The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-04-26
Some Phase. Of self-Possession.


There are several subdivisions to that
quality of self-possession which character
ICES man who is stern master of him
self. There are the same subdivisions to
the same quality VIII enever it is found toll.
erably we'll developed in woman. The
most important of these subdivisions in
moments that threaten to be critical is, per
haps. best defined by the use of a venerable
street-spun phrase as the ability to provide
instantly against the expensive and danger
GUS operation of losing ones head. It
of this species of self-possession, I'M
doubtedly, than it is to practice them
when the critical moment arrives. The
man who made the boast one evening that
whenever he retired at night in hotel he
studied the surroundings, and before going
to sleep decided exactly what he would do
IN case he was awakened by cry of fire in
the building shows this. There was fire
in the hotel that night and the man was
rescued with a pail over his head and in
the act of scratching match on the bottom
of his bare foot He admitted that when
he woke up he couldn't remember what he
had decided upon doing under such cir
showing loss of head quite as complete
and deplorable are common.
The kind of self-possesson on such oc-
casions which it would be refreshing to
often notice, is that credited to Hiram
Corson, the Shakspearean student and pro-
fessor of English literature in Cornell.
Ithaca was suddenly visited by very high
wind one night not long ago, and the first
intimation MIR. Corson and his wife had of
1t was the crashing down through the sky
light of one of the big stone chimneys of
the house. Mrs. Corson, in agony of ter
ror. at once made preparations to get out
of the window. Mr.. Corson, in an exceed
ms v1ar yUna IrSic CT
the advantage of waiting few minutes
till an exit could be made in
a more decorous manner if
possible, when, with terrible noise, the
great tin roof of the house was torn off by
the wind. Hiram. Hiram, the last day
what. in the night?" replied Mr.. Corson
complacently, and then he proceeded to ar
que against such faulty logic. There are
some men and women who in an apparently
awful moment of that kind might have
picked up life preserver and jumped out
of second-story window to be taken to the
hospital. This illustrates the essential diff
ference between losing ones head and not
losing it. 1t is often difference between
living at home and dying in hospital.
But, while. instances of a presence of
mind like that shown by Mr.. Corson are
deserving of the highest praise and are
worthy of close imitation, it is fair to say
oAdp uuSic dAS OA AtCOIu lLsIduCeS WucTC Ill
exhibition of certain kind of presence of
mind had some drawbacks. 1t is hardly
possible to imagine such an instance in the
case of burning buildin., where life is in
danger. but, nevertheless, presence of
mind which does not appropriately fit the
circumstances is possible. When the wild
alarums of war were being sounded in 1861,
man in Minnesota let them sound until
late in "a, when he enlisted, and the first
real fighting that came his way was at
Cedar Greek, which Sheridan made famous.
The Minnesota man saw several rebels COM
ing in his direction, and, rather than kill
any of them or take any chances himself,
he had the presence of mind. to
crawl into hollow log till the
fighting was over. The story reached his
home, and the patriotic girl to whom he
was engaged refused to marry him when
the war was over. He admitted to her that
he wished the log hadn't been SO handy or
that he had had less presence of mind, but
insisted that it made no difference to the
Union cause, because there were not hol-
low logs enough to go around. This mis-
fortune of his early life was severe one,
but it did not prevent him from proudly
wearing the Grand Army badge and advo-
eating service pensions. So that a pres
ence of mind which lost him his best girl
had some mitigating results. If he had
had less presence of mind he might have
lost her by being killed and SO been pre-
vented from being genuine Grand Army
man. However, under circumstances of
this kind it is generally better in the long
run to lose ones head and fight than to
keep it and hide in a tree trunk.