Wine and Blood

At Warsaw, Poland's capital city, was given a dinner in honor of Marshal Pilsudski, first ex-President of the Republic. The dinner commenced auspiciously. Everyone behaved in a gentlemanly manner. Later, the flowing cup ran over. With it effervesced the courage of the assembled guests. From rollicking laughter and sounds of "Have you heard this one?" the attention of the party was directed to serious, biting and calumnious speeches. It was Marshal Pilsudski's turn to speak. He said many unpleasant things about his critics. Some he called "crooks." Then with one mighty roar: "The insults that have been heaped upon me call for blood!" Up jumped General Szeptycki, Minister of War and one of Pilsudski's bitterest opponents, and accepted the challenge. Seconds were chosen from the now sobered officers. Two limousines left Warsaw "for a secluded spot." Next morning in the gray of dawn the limousines returned. Marshal Pilsudski and General Szeptycki descended suffering acutely from--bad headaches! One of the seconds was wounded in the foot: he had stubbed his toe against a rock! Pilsudski's admirers, although apparently in ignorance of what took place on the "field of battle," stress the fact that the incident in no way reflects unfavorably upon their hero's "prowess on the battlefield." Attempts to make political capital out of the incident are not lacking; but nothing of a serious nature was put forward. Marshal Pilsudski was born of noble parentage in 1863 during the insurrection which was finally put down with great cruelty by the Russians after the Polos had appealed in vain to Europe. He was educated at Vilna and Kharkow, was deported to Siberia (1887-1892) for alleged complicity in a plot to assassinate the Tzar. His sympathy became definitely socialist after this and he was active in many movements for the emancipation of Poland, and soon became the leader of the Socialist party at Lodz. Here he founded the Kobotnik (Workman) -- still the organ of the Socialist Party in Poland. After searching vainly for years, the Russian police discovered the headquarters of the paper. Pilsudski and his wife were implicated. He was arrested and imprisoned in the citadel of Warsaw, but feigned insanity so successfully that he was removed to an asylum, from whence he subsequently escaped.

During the war the then General Pilsudski was again imprisoned, this time in Magdeburg by the Germans. On November 14, 1918, he was freed, returned to Poland and assumed supreme power, being confirmed later by the Constituent Assembly (Sejm Ustawodawczy).