The Monmouth inquirer., 1898-04-14
A HERO or THE MAINE
discipline OF the service and CooInesi
in the Hour OF Death.

Discipline OF the Service and Goodness
in the Hour OF Death.
There are bright spots in the mid
night blackness of the Maine catastro-
phe. In the hour of her grief for the
loss of so many of her brave sons, Co
Iumbia has found some sOlace in the
deeds of heroism that shine conspicu-
ol1sIy amid the wreck and ruin that
form the basic details Of the story. The
news dispatches have referred briefly
to these incidents.
Beneath the blue coat of William An
thony. a marine on board the Inflated
warship, there beats a heart that shows
the stalwart stuff of which Americas
defenders are made. 1t is Captain Sigs-
bee who tells the story of William An
thongs heroic devotion to duty. dis
regard for aught but the discipline OF
the service and GOODNESS in the hour Of
death.
When the Maine received her death
blow and the first impulse of the living
was to get away from the disastrous
scene, Captain Sigsbee ran from his
cabin to reach the deck. In the pas
sageway outside his cabin door, Sigs-
bee ran into a man, who, cool as on
ordinary parade day, drew himself up
and saluted his superior officer. Be-
yond the spot where stood the erect
and soldierly form of the marine, Cap
tain Sigsbee could hear the cries and
groans of his wounded men and could
see the reflection OF the flames that had
shot up from the inferno whence came
the devastating explosion.
AS he wondered what on earth or on
sea this marine meant by barring his
way at such a terrible hour, the figure
gave utterance to words that should
become historical:
sir said William Anthony, Il have
to inform you that the ship has been
blown up and is sinking"
1t is a pleasure to know that this he-
no of the lost Maine lives and is at the
service Of Uncle Sam for peace or war.
ANY Yankee marine would have
done the same was the modest reply
of Anthony to the eulogisms of men
who heard of his bravery in the tel
rible moments following the explosion.
And Anthony is doubtless right.
Anthony was evidently destined to
be a soldier. He enlisted almost as
soon as his schooldays were over,
tWGntJ yCdAb d6O5 dAo AeAo " VI a.
the uniform of Uncle Sam ever since.
He first saw service during the old
days of the Ku Klux, and later drifted
into the marine corps as volunteer
Previous to joining the marine corps,
Anthony had done good service on the
Western plains, where his conspicuous
GOODNESS and bravery marked him for
q man of iron nerve. His fondness for
the canteen was the only thing that
stood in the way of his getting COM
mission, during his career both as
land and a sea soldier.
OF his stern sense of duty many sto-
ries are told. The best is this: While
he was stationed at the Brooklyn navy
yard, his old mother, whom he had not
met for many years, came over to see
him 1t happened that Anthony at the
time was on sentry duty, and when he
saw the gray-haired mother his inn
pulse was to drop the rife and clasp
her in his arms. But this would have
been a violation of the rules of the SER
vice that only an ordinary man would
be guilty of. Anthony was not an or
binary man, and so, with the impulse
struggling in his heart, he begged the
old lady to go and wait for him in the
guard room until, duty done. he could
let heart feelings have the mastery
without trampling on discipline.
Anthony would doubtless have con-
tinued his tramp until the regular hour
of relief had not the officer of the day
been notified of the situation by one of
Anthony's comrades. When this was
done the marine was relieved and al
lowed to welcome the venerable moth
er. 1t is a simple little story, but it
shows the stuff of which Anthony is
made.