NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
33 
Character 
Lessons to 
Train Youth 
By JAMES TERRY WHITE. 
|Copyright, 1909, by the Character Devel- 
opment league.) 
XVII —Heroism. 
N New York city 
there was a 
great fire in a 
tenement house 
crowded with wo- 
men and children. 
The fire extended 
through the build- 
», ing so rapidly that 
a number of the in- 
mates were cut off 
from the fire es- 
capes and huddled 
together ina corner 
of the roof, which 
was almost ready to fall in. The 
whole interior of the building was a 
mass of flames, and it was almost cer- 
lain death to enter the building. , 
A fireman, covered with a _ wet 
blanket and carrying a rope, made a 
dasb through the flames and somehow 
reached the -roof. He quickly let 
down all but one of the children, 
when the flames burst out around 
him, setting his clothes on fire, and 
the walls began to fall outward. It 
was an awful moment, and the spec- 
tators held their breath. With the 
flames enveloping him, but without 
thought of saving himself, he lowered 
that last child, when the walls crum- 
bled beneath him, and he was buried 
beneath the ruins. It was magnifi- 
cent devotion. but at the loss of a no- 
ble beart. and the whole city mourned 
the death of a hero. 
Heroism is bravery in the helping 
of others afd is the climax of forti- 
tude and courage. There is something 
that often passes for heroism which 
Is not heroism at all and deserves 
only contempt. This is found in those 
who show their strength at the ex- 
pense of the weak—those who exem- 
plify the idea that might makes right. 
A “bully” is apt to be a coward; oth- 
erwise be would not choose always to 
measure himself against the weak 
rather than the strong. 
Others are called heroes who have 
ready strength and courage to face 
real peril boldly, but they do this that 
they may win something that does not 
belong to them. The fascination of 
this bravery, however, disappears im- 
mediately in  detestation at the 
wretched total of their achievements. 
Of this stamp are very many whom 
the world admires. 
We speak of the heroism of common 
life. ‘There is an underlying element 
of courage that is manifest in every 
JAMES T. WHITE. 
ing at night, was 
day affairs, aS a ure, a runaway, 4 
mad dog scare, when officers and by- 
standers disregard personal safety to 
save others. Heroism manifests it- 
self in the contest maintained by fa- 
thers and mothers against poverty or 
ill bealth in the struggle to educate 
their children. Such heroism is as 
greatly to be honored as that of na- 
tiona! heroes. Firemen are continual- 
ly doing deeds of heroism worthy of 
the highest praise and admiration. 
These stories of heroic lives should 
not make us forget that there are op- 
portunities for heroism in every day 
life for everybody. A boy dreams of 
brave deeds be would do were he a 
knight errant. But when he sees a 
mischievous boy tip over a poor wo- 
man’s apple cart he is angry at the 
cruel trick, but he does not pick up 
her apples for fear of being laughed 
at and passes by on the other side. 
It requires heroism to do right and 
even not to do wrong. 
The wrecking of the Maine, hapven- 
so sudden and the 
convulsion was 
over in so brief a 
time that acbance 
for a display of 
heroism seemed 
next to impossi- 
ble, and yet in the | 
terror of that aw- 
ful scene every 
surviving man im- } 
mediately recov- 
ered himself and 
stood to his dis- ADMIRAL SIGSBEE. 
eipline. Not one comrade was for- 
saken by another. 
The marine on duty, true to his hab- 
It of service, rushed through a dark 
passage flooded with water and re- 
ported that the ship had been blown 
up and was sinking. It did not occur 
to him to save himself until his duty 
was done. Officers and men. in dan- 
ger of being swamped by the death 
struggle of the ship, rowed around her 
trying to save life and careless of 
their own. Captain Sigsbee was the 
last to leave the ship. No man sought 
his own safety at the sacrifice of an- 
pther nor sought it first. 
Practice.—Think wisely, forget your- 
self, act quickly and save one in dan- 
ger at all hazards. 
Literature. 
Dream not helm and harness, 
The sign of valor true. 
Peace hath higher tests of manhood 
Than battle ever knew. 
—Whittier. 
He leadeth me, and this my care— 
That I dare follow where he leadeth. 
—J. T. White. 
They only the victory win * * * 
Who have held to their faith unseduced 
by the prize that the world holds on 
high, 
Who have dared for a high cause to suf- 
fer, insist, fight—if need be, to die. 
—W. W. Story. 
O friend, never strike sail to a fear! 
Come into port greatly or sail with 
God the seas.—Emerson. 
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