The Falls City tribune., 1911-01-13

what constituted bravery. One de-
) elared that Il brave man was born
brave and Il coward was born Il COW
ard; another that true bravery was re-
sisting fear natural to all normal per
I sons. One officer declared that bray
: cry depended ON the action of the
5 heart, citing the case of Napoleon l.,
Z whose heartbeat even on the eve of
) battle was not over forty to the min
Z ute. A young lieutenant with a mild
> blue eye and soft voice remarked that
! Frederick the Great had said, The
man who has never felt fear has never
: snutfed a candle with his fingers"
z The colonel looked mt this speaker
. contemptuously and gave u grunt.
} Surgeon Bates observed the colonels
5 action, but went on smoking without
. expressing any opinion on the subject
) under discussion.
z What do you think about it. doe
) tor" asked the colonel.
Il think you are II coward, colonel"
. If a bomb had come out of the doc
. tors mouth instead of words and eN-
. ploded then and there 1t could not have
!. produced more of n shock.
/. Withdraw your charge, sir, ut once
. or so to your quarters under arrest
. Il will only withdraw it after a fail
. ure to prove its truth
. Il have proved it's falsity on many Il
/. battlefield"
. Il will not deny that under excite
. ment you have temporarily thrown off
. fear. but | deny that you can maintain
/. your bravery while perfectly cool. If
Z you will submit TO Il test | will prove
. what say-that you are II coward"
proceed with your test. ! have sat
Z. on my horse motionless while Shell
. after shell burst over my head. There
? was no excitement in that. Members
!. of my staff were SO FESTIVE that they
!. moved at every shot. Does not that
. prove i am no coward?'
. 'You may have stood that test so
) far as appearances were concerned
2 that is, you We're able to control your
fear. The test | refer to will elimi-
nate everything except fear and show
you what you area coward"
Bring on your test, SIR" cried the
IS colonel angrily, land il you fail to
prove your charge be prepared TO an
:, swer yourself the charge of conduct
=, prejudicial to military discipline in
this, that you have called your COM
manding officer a coward in presence
) of his subordinate officers"
= Surgeon Bates while in The wild west
had gathered n number Of live speci-
t mems of animals of different varieties,
5 one of them IA rattlesnake that he kept
I in n five gallon demijohn Invested of
the wickerwork Oh the outside. The
glass was transparent. so that the
snake could see and be seen, air pass
ed through wire gauze, used i'll place
Of a stopper. The doctor arose and,
going into his office. returned with the
captive. placing the demij0hn on a
table.
colonel he said, Z haye called
you a coward. But, mind you, | have
only applied The word TO You in ae-
eorlance with your V idea of what
constitutes a coward. If you stand the
test ! am about to apply l viii will
ingly submit to be tried by court
martial for throwing diseredit on my
commanding officer. Step up to the
table. colonel, and place your hand on
tne demijohn."
The colonel walked to the table and
placed the palm of his hand on the
glass. Quick as lightning the snake,
vicious beyond measure, struck at the
hand, and equally quick the colonel
ierked his hand away. Mortified be
yond measure, he put it back on the
demijohn, and when the snake strucB
again he drew it away again.
THAT will do. colonel" said the
doctor. You are welcome to prefer
charges against me, but to substanti-
ate your case you must be prepared
10 keep your hand on that glass while
the snake strikes at YOU. But you
are not the only man here who, ac-
cording TO your idea, is not brave. Not
one of you can stand the test. Gen
tlemcn. step UP and try it. The snake
can't hurt you; the glass is a perfect
protection"
One after another of those present
placed a hand ON the demijohn, and
at the snakes strike each and every
man recoilcd. Then DR.. Bates said:
\ maa can keep his hand on that
glass where the snake strikes at it for
the simple reason that the nerves that
direct motion act independently of the
viii. In this case before the will can
be brought to bear the muscles have
done the work"
Then what is bravery" asked the
colonel.
"A brave man is one whose bodily
machine is Sc constructed and adjust
ed in its different parts as to enable
him to be brave.
But the will" asked the major
what part does it playT"
I'm reply TO this question | give you
only my own idea on the Wills part
in bravery. Ii it is strong enough and
other faculties are not too weak il may