Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1898-09-02
HE WAS 4 TRUE HERO.
IN LIFE AND IN DEATH HE
WAS BRAVE.
Gave the Pleasures of the First to
Others and Suffered the ASOnies OF
the Latter to Save Human Lives-Say
Not That Mankind is Retrograding.

There was lurch of the boat-a cry
"a splash-a call for help-and the
party were struggling in the wafer.
Lake Winnepesaukee has witnessed
may a tragedy. but none sadder than
the drowning of a young man whose
mamie ought not to be forgotten, Z. z.
Giddings OF Boston.
He was one of the summer philan-
thropists who sacrifice their own vaca
tions that they may give help and re-
creation TO others. This young man
had taken charge of a party of boys
who needed friends. and while bravely
trying to save one of them from death
he lost his own life.
Some time ago Mr.. Giddings&ad de-
cided to devote himself to the culture
| Of boys, just as some people spend
| their lives in the culture of roses or
of bees. To conquer morose dispO-
sition, to bring out unsuspected no.
bility in desperate nature, to make
man of brute-such an endeavor was
of more interest TO him than anything
else in the world. Ii was his horizon
| of pleasure, and made his total of hap
piness.
! At the time Of his death Mr. Cid
| dings was devoting himself, body and
soul, to the moral, religious and phys
| ical development of the young people
under his care. All of them had been
born under adverse conditions. There,
| on the shores Of the lake. beautiful
| Transformations were taking place, with
none but God and nature TO observe
| the marvel But few observers grow
tired of watching an ugly caterpillar
| change into a gorgeous butterfly. How
much more intense is the interest in
watching a repulsive character change
| into an attractive one
| By his close association with success
sive groups of city boys. to whom the
| beauties of nature and of character
were sealed books, Mr.. Giddings be-
came a skillful and impressive inter
| prefer of the good and the elevating
| in the souls that were under his charge,
| nature about him. 1t was when his
| method was no longer an experiment,
and when his future was full of prom
Use of great and peculiar usefulness.
| that his last act of self-abandonment
| took place Without a moments hesi
tation he gave up his life for the leaS
| of those for whom he lived.
No man can do more than that He
| died a hero's death. And vet. is that
| the final test Of the highest achieve.
| ment? The heroic sacrifice. the self
| forgetfulness of this man. began long
before the fatal leap for rescue. 1t is
/ more heroic to give life than to give
death. The creating OF a new philan-
| thropy; persistence in it despite ur-
gent protests; the silent cOnquering of
! opposition by consistent adherence to
| principle, and by faith that even the
I; meanest soul is worth a lifetime of pa
tient and loving study to save-these
are the qualities of the highest hero
ism, OF which the final sacrifice Of
this Christlike man was only the ma
tural flower
Such patient, gOdlike endeavor comes
within the province of every one of us.
| We need net run TO the shore or to the
woods; our neighbOrhood viii furnish
| many gnarled characters TO straighten
many turbulent heart into which the
divine life may enter.