Some things have to be reprinted because they’re just
downright funny! The following article, probably
first printed in Printers Circular in
April of 1867, has been reprinted in numerous publications, most recently in
the December 2012 (Vol. 25, No. 4) issue of Wild
West. They reprinted it from the
January 16, 1878 issue (No. 45, Vol. II) of the weekly humor magazine Puck who, in turn, took it from the Lancaster (Mo.) Excelsior:
A duel was lately fought in Texas by Alexander Shott and
John S. Nott. Nott was shot, and Shott
was not. In this case it is better to be
Shott than Nott. There was a rumor that
Nott was shot, and Shott avows that he shot Nott, which proves either that the
shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or that Nott was shot
notwithstanding. Circumstantial evidence
is not always good. It may be made to
appear on trial that the shot Shott shot, shot Nott, or, as accidents with
firearms are frequent, it may be possible that the shot Shott shot, Shott shot
himself, when the whole affair would resolve itself into its original elements,
and Shott would be shot, and Nott would be not.
We think, however, that the shot Shott shot, shot not Shott, but Nott. Anyway, it is hard not to tell who was
shot.
