San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-09-19
OTHERSIDEDNESS.

There is an old story to the effect
that in the ancient days of chivalry,
two armed and mounted knights APP
preached a cross-road shrine, above
which hung a suspended shield. One
side of the shield was of silver and the
other of gold. The mailed knight who
approached the shield from its silver
side remarked upon the danger or
hanging up in the public highway so
valuable Il thing as a silver shield.
The other knight replied, not silver
but gold and therefore all the more
precious. Tins the contention began.
each seeing only his side of the shield
and each swearing that the other was
blind. So hot became the dispute
that lances were set in rest and each
charged down upon the other, in the
fashion of the times.
Being very equally matched in cour-
age. weight of armOr and skill the
contest was for a long time desperate
ly continued and only ended when
both were endorsed and lay MORALLY
wounded. In the progress of the fight
they had changed positions again and
again, but no attention was paid TO
the shield over which the contest arose
each being bent only on the fight.
AS they lay dying it CHANGED that
they had changed places, and casting
their eyes upward for a last look at
the fatal shield discovered that it had
mysteriously changed its color. The
knight who had laid down his life to
prove that the shield was gold looked
on silver shield, and the knight who
swore the shield was silver looked on
one of gold.
The mischief had been done. Each
expressed regret for his hastiness and
error and two brave men died foolish
ly, because they had not been able to
see the Othersidedness of that high
way shield. History repeats itself,
and the world is full of the manned
and the halt, the dying and the dead,
wounded or in eXtremis, because
of a foolish fight to the death over a
fancied error on the part of the other
fellow. because they could not see the
Other-sidedness of the matter in dis
pute. A man does not necessarily
have to possess eyes in the back of his
head in order to see this Othersidcd-
ness. He only requires eyes in his
mind. but unfortunately there are
more men born blind in this respect
than would fill an asylum.
We speak of man being a square
man" and seem to regard that as the
supremest type. of the manhood quail.
ity. 1t is a good type, for the square
man is an even sided man. But the
square man is angular as well. HI
has corners. He has sharp edges
where the sides meet. Hit one OF
these edges and it hurts. You mus
keep away from them. There arr
some places in the square man tina
are farther from his centre of gravi
ty, his centre of feeling, thought, OBJ
servatiOn and judgment than others
1t is always farther from the centre
of square, a cube, to the corners
than to the side. The corners are thu.
left out in the cold as it were. AnC
it may be that the corners are of mos
worth.
Then, the othersidedness of thu
square man is hard to get at. 1t is N
easy task to turn over a heavy squar
block. The centre of gravity has t,
be lifted. as it were, before the strait
is gone, and then when the turnin;
over process has gone a certain dis
lance the block turns itself. Nor
than that, it insists on turning and
requires as much force to stop ii
turning all the way down on its side
as it did to start it in the first place
This is the trouble with the Othersid
edness of the square man. 1t is har,
to get at it in any event. When yOI
try to get at it you lose sight of tn
side you first saw. Thus paradOXica
as it seems the square man is the one
sided man. You only see one side.
There is always difficulty and rea
hard work in getting at the Othersid
edness Of the square timber, tn
square block Of granite the squar
man. 1t is the round log that is cas-
lily turned over. 1t is the globe O
granite that is easily examined on Al
sides. 1t is the round man who show
his Othersidedness with the least dill
ficulty TO either himself or other,
This is a quality in men, as well as i
material things not sufficiently ar