Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-22
THE ST. cRoIx
SORRY I LOST THE SHIP,
BUT, THANK GOD, WE DID
Il NOT nSE LIFE .

vented the loss of the st. Croix from
being one of the most tragical events OF
modern times. And not all the heroism
was shown by the men; not all the
weakness by the women.
HEROISM IS NOT A MATTER OF
SEX, BUT OF SOUL.
Cases of individual heroism In con-
nection with the destruction of the st.
Croix were numerous.
In the midst of peril there shone out
THE UNCOMFORTABLE SOUL OF
MAN.
And his indomitable nature is
blended with gentleness and softened
by altruism. If man is essentially "sel-
fish" there was no evidence of it in
the conduct of majority of the men
whose innermost nature was revealed
| by emergency.
If there were any towards they
hardly counted. If there was coward
ice it did not affect the general result.
In the United States brave men are
in an overwhelming majority; and the
women Of the republic are "sheer
grit"
Pluck, daring, resolution, endurance,
fortitude, self sacrifice, were features
of this heroic story of the sea.
The women were sheltered and
clothed. The women were fed. The
women were protected. Men were con-
tent to go about barefooted. scantily
clad and hungry. sustained by the
thought the women and children were
being cared for. Every man tried to
see how much he could do for the COM
fort of the women and children, and
every woman tried to see how bravely
and resolutely she could conduct her
self.
The women faced danger and death
unhinchingly, and their concern was
for the safety of their loved ones.
There were some conspicuous in
stances of bravery. There is no record
in any history of an example of hero
ism greater than that of Mrs. Wallace,
the mother of little Norma, a six
months old child.
Spilled violently out of a boat into
the sea by the breaking of the ringbolt
at the head of the davit from which
the boat was being lowered, Mrs. wal
lace held to the thought she must
save Norma, and, enduring the most
intense agony her limbs having been
shattered by the accident, she clung to
the child until her husband sprang to
the rescue from the upper deck, and,
taking the baby from her arms, clam
bered up the rope. Although suffering
from pain which under ordinary cir
cumstances would have produced un-
consciousness, Mrs. Wallace saved
Norma's life, and gave another re-
markable example of the heights of
fortitude in self sacrifice to which wo-
men can attain in times of trouble and
danger.
AS for Baby Norma. her absolute and
serene unconsciousness of peril made
an apt corollary to a remarkable
demonstration of mother love and
heroic self-forgetfulness in self sac
rlflce.
Norma complained a little when she
D
but close acquaintance with it taught
her it was only water. after ALL and
her mother says she gurgled and cooed
and crowed and made exactly the same
| kind of noises she makes when she is
pLs into the tub. Well it was Baby
/ Norma's biggest bath; and let us hope
she may never have another like It,
/ Proba blv sba tbouobt aftar tho diy, ~
was only natural she should be taken
into boat and wrapped up in a warm
/ blanket and from that time until she
! lay cooling and prattling in the Santa
Monica Bay hospital-and it was a
matter of hours-that blessed baby
never fretted and never whimpered,
and she was everybody's pet, and
among the herolnes of the St. Croix is
not the least excepting in physical
size
AS for the mother, who in spite of
everything and enduring excruciating
agony held on to the little bundle of
life that is hers to cherish, did any
heroine of song or story or picture
every show greater MOTHER GRIT?
!
every woman and child cast into the
sea from a boat were rescued by
five men, who managed to right the
boat, bail it, replace the passengers
and row them ashore. This was a
magnificent and wonderful piece of
work, which can hardly be over
! described and certainly cannot be over
praised.
| For the skillful and seamanlike man
| agement OF the boats the captain, Of
! fcers and crew deserve the greatest
credit After they got we'll away and
the ST. CroiX was doomed by reason of
the blowing up of the tanks, the boats
were rowed and guided safely for seven
miles IN a heavy fog. The captain
stood in the stern of his boat and gave
orders to the entire flotilla. He held
his army of small craft in regular
| formation, and, with his compass on
the thwart, steered for the shore.
1t delights us to be able to record
the magnificent self-sacrifcing forti-
tude of the captain and officers and
the splendid conduct of the passengers
In contrast to this must be placed
the truly deplorable and (Cunless eX-
perienced) almost unbelievable indif.
ference of the officials connected with
the company that owned the St. Croix.
When the passengers were landed