Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-10-06
HEROIC WON EN-.
Death of Florence Nightingale Recalls
Bravery and Daring of Others.


gale, the Lady of the Lamp, brings be-
fore the world the manner in which a
weak and suffering Englishwoman can
overcome all difficulties placed in her
path. While studying nursing methods
| she broke down in health, but, despite
| this, went out to the Crimea and did the
| work which earned her the title of The
Angel of Mercy and placed her name in
one of the most prominent places as a
benefactor of civilization.
1t rebounds to our national honor that
| no other women of the world, not even
American women, are so heroic as our
own. Our battle fields have shown this
| in innumerable instances, when our wo-
men have acted not only nurses, but
have taken their part in the fighting line.
Many, indeed, have been rewarded for
valor in the field, fighting with men
against vast odds.
They have taken their place in the
| fighting ranks, even in the navy. During
| the heat of battle a woman was seen
serving one of the main deck guns on
Admiral Rodneys flagship. When the
| Admiral ordered her below she replied:
An it please your honor, my husban nd
IS sent down to the cockpit wounded. and
! am here to take his place. Dye think.
yer honor, as I'm afraid O. the French?"
There is another example of two Eng
lishwomen, Mary Reed and Anne Bonney,
running a privateer of their own, no
| member of the crew being more resolute
in undertaking risks. On one occasion,
when their vessel was hard pressed, they
and a solitary sailor were the only men
to keep the deck.
Certainly one of the most daring of
African explorers was Miss Mary Kings
ley, delicate and fragile woman, whose
life was considered as precarious as that
of Miss Nightingale during the Crimean
War. Miss Kingsley bravely penetrated
into the darkest corners of Africa,
amongst the fiercest tribes where the
strongest mans life was not worth a
moments purchase.
Another example of heroic women of
the race is Isabella Bird GMrs. Bishop,
who risked her life in the remotest parts
of America, Polynesia, ASIA and North
ern Africa. She endured every hardship,
and yet she suffered from spinal weak
ness which occasionally Frustrated her
for weeks.
8
Englishwomen who are noted as explor-
ers, and who have penetrated regions
where white foot has never trod before
Many years before our troops pene-
trated far into mysterious Tibet, Miss
Annie Taylor, while connected with the
China Inland Mission, tried to reach
Lhassa. AS matter of fact, she got
within three days journey of that town
ceeded in arresting her in order to bring
her to book for the sacrilege. She was
compelled to leave the country, though
in her journey she was months together
without being able to change her clothes.
In every rank of life these heroic Eng
lishwomen are found. Take the case of
Charlotte Eardley, a domestic servant at
Hornsey. While serving dinner she col |
lapsed. and when picked up explained
that she had burnt her hands. An exami- |
nation showed however that she was
terribly scorched all over her body, and
that she had been doing her work for
several hours in that condition. In the
short time that elapsed before her death
she related wonderful story of an Eng
lishwoman's heroism.
She had been in service with her mis- |
tress for II years, and while attending to
her duties in the kitchen her clothes had
caught fire. She added:
After putting out the flames I went
upstairs and put on another dress and
went on with my work. I did not say
anything to my mistress, as I did not
want to upset her as she was poorly"
The same heroism is shown in every
branch of human activity where heroic
deeds are to be done. In hours of stress
our women are not found wanting, and
we have no such instances as the cow
ardice of the women in the terrible ba-
zaar fire in Paris. or, more recently, the
stampede which took place at the fire at
the Brussels Exhibition. Pearson's
Weekly.