The key word here would be "acceptable" Amazingly, it hath taken me better than three score years to learn that all the movie duels I have seen where the good guy and the bad guy meet at dawn or dusk shrouded in fog, in dark corners or quiet spots to count out their paces were somewhat misleading and gratuitous! Perhaps the message was so children wouldn't see that grown-ups would EVER condone deliberate, face to face, violence - much less with swords. I sure bought into it. I knew about Hamilton's duel. I didn't realize it was legal. This is SO embarrassing! Barbara

Not only the Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton duel, but few people realize that Andrew Jackson atually killed at least one man in a duel outside of Nashville, Tennessee. I've been to the field where it happened. Old Hickory, himself. Of course, by the time Burr and Jackson killed men in duels, there was starting to be a bit of a public outcry against the uncivilized nature of such things. Chris --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs