The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-28
HERoIsM OF THE COMMONPLACE.

building, had already carried out five persons
at the risk Of his life" 'The physician who
devoted himself to the victims of the epidemic
in the lower canal quarter has himself sue
cunbed to the disease, and will de-" The
papers are filled with these tragedies of human
life. Day after day we read of them with
only passing emotion of sympathy if any.
Indeed, SO dulled are our sensibilities by the
frequency Of such happenings that impatience
is sometimes felt with the system Of news
gathering that records them. What does it
matter to us that few men or more are hur-
ried out of the world unexpectedly and in
ways that are most painful of all the modes of
sundering the bonds Of fesh9 1t is sad, of
course, but it is the fortune of life; it is the
will of Providence, and with indifference
to more agreeable things9
The veal and the woe Of the heroes Of mod
ern fiction are more entertaining than the too
realistic chronicles of the telegraph; but even
these pail upon the taste of the fastidious
reader. They seem tame. There is nothing
heroic or dramatic in these days, say these
critics. even in fiction; there is no tragedy in
the newer books because there is nothing but
the commonplace in real life The day of
great deeds ended with the ages that are now
historical. The "most popular novelist him
self AYERS that sensational and emotional tales
are not proper transcriptions of life as it now
exists. The tragic is not part Of this utili-
tartan period And all around US, as we Ia
ment the unimpassioned calm Of modern life,
are occurring tragedies than which nothing in
the history of all time should appeal moro
strongly to the sympathies; tragedies in which
the souls and bodies of the actors are strained
to a tension as extreme as that which
caused the classic heroes to be celebrated
by bard and romance writer. They were only
human beings, after all, who lived and
loved, suffered and died in the days of chiv-
airy and romance; common people, some of
them-not all kings or princesses, or mailed
knights. They are nothing less than human
beings who figure in the tragedies broughtt to
us from here and there over the wires. HUI
mainly, not having lost it's sensibilities and
higher qualities with the progress Of civiliza-
ton, it should not be maintained that its sor
rows, and calamities, and brave deeds are less
worthy Of interest and attention than those
more picturesquely narrated in song and
story. The citizen of this peaceful Nation
does not 60 out to do battle with an armed
foe, is not called upon to protect his dear
ones from marauders. What he must and
does do is to provide for their wants, to clothe,
and feed, and keep--the in such fashion as
BELTS free-born, aspiring American family.
The calling which he pursues, with this object
first in view, is one which is Of benefit to
mankind; and, in working for his
own, he, at the same time, does
the best for humanity. If the
occupation is one which requires him to take
his life in his hand, it is not becoming that
the community he seeks to serve should
not give him the credit that is his due; that
it should look on with languid indifference
when he is sacrificed for it's sake. The wom-
an of to-day does not proudly cheer her lover
or husband on his way to meet an armed
enemy, or encourage him with brave words to
enter into dangerous and warlke adventures,
where he may win honor, but may find only
death. In this quiet land mothers and wives
have no heroic roles in which they may APP
pear to win the applause of the crowd; but
multitudes of them are as truly heroic as were
any of their PARKWAY ancestors. The wife of
the engineer knew that her farewell to him
in the morning might be the last; but, though
it were so, she would not have had him do less
than his duty to the travellers in his care,
though his own life might thus be saved. The
physicians sweetheart knew that he ran the
risk of contagion and death by his
devotion to the afflicted, but when
death came she gloried, amid her
tears, over the nobility which impelled him to
the sacrifice. Innumerable women like these
send their loved ones out to their daily tasks,
knowing that the risks Of life and limb are as
great as if they were going to battle; but CIV
ing only smiles and bright words to the de-
parting. Tears are kept back until that lux
ury may be INDUCED in where none may see
Innumerable are the women whose hours,
waking and sleeping, are haunted with fore
bodings lest the engineer, the brakeman. the
the postal clerk, the travelling sales
man--that one of the worlds work
ers who is hers-shall meet with dis
aster. The frequency with which disas-