The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-06-06
ONE WOMAN'S HER0ISM
COURAGE OF A CUBAN wIFE-RE-
FUsING TO SURRENDER.
Struggle for American Independence
Brought Out Examples of
Sturdy Chnracters


fcrt to save her husband from being cut
to pieces by the Spaniards, says the st. ]
Louis Globe-Democrat. He and two or /
three men who were with him had ven
tured too close to the Spanish line during |
sn engagement, and were cut off and sur |
rounded by the enemy. The peril of Senior |
Alvarez was witnessed by his wife, who, |
with two Cubans determined he should |
not die alone, ran to his rescue. For a |
few moments they struggled against over |
whelming odds, when Alvarez, seeing a |
chance to escape, called to his wife to |
follow, and made bold dash through the |
Spanish line. Under the impression that |
she was just behind him, he hewed his
way trough the living wall that stood
before him and escaped, but she was too
weak to cope with the Spanish soldiers
who closed in behind him. The Spaniards,
recognizing the fact that she a wo
man, called to her to surrender. and thus
save her life, but, with a cry of Viva
Cuba Lbre, she and the two men with
her hewed right and left with their mach
etes and were finally cut to pieces by the
Spanish soldiers in sight of the Cuban
forces, that, with a shout and a charge,
answered the death cry of the heroine. In
the confusion of the hand-to-hand strug
gle and the fight that followed Alvarez
did not know that his wife had been left
behind until he had reached the rebel
Ines when, in despair, he placed his pis-
TOT to his breast, fired and joined the he
roic woman in death.
At ZeitOun.
BY singular coincidence a tale OF equal
heroism comes about the same time from
the other side of the globe. The incident
IT narrates occurred a year ago, but only
within the last few days has It been told
in the press of civilized countries When
Zeitoun was occupied by the desperate Ar
menians, the Turkish garrison of over 200
men was besieged in the citadel. There
was no prospect of relief. and the Turks
surrendered, on condition that their lives
be spared. The prisoners were confined
in various houses in the town, and al
most Immediately afterward a Turkish
force arrived and made an attack on the
Notifications.
Every Armenian man and boy was
needed in 'front.' and while the struggle
for the walls was raging the prisoners
broke loose and began to set fire to the
houses. In this desperate strait the Ar
menian women seized whatever weapons
were most convenient axes, hatchets
pokers clubs, pitchforks and fell upon
the Turks with all the ferocity of tigress-
es. The Turkish prisoners had the ad-
vantage of superior strength and skill,
but the greater numbers of the women,
together with the possession of the rude
weapons they had been able to find, gave
them the mastery; they killed every man,
and threw their bodies over the cliff on
which the town was built 1t was deed
OF heroic daring, but they were lighting
or, for, had the enemy taken the town,
a fate worse than death awaited every
woman in it, and none knew the fact bet
ter than themselves. No contest would
seem more hopeless than that of a crowd
of women against 200 men, even without
arms, fighting for their lives, but the
women of Zeitoun took the risk against
fearful odds, and showed that they pos
sessed the qualities that, in every age and
country, have been considered such as
make the heroine.
The Heroic Age.
We are accustomed to think and say
that we live in a dull, prosaic age, an age
OF money getting, an age in which the
greed of gold has burned out the nobieI
feelings and impulses of humanity. We
have accustomed ourselves to the thought
that the age of herosm, the heroic age
concerning which historians write anc
poets rave, is very far away, so far as
to be lost in the misty remoteness of an
tiqulLy. But this is a mistake In every
age that has need of heroes and heroine'
they spring to the front Heroic people
do not always play their part on stag
in sight of a nation, for often in humble
life and among people OF inconspicuou!
station deeds of daring are performed
which, on a more exalted arena, would
attract the attention of the world. The 10
connective engineer who, last month, re
manned at his post to save his passenger
during a collision, and after II was owe
was found dead with his hands on TIN
throttle, was none the less a hero though
his noble deed received only a scant men
ton in the columns of the press. The wo
man who, last week, ran in front of
rapidly moving street car to save the lif
Of a child she had never seen before wa
acne the less a heroine though she KEEP
her name to herself. refusing to divulg
it, even at the request of the by-stand
ers.
In truth the world is as full of the he
roic as ever it was, but we have, somehow
become accustomed to overlooking tn
deeds Of daring done in everyday life
and look for heroism only at times whe
public excitement runs high and when un
usual emergencies call for unwonted ei
forts. In the case of the engineer, W
say that three engineers out of five woul
have done the same thing; in the case Q
the woman, we think that any other VIC
man would have acted as she did. 1
both instances we may be in the rign
but If we are, this only proves that heroe
and heroines are so numerous that thei
deeds are no longer considered extraol
dinary-are, indeed, not regarded as VOL
thy of more than the scant attention the
receive.
The struggle for American independent
Brought out fully the sturdy character
the American woman as developed in I'll
hardy life of the frontier. From the fir.
settlement of this country the wome
shared the hardships of the men, and r
paated conflicts with the Indians develop
ed a courage that hardly seems cons
nant with our ideas of the sex. The w
men of revolutionary days could ride
we'll as men, could handle a rifle wit
deauIy aim, and were not ready to fail
az the sight of blood. Every book write
of those stern old days is full of tales
nd do inc NJ fha xun