Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-08-31
Unknown Heroes.

As the great majority. of flowers
bloom unseen, seeming the by no
means desert air; as the great majority
OF birds sing songs which no man
hears. so the great majority of kind
actions never receive public recogni-
ton. How many heroes live all their
days Hnnoticed and unknown, vet con-
stantly doing heroic deeds Times of
deadly peril and of severe sickness cali
out their heroic qualities. He who
could walk through the flames that
October day of last year. as the train on
the Pennsylvania Railroad was
laundering down the Alleghanies, and
stop his engine and save six hundred
lives at the cost of his own, was hero.
The pilot on Lake Erie, holding by
the wheel. through fire and smoke. till
The vessel touched the shore, died at
his post, but he was hero. strong and
true. And the boy who took four little
children of a shipwrecked company. on
bleak northern coast. and during the
long night worked constantly to make
them shelter, was hero. of heroes.
For, in the morning. the agonized
parents met this brave little fellow on
his weary way to settlement five
miles Oft They passed on, after hear
ing his cheering words, to find all their
little ones safe and asleep, but, re-
turning, there lay the body of the little
hero right in the way, stark and stiff.
Worn out, he fell in his tracks.
But for one of whom we learn, fifty
live and die unknown and unnoticed.
The deeds of men more often attract at
tentlon, but what numbers of women. in
less public ways, perform not less
heroic deeds. How little do the strong
anil healthy know of the boundless self
sacrifice and heroic endurance of those
who wait upon the sick, OF are them
selves the sufferers.
Who has not been amazed at the de-
votion Of daughters. sisters, wives and
mothers at the bedSides of their diving
loved ones. Oftentimes. for long wears.
their heroism and powers of endurance
are taxed 10 the utmost. But woman
never ilinches. Strong men can not
stand the physical and mental strain.
but she can. Just a long as the crisis
lasts she remains n; her post. And only
when the rose of health begins to bloom
on the wan cheek, or else when the last
sad Offices are over, does she stop to
think of self. Perhaps, then, she breaks
completely down--nO matter, the crisis
Is past: her work is done.
Perhaps some terrible calamity be-
falls the family. Property is swept,
away; dear ones are separated; or their
minds grow diseased; or they yield to
temptation; or, worse, indulge in crime.
Then il is that the heroism of woman
shines at its brightest And while the
iron eats into her very soul. she seeks.
in every way known to love, to succor.
comfort, counsel and save How much
we owe to her love. her devotion and
her heroism,
Almost every man at some time in his
career owes his life to woman's care.
Think along the years Of your mothers
quiet, devoted life, young man; is she
not a really hero a he who rides a
prancing steed amid the roll of drums
and roar of cannon? And older men.
who recall the experiences of their mar
ried life, can easily remember times
when a wife's heroic actions. shamed or
inspired them.
Many men in the common walks of
life do heroic deeds and 90 on about
their work as if it was unworthy of re-
mark. Opportunities to do heroic
deeds come sometime in almost every
life, and when they come the hero
meets them. Probably every one of us
can point to such deeds-the rescue of
a drowning boy, or of family in Il
burning house. the stopping of a rnna-
way horse, or the care of one sick with
deadly disease. Life, common life, is
all full of heroes. Teach the young to
honor heroism whenever seen. Tell
them of the heroes in real life. Better
they than the heroes of ancient story.
Help them to love right, and they will
yet show forth the stuff that heroes are
made of.-GOideR RHIc.