
very high up, and you have a muscular or fat hand, the flesh between your
thumb and forefinger will hide your hind sight. Hold it as high up as
possible, however, and do not get too much of the forefinger round the
trigger; also remember to squeeze straight back in practising for
duelling.
A metronome to beat 100 to the minute is used. You cock the pistol and
stand with the left foot behind the line of fire,--the right foot may be
outside,--your elbow touching your hip, the butt of the pistol touching
your thigh, and the pistol pointing at the ground.
Be very careful not to touch the trigger, as the pull is so light; be
careful also not to point the muzzle at your right foot, for in that case
you might put a bullet through your foot in the event of an accidental
discharge.
The assistant, speaking at the speed of the metronome, says: "Attention!
Feu! Un--deux--trois!" At the word "feu" you raise the pistol, which must
be fired before the word "trois."
The target consists of a black figure of a man in profile. Shoot as I
recommend at a disappearing target, but there are some differences.
Besides the grip and balance of the duelling pistol being different from
those of the revolver, the pistol has to be raised from pointing to the
ground, instead of from the hip level. This has a tendency to make you
shoot low, as the time taken in raising the arm has to be hurried.
If your last shot was low, aim higher; if it was high, aim lower.
If you are careful to squeeze, instead of jerking, you are almost sure
always to hit the figure, the only misses allowable being a graze of the
waist to the left, or under the chin to the right.
Doctor Devilliers has patented a bullet for practising duelling, the
competitors shooting at each other. The bullet is useful also for indoor
shooting where a leaden bullet would be dangerous.
The composition of the bullet is a secret, but the bullet is light, and,
when propelled by a cap with fulminate only, gives a hard rap where it
strikes.
When shooting with it at a man the following precautions must be observed,
according to the inventor.
1. "Don't shoot at less than twenty metres." It is useless to shoot with
it at more than twenty metres, as the bullet rapidly loses its accuracy
beyond that distance; the blow at twenty metres distance is not severe if
one is properly protected against it.
2. "Wear goggles, a fencing mask, and gloves." The goggles are now made
part of the mask, and are of very thick glass, while instead of the
shooter's wearing a glove, a metal shield is affixed to the pistol. _The
hand must not be lowered before your opponent fires._ I once shot against
a friend who omitted this precaution, and my bullet cut away the flesh at
the lower part of his thumb.
3. "Wear a black linen blouse." This may be necessary to prevent your
clothes being soiled, but it makes you a bigger target for your opponent.
Therefore a tight-fitting coat is better. I shoot with no body protection.
4. "In winter be careful that the bullets do not freeze." I find it best
to keep the loaded pistols on ice for some time before shooting--not
letting them freeze, however--and not to let the pistol get too hot, for
if the barrel gets hot the bullet does not take the rifling.