St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-11-12
DO NOT FEAR DEATH.


OF course there are Americans and
not heroes in any sense, but the Amer
ican American is distinctly cour-
ageous individual. He does not face
death with the resigned fatalism OF
the HinGoo, or the fanatic frenzy oil
the Mohammedan. He does not go
into action on stills of rhetoric and
1elodrama that mark the romance
races. He does not die with the hooroo
1f the wild Irishman or with the stol-
dity Of the Anglo-Saxon. He has per-
haps merged with the stoicism Of the
Indian. the stubbornness of the Saxon
and the rejoicing Of the Celt, an amaz-
ing GOODNESS and m irrepressibie
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. He can grasp
the whole situation with shrewdness
and not remain 80 far from being
overcautious or shrinking that he does
not count his penn'orth when anything
5 TO be gained When the cali came
for Lieut.. Hobson's crew of six to
man and sink the Merrimac. feat
whose Picturesqueness equaled its ap-
parenfly inevitable fatality, there
were hundreds, If not thousands, ready
and eager to answer that cali. Under
the storm of shot and shell, and with
the imminent danger of being hoist
by their own petard. they steered the
ship and sunk her with the precision
and aplomb Of a naval review. When
the Spanish projectiles thronged the
air of Manila bay the commander OF
the Boston stood on his bridge, with
his coat Oft. 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 to be idle during the fleets ac-
tion have frequently danced and sung.
and even played the harmonica to the
iiapason 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
1er sung ont = humorous reply to the
sentiners who goes there?" the
deadly sharpshooters Of the north and
south cracked jokes at each other
while their guns exchanged repartee.
Instances Of the absolutely fearless,
lonely, unrhetorical, witty behavior
Of the Yankee in crises Of danger fair
" bristle history. The robust traits
that have made Yankee heroism and
GOODNESS maryel and warning to the
rest Of the world reappears now in full
force. They should convince the mono
naniacs who have thought they saw
iecadence and end-of-the-centuryism
sapping the race, that the salt of Amer
icanism has not yet lost its savor.-
Current Literature.
A.a she Dlan,t.
Il shall have to ask you for q ticket
for that boy. madam"
Il guess not"
Hes too old to travel free. He oc-
cupies whole seat, and the cars
crowded. There are people standing
up"
That's all right"
II haven't time to argue the mat
ter. ma'am. You'll have to pay for that
boy"
I've never paid for him yet, and
I'm not going to begin to do it now.
you've got to begin doing 1t some
time. II you haven't had to put up
any fare for him you're mighty lucky.
or else you don't do much travelling"
That's all right"
you'll pay for that boy. ma'am. or
I'll stop the train and put him on
That's all right. You put him on, il
you think that's the way to get any
thing out of me"
"You ought to know what the rules
Of this road are. madam. How old -
that boy?"
II don't know. never saw him be-
fore. II you want ticket from him
you'd better ask that old gentleman
down the aisle. He got on with him.
Philadelphia Press.
HIS Plan.
Drup Clerk-What do you intend to