The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-02-23
EVERYDAY HERoIsMs.
The HerOism of the wOrkman-Pertas OF
scaffoId and Ladder.

The risks taken by carpenters. masons,
painters. hod-carriers, derrick handlers,
and. indeed, all those engaged in the
manual labor of erecting a ten-story edi-
fee, should appeal quite as strongly to the
general appreciation as the dangers en-
countered by the acronaut, the mountain
climber, the jungle searcher or the lion
hunter. And yet while the deeds Of the
latter are admiringly recounted, those of
the former are ignored.
The man who has trained himself for
trapeze performances at great elevation
knows exactly the strength Of rope and
bar. Knows the sustaining and project.
ing power Of his muscles and has the in
spiration of an applauding and sympa-
thetic multitude to quicken his courage.
The sailor who climbs the rigging has
Athletic skill and confidence, born of
frequent trial, in the supporting power of
rope and mast and yard. The man who
walks the tight-rope has closely calculated
all chances and has, by. long practice &C
quired a thorough knowledge Of the
means for preserving his equilibrium.
The hunter who goes to meet the dangers
of the forest is ever on the alert believes
his rife unfailing, and feels the exalta-
ton of his successful proves.
But the man who, trowel in hand, stands
at the perilous edge of a tall and trem-
bling scaffolding, awakens no solicitude
among the people hurrying along the
street below. He is only a man at work.
And yet his dangers are quite as formida-
BILE as those that threaten the man on the
wire the athlete on the tTapeZe, the hunter
in the forest or the sailor in the rigging,
He must take for granted that
no one of the throng of men engaged with
him upon the building has made and is
making mistakes He must proceed con
fidently from wall to ladder, under top
ping derrick and over narrow gangways,
when he has no positive, personal assur-
ance that everything about him is safely
progressing Though long immunity
from accident may render him Indifferent
to the perilS that environ him, and though
his appreciation of his own heroism is
dulled, his work is none the less heroic for
all that
The spectacle of a man carrying a
heavy weighted bod from basement to
roof, up long line of insecure ladders,
does not thrill the average spectator, but
put human being into the bod instead
of the bricks, and the carriers arduous
climbing instantly eXCites intense inter
est. The carrier, however, encounters
the same peril in both instances. Let a
painter gradually lower himself down the
front of a great structure plying his
brush as he goes, and few pause to note
him; were there fire at the top, though
neither the wall nor his rope were threat
ened, his successful descent would be
cheered.
The workman who thus places his life
in jeopardy ought to evoke the most in
tense admiration for the heroism he dis
| PLAYS, even though he is unconscious of II
| himself. 1t is due to his courage thai
cities grow in splendid appointments. The
| impulse that animates him springs out OF
his love for home and wife and children
Why should he be forgotten when exam
pies of valor and devotion are cited?