The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-14
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

There is here-stuff In persons all about us; only the occasion is needed to reveal 1t. The quiet life of our we'll regulated social order does not afford the display of the active hero-virtues that appear commonly In more troub- lous and adventurous conditions. There Is a mark of heroism, though, which may usually be found at all times: the hero is helper. In little ways he serves, even as he would serve in great ways did opportunity offer. In the present lesson upon the shipwreck of the apostle Paul It is perhaps more profitable to bear in mind his small helpfuiness, rather than his great heroism. The latter we may not imi- tate: the former are within everyhody's power.
 The panic-stricken company aboard the grain vessel which resistless Northeaster had gripped--there were 276 souls in aII--had been too scared and too busy to eat. In the darkness and danger they had scarcely tasted food for 8 fortnight. Paul. whose practical sense was equal to his piety, entreated them all to satisfy their hunger. A square meal Is often means of grace. Elijah under the juniper tree thought he needed spirit ual uplift: God who knew better. of eating-after publicly thanking God for the hread--Paul persuaded the men to partake of food. which heartened them greatly.
 When the ship Breaks Up.
 Yesterday l saw three men in crowded railway station who seemed to stand out from all that hurrying throng. They were roughly dressed. with no heed to city styles. but 1t was. not their rough boots nor their caps that attracted attention. There was an indefinable something in their faces and bearing that spelled great ex- perience. And so 1t was. They had been picked up the day before down the bay, clinging to the bottom of capsized schooner All night they had clung there, while the waves dashed over them, and the biting winds had gradually weakened the grip of their fingers. Ships had passed without mo- ticing them. When finally they were sighted and rescued they had reached the very limit of their powers.
 Little cared these men that their clothes were different from the multi tude's. Little thought they Of the value of the boat that had been lost. In darkness and stress. face to face with death, they had learned the les- son of relative values. They had stood by one another--even as saw them, the youngest was supporting the old- est-and they had saved their lives. It Is a great privilege to have learned what is really worth while in this life. Browning depicts Lazarus as coming back from the grave with new sense of the proportionate worth Of things.
 The shipwreck of Pauls boat, when all had to take to the water. showed the various characters of the men. Paul was proved a hero in things great and a courteous, helpful gem tleman in things small. Captain Jul ius preserved the fine traditions of Roman officer Some of the sailors revealed a yellow streak by attempt ing to make off with the boats. PauFs stopped that low trick. When the breakup of the ship was in- evitable the imbruted Roman soldiers suggested the killing of the prisoners but Captain Julius would not have 1t so. Thus all got ashore when the ship struck--some swimming. some on blanks, and some on the wreckage of the ship
 On a stOried Island.
 One of the most romantic spots on earth, historically Is the little Island of Malta, which for more than a cen- tury Britain has held. The defense against the Moslems by the Knights of St. John in the sixteenth century Is one of the golden pages of the age of chivalry. Ancient, spectacular. kalei- doscopic has been the islands history. but when the great Mediterranean steamers stop there nowadays the first thought and question of nine- tenths of the passengers concerns none of the Crusaders or soldiers or rulors. but the little Christian Jew who once landed at Malta as a ship wrecked prisoner. Such Is the hold of New Testament history upon the popular mind, as con trasted with all secular history.
 Malta gave Paul and his feilow-voy- agers a kindly welcome. That the story calls the people 'barbaria ms" means nothing except that they were not Greeks or Romans; such was the Ja