Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1915-01-15

~ NBB NEN
ga HEN was boy and chance or an I'M
~ avoidable predicament made it nee
essary for me to walk past a grave
lSAh~ ward after dusk of an evening,
KG began whistling as l approached
Etl5ge6 and continued Until my lips were
eSSsEs swollen-or walked a mile out of
SSss5s my way to get well around it.
$n& But even with all my whistling
6gx1 IN a boyish attempt to prod recre-
EAy ant courage, my legs nevertheless
kstS8 we're pretty wabbly and my knee
sHn~ action was not of the show-ring
nv heart too, ungallantly huddled up
mner and went on strike, SO that there
M much blood in circulation to keep me
M and quite as matter of course got "cold
1.-The nervous tension my scalp contracted so
auy hair felt as if it was so many pricking
sgg goose flesh writhed in creepy lines over
abdy while my spine seemed like nothing so
mn as an animated icicle and my nerves were
med by the demon of fear, for, mind you, every
a Of those dim-limned. gravestones was a po-
sbl ghost that might at any instant raise it's
nanny arms and sweep awesomely out and
hin me for its own.
Did you ever pass a graveyard at night when
Inc! And didn't you feel just about that way
Rn you did?
Noel as | might wish to be a boy again,
hMll not ever care to have to pass a graveyard
t4ht-alOne.
There has been so much said and written pro
Moon in discussing the tactics of the Germans
sending their forces at the enemy in what
Known as the mass formation" that it seems
Hfitle could be added to the argument
Bot there is human side to this policy that
lar has not been presented; not to my knowl-
sP at least
us simple phase of the question that has
Do with the element of human nature; the
1al process of the mass, as disclosed by the
aHdual as its unit.
WY is it that the man who quakes with fear
Tue approach Of an impending battle quite
sa as the records show, is the one who goes
Inc charge with apparently the daredevil
4Ssness and disregard for danger that dis
SlSned him among his comrades as the man
-4lsa or as being crazy with the heat"-of
~SeVer' before he attains to this degree of
NlaSe and comes eventually to be stricken with
N@ ie'er he must have been divorced from his
F u lear by some process or association aside
l us conscious control Fear and the con-
~ V'dence of bravery are seldom if ever COM
@su IN any hazardous undertaking, and espe-
NY IN the case where the individual faces
Enemy in battle or other mortal danger-un-
TUVed and alone.
c tO h0 oir r.
- Specters that take form in the dreadful dark,
- NE silent and deserted road at the edge of
gnoSthaunted graveyard.
!. % interesting, and not a little amusing, now
~ Iand We are all pretty much alike in that
WV look back over the years and coldly an
!" the mental attitude in which under the
@a- night | hesitatingly approached. trem-
~ passed and thankfully left behind those
~ st'SS and sacred villages of the dead at the
was an impressionable lad
W. you see, when fortune favored me with
s. s@-Ous On the infrequent occasions of my
n journeys past the old graveyards, even
s, ~ts only a small boy not yet old enough to
hSs"' Tie possibilities of a ghost in dusk
.sn.s 'o "nostone, my courage always retained
h n. Stamina to carry me through the other
M ~ .eShredding ordeal-without having to
I'M Tue expedient of whistling myself out Of
va al any rate.
h~.I IIsht be prowling ghosts over there in
|emss NAs dark of the somber aisles running
Ia M. we shrubs and the weeping willows
sbtn, 'e'IoW should be afraid of ghosts with
Roror.sS OHlrade touching elbows at his side?
sg ~ VI Oh occasions when there was COM
ssy,, ~ Iour or six or more boys, that walked
Slv,u "-ong the graveyard road, why, there just
NJ we're no ghosts at all.
ss,,,, 'ne OF US had by some fortuity become
& h.t from the main body and suddenly real
eano..,,'e,. was stark alone among the mOmen-
~ h ras OF his ominous surroundings. his
e ana ~. oraVado would instantly have lost its
H. =, Ut bottom with PUNK.
S@6 Ss~-iV,eS are, as a matter of fact, that he
hs nc Oeen scared stiff''-too stiff to get out
Rs mtInf AS-Ior the moment, at least And,
NE bav ,,GSHlhgly, am assuming that that boy
N -a'e been myself.
sNnsto,. Or any of us to have ventured in the
Y asa ass 70 go in there alone-quite ur'think-
y he 49, w. you are asking, has all this to do
sSs tso. SaeS0on of the German general war
9Ga han when storming fortress or charg-
eoy IN c,oS Inc in sending their troops at the
ssl III 0se order or mass formation?"
81 and :, man is the boy and the boy is the
saGoo r. Gue mental attitude of the soldier in
8 lsbt,.u,SS 0le Is precisely that of the boy and
MI + .,.d graveyard.
sSbDaI uiHerence, all boys, unless it be the
hot a