The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-06-01
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS
Echo Of May, 1898.
TO HONOR DEWEY'S RETURN,
BY G. GRosvENoR DAVE.

Written for The Commonwealth.
The Returning Hero.-A tew weeks
from now, and the quiet, selfcontained
and ciear-headed man who scored the
first and last victories of the war with
Spain VIII be here not with the thought
Of displaying himself to the admirlng
gaze of his fellow countrynen, but in
order to seek rest after his labors. Ad-
miral Dewey is SO modest about him
sell that I doubt whether he at all
gauges the feeling of boundless enthu-
siasm in nation when one OF its sons
does dread task well and, as far as war
will permit, mercifully. For him,
whenever he appears in public, wages
upon waves OF sound viii roll back and
forth in our crowded streets. For him
the flag that he has upheld will he
flung to lhe breeze i'll homer OF his ma
t1onal faith. For him, as an echo from
the first OF May, 1898, there will be
tie rending roar Of the cannons Of
peace supplanting because OF his work,
the cannons of war. For him there
will be honors shown in a myriad ways
by all who can get him to accept them
All these things and more also will be
none too many for this man who, by
his work, has demonstrated to us our
own strength, has increased our sense
OF responsibility, and thrust Us out tc
where We must as nation Ieara more
definite lessons of self-control IN our at
tltude towards all other nations. How
and also how American was
the definite way in which he went at
his task, swerVlng not one hairs
breadth either to the right or to the
left. How desperate were the odds
against him, and yet how quietly and
how correctly he estimated the strength
OF those who we're under him, knowing
that, not in his Individual proves,
but III their coolness aud mettle were
the real turning points of victory.
Amid all the huzzas that will greet
blm, and amid all the extravagant era
tory that will be harder for him to face
than an enemy's gun, let us sum up
for our own guidance all that he has
been. He is simply this, one more in
the long list OF those who, being con-
A real thing, and national honor even
more real-though duty meant danger,
lid the duty and did it well. Thai
is, he is one who did what he ought.
*.*
The Out-of-SIght Hero Not every
man can lead. Some have to be mere
obedient machines in every kind Of war
fare, they are bodies for other peoples
brains, moyed.by other peoples wills.
Here comes in some Of the shallowness
Of our human nature. We too often
forget the out-of-slght man who makes
all conquest possible to the man who
uses him best. 1t Is as though we for
got the fact that no monument can
stand except upon out ofslght founda~
lions that there can be no apex TO q
pyramid save for the sloplng ssones On
the sides and the buried material OF
the centre. You would find it true,
that in Dewey's great victories there
we're men who, just because they were
told to do so, crouched in passage ways
near important bulk heads, or were bu-
ried in the magazines and toiled siren
uously there, OF sweat down near the
fiery furnaces. These did not so much
rs fire gun nor even see gun fired
yet, ii we estimate things In their right
way, these were doing duties not so
as others and yet just as
necessary. Therefore, in any estimate
as to the causes that operated to the
destruction of our enemy and to the
OF ourselves, we must not Tor.
get in our hearts the out-Of-slght hero,
who will be forever nameless and for
ever unknown to fame. It is like the
life of the body, wherein the humble
and unhonored member is part OF the
success of the individual and yet re-
mains unthought Of, almost INTENDED,
until it fails in its duty or falters in its
way. Our national strength rs In a
national body, whose members are knit
together into one entity, and wherein
some have honor, but wherein also
when the testing moment has come IN
our history there always haye been
members who, though lost to sight,
have still been doers of duty.
***
Unrecognized Heroes.-The rattle
and the broadside cease, the firing lines