The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-28
Common Sense and Heroism.

There are certain forms of heroism
which. although they are not closely
associated with common sense, one
nevertheless is inclined to admire.
When q, man sacrifices his life, his
health. or his business interests 10 sat
isfy the demands of his peculiar code
of honor, most people are. not irration-
ally, moved to admiration of him, in
spite of the fact that his behavior is not
what is called sensible. The approval
is probably due to an intuitive percep-
ton of the fact that the world is great
" in need of people who are sufficiently
devoted to an abstract idea to be
willing to sacrifice themselves for it
But all the same, common sense is q
good thing to have, and things happen
now and then which incline one to be
Ieve that it is almost more valuable
than anything else A case in point is
an incident which occurred on a beach
near New York the other day
A little girl Of thirteen was standing
on the end of a pier, together with her
aunt ard grandmother, her little sister
and brother, and the -year-old baby.
aoAiE SNtiit44O" OE OA4lEf SAtDDCu OlA lklC
pier ard into the water, which was deep
enough for drowning purposes at that
point Immediately upon seeing her
fall her aunt. who could not swim, set
down the baby and jumped into the
water after her. Then the seven-year-
old sister, realizing the situation, also
dived in to rescue the pair, and when
the grandmother, who is old and stout
saw them all three struggling in the
water, she was overcome by an impulse
of heroism and leaped from the pier to
save them. When she found herself in
the water she realized that if she her
self got out alive it would be fortunate
There were now but two of the family
left on the pier. a boy of nine and
two-year-old baby. There is no know
ing what might have happened in an
other FIVE minutes: perhaps the boy
might have attempted the herculean
task Of rescuing his family after the
fashion of Dick Neptune: or, the Boy
Hero OF the Bronx" and then the baby
might have crawled to the edge of the
pier and cast Itself into the waves: but
the boy seems TO have had sense enough
to stay out of the water a few moments
longer and add his voice TO those Of his
relatives, now shrieking loudly for aid
Their cries reached the ears Of
stalwart Irish-American politician
with the appropriate name OF Flood.
who happened to be in the neighbor-
hood, and he came charging down the
pier to the rescue. 1t Is seldom that a
life-sayer has so large a job Of rescue
on his hands at once as fell 10 the lot Of
Mr.. Flood. but he appears to have had
common sense enough for the whole
party, which was a good thing. He also
supplied most Of the heroism which
amounted 10 anything. He rescued first
the grandmother, and then the others,
who made his task happy by grabbing
him, in a bunch, and nearly dragging
him to the bottom. The aunt became
hysterical and fought him vigorously,
but he finally brought her ashore. and
all four Of the victims Of this peculiar
and decidedly mistaken heroic impulse
marched off, weeping violently, to the
hotel, where they were put into dry
clothes.
This story teaches, first. that when
children are frequently taken to the
beach they should be taught as early
as possible TO swim; second, that adults
should at their earliest convenience
take lessons IN the same at, and third,
that those who cannot swim should, if
their seif-control has not utterly de-
serted them, refrain from jumping into
deep water to rescue anybody who may
happen to have fallen in. Such action
simply makes the task OF the rescuer
who can swim just twice as difficult as
it would otherwise be