Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1898-11-14
DO NOT FEAR DEATH.
Pccuiiaritics OF the Behavior of
American Soldiers when
I'm Action.


or course there are Americans and
Americans. and some Of the latter are
not heroes In any sense but the Amer
lean American is a distinctly cour-
ageous individual. lie does not face
death with the resigned fatalism OF
The llndoo. or the fanntic frenzy OF
the Mohammedan lie does not 20
into action on stills OF rhetoric and
melodrama that mark the romance
races. lie does not die with the hooroo
Of the wild lrishman or with the stol-
idity OF thesAnglo-Saxon. lie has per-
haps merged with the stolcism OF the
Indian. the stubbornness Of the Saxon
and the rejoicing Of the Celt, an amaz-
ing GOODNESS AID an irrepressible
humor.
The curious thing Is that the typical
American hero Is able to see the funny
side of his own death. the flaws in
his nonidolized leaders. lie can grasp
the whole situation with shrewdness
and not remain so far from being
overcautious or shrinking that he does
not count bis pcnn'orih when anything
Is 10 be gained. When the call came
for Lieut.. Hobson's crew Of six to
man and sink the Merrimac, a feat
whose piciuresqueness equaled its APP
lparently inevitable fatality, there
we're hundreds, II not thousands, ready
and eager TO answer that call. Under
the storm Of shot and shell, and with
The imminent danger Of being hoistf
by their own petard, they steered the
ship and sunk her with the precision
and aplomb of a naval review. Whenl
the Spanish proiectles thronged the
air OF Manila bay the commander Of
the Boston stood on his bridge, with
his cont OF tanning himself and OBJ
serving that the cup Of coffee he was
taking was not properly sugared.
Such Of our seamen as have been
forced 10 be idle during the fleets ac-
ton have frequently danced and sung.
and even played the harmonica to the
dapason Of bombardment. When, in
the civil war, Cushing's little launch
was hailed by the Albemarle it had
come to sink, every man aboard of
her sung out a humorous reply to the
sentinel's 'Who goes there?" the
deadly sharpshooters OF the north and
south cracked jokes at ench other
while their guns exchanged repartee.
Instances of the absolutely fearless,
homely, unrhetorical. witty behavior
Of the Yankee in crises of danger fair
~ bristle history The robust traits
that have made Yankee heroism and
GOODNESS a marvel and a warning 10 the
rest Of the world reappears now in full
force. They should convince the mono
maniacs who have thought they saw
decadence and neutrality-suspicious.
sapping The race, that the saWof Amer
icanism has not yet lost its savor.-
Current Literature.
, Common words from a nigh source.
J The vulgar 'Lal" "Laws!" 'Lawk,''
Laws a mussyl" "salSes alivel" Good
land alivel" and the like, are all rem
! nants Of such expressions as "Lordl"l
] Lord, have mercyl" "For the sake Of
! the Lord of lifel" "Good Lord Of lifei"l
and other equally solemn phrases en-
{ plcyed in moments Of greatexcitement
, or danger, which the careless habit of
= exaggeration in the expression Of feel-
. ing that seems Unborn In human nature
{ has led some to degrade and employ on
: the most trivial occasions. Our familiar
D Dear mel" is likewise merely cor
= ruption of the italian "Dio miol" 'My
I God!" and is an exact equivalent, in
+ every respect, of the ''Mon Dieul" of the
B. French. the use of which on trivial &C.
+ casions we English-speakers are so
b ready TO condemn. "Alasi" a mourn
e ful exclamation which I trust myyoung
r readers will seldom have occasion to
+ employ, is also a shortened form Of an
Italian expression: ooh, me lassol"
(Oh. weary me!)-NIiss i. +. Andrews,
in ST. Nicholas.