Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-07-25
HERO HUNTERS
Carnegie Commission Employs
Ten.
inc ENTIRE Corps IL Made Up Of News.
papermen. Who Carefully SIT
Facts Of Every CIaimant-No
One . Hero Till Proved So,

these and many similar questions Is the
sole occupation OF a selected, weli-paid
group Of men, who go up and down the
land seeking whom they may reward for
bravery. and determine, when they have
found them, just what percentage Of hero
ism they have shown.
These hero hunters are the agents of
the Carnegie Hero Fund commission.
Yearly they investigate a thousand
claims of heroism. 1t Is their business to
slit the evidence, for in the eyes Of hero
hunter no man Ia a hero until he Is proved
SO.
How thoroughly he does his winnowing
may be judged from the fact that out of
1861 claims investigated only $50 claimants
about l in 13-have been adjudged suff1-
siently heroic to merit a reward OF this
number only 10 were awarded the gold
medal for simon pure heroism. Nearly
half of the $50 received silver medals and
the rest bronze. With these medals, in
many cases, went awards of money
BY no means. however. is this distinction
to be taken as casting any doubt upon
the heroic qualities of the deeds rewarded.
II simply means that those deeds that
did not conform fully to the Hero Fund
commissions understanding of a full
fedged hero. For in attempting to re-
ward heroism, the commission had first
to define heroism.
According to the standards of the Carne-
gle commission. q hero is one who actu-
ally jeopardizes his life to save another,
and who does 1t regardless Of the conse-
quences to himself.
Many rescucs are made that involve lit
tie danger to the rescuer. Such
rescuer in the eyes Of the
commission is not hero. Some men at
tempt rescues in the face Of what appears
to be certain death. Such men are heroes
But to be n hero q man must risk his
life voluntarily. professional heroes"
are barred from recognition. IF a man
does something heroic in the course Of his
duty. he Is not according to the Carnegie
standard, hero at all. Thus policemen,
flremen, life guards and others who are
employed to safeguard life are never he
roes II they save life when pursuing their
regular vocation: but II one of them save
life ION the side" as It were. when it IL
not in the line of his dty, he may or may
not be n hero.
For instance, a fireman who rescues a
person from a burning building IS never
a hero. no matter how brave he may have
been. He has merely done his duty. But
fireman who plunges overheard and
saves drowning person may or may not
be a hero 1t depends upon the degree Of
danger encountered and the amount Of
risk incurred. And 1t is to determine
these fine points that the Hero Fund COM
mission maintains its staff of hero hunt
ers.
Notices of heroic deeds pour into the
commission by the thousand Sonnet! mes
disinterested spectators who witness a
brave deed write about II; more frequently
friends OF the hero send in the news; and
sometimes, alas, the hero himself for
wards information OF his prowess. News
paper editors. schoolteachers and clergy
men are among the most frequent of the
commissions informants. Seldom indeed
does any piece of bravery go unreported.
For news Of such items the commits
sion depends upon the services of a news
paper clipping bureau, so that 1t Is a rare
occurrence when the commission fails to
learn of the daring deed Two classes OF
recommendations are always looked upon
with suspicion: first. recommendations ac-
Companied by affidavits, which indicate
that the wouldbe hero or his friends are
trying to bolster up weak case; and.
second. cases reported by clergymen, be-
cause clergymen are given to overesti-
mating courageous acts.
To every person VINO reports a case the
commission sends blank to be filed out
and returned This blank asks for min
ute details. names of witnesses, etc. Often
these blanks are not returned, and thus
many undeserving cases are at once
eliminated. In every case in which the
blanks are returned properly filed out the
matter is followed UP. Often many letters
are written to make sure that the case is
Of sufficient Importance to warrant de-
failing an investigator to 1t. When the
clerical force at the Pittsburg office has
thus sfted the claims as far as posi-
BILE the documents In the case are
turnedd over to the Investigators, the hero
hunters.
These are 10 in number. Their qualifi-
cations are peculiar. The hero hunter
must be a good interviewer. He must be
q keen Judge Of people. He must be some
thing of a detective. He must know how
to get evidence and how to sift It. Above
all, he must have good Judgment. He
must be young and energetic And
since the job entails months of travel
yearly, unmarried men are preferred. No
where else are there to be found men so
we'll equipped for the task of hero hunting
as on the stats of large city newspapers
So It happens that every one OF the Car
ncgie hero hunters Is a newspaper grad
uate
Naturally enough all come from Pitts
burg newspapers. Hence. like the man
who qualities for the presidency by study
Ing law and moving to Ohio, the man who
wants to become a hero hunter must turn
reporter and get on a Pittsburg newspa-
per- The beginner, as a rule, receives
500 month and all his travelling expen-
Sos. After he has acquired experience his
salary Is raised to sl25 a month with ex-
penses. Further advances depend upon
the man himself and tho quality OF his
work.
The hero hunter Is rambling animal
He threads his way back and forth, up
and down, often spending fully II months
OF the year In constant search for he
roes. The investigator starts from the
office OF the commissioner in Pittsburg on
regular itinerary. But trip that was to
extend from April to June may last TIL
December. That is why an energetic un-
married man makes the best hero hunter.
In his suit case the hero hunter carries
all the documents collected by the COM
mission about the cases he Is to investi-
gate. Upon reaching a town where he Is