The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-12-14
PANIC: MISAPPREHENSION
OF D~ANGER-CWebster)

Inc west Is unmlStakaDly IN a state
of panic today. Undoubtedly, as our
old friend Webster points out, this
panic is "unreasoning," and is caused
by misrepresentation of danger" To
those among The Silver State readers
who can remember eleven years back
the definition of panic, or what panic
is, a be brought clearly to mind by
recalling events of 1907.
At the beginning of that year the
United States, as a nation, was enjoy
ing the highest degree of prosperity
it had ever known. Crops had been
never before so large. Manufacturers
were busy, with orders ahead, enjoy
ing nice profits. Business was good"
Working people were abundantly en-
ployed at better wages than ever be-
fore. We were at peace with the
world.
Did any disaster, or lack, or disease.
or untoward event of any kind occur
to disrupt this prosperity? No. But
disaster came. What caused it? 1t
was caused by fear; blind, unreason-
ing fear; fear without a PARTICLE Of
foundation in fact. There was panic
stampede, and milling" What had
happened? Nothing but this: Some
body arose and said, II am afraid
1t matters not that the first one who
said that was afraid for his money
or that he had more money than he
could ever use. As Kipling says, that
is another story. Panic was here, and
blind human sheep followed a blind
leader.
Human beings always do grotesque
things when deprived of their reason
by fear. Volumes might be written
on that subject alone-volumes of his
tory. This history of the panic now
prevailing among people of the West,
when written, will contain. among
other things, the remarkable spec
tacle of the health Office of San Diego,
for instance, ordering the inhabitants
of that pretty city to wear gauze
masks. and the city council refusing
by unanimous vote, to pass an ordi-
nance to carry out his desire.
At the same time the mayor of San
Francisco-now a discredited mayor
for other reasons-issued a proclama-
tion telling the people by the Golden
Gate that there was danger in the air
and advising them to re-don gauze
masks, "as a protection to themselves
and Others" But in this case the
health officer laughed at the stampede
of the mayor, and advised the people
to do no such thing as their executive
head proclaimed, denouncing the mask
as a foolish, useless, insanitary and
harmful device.
These incidents were opposites, and
the same opposition of fear is found
wherever n may look. In railroad
travel it may be observed that some
passengers don masks when entering
a crowded car, believing the breath of
human beings to be poisonous; while
others, entertaining an opposite fear,
put the little white aprons over their
mouths and loses when leaving the
cars, thinking Gods air on the out
side is full of deadly germs.
Walk down the street at home, and
some friend will remark to you, if
you will permit it, that he thinks a
good cold snap with some snow would
improve the situation; and when the
"cold snap" comes, some other friend
will tell you that probably sickness
would disappear if we could only have
a few nice, sunshiny days.
Go where you will, and view the
situation dispassionately, and wha;
can you find? Blind, unreasoniag ter
rof. True, the individual you t?lk TO
may appear calm, but his words be-
tray mental stampede. Reason has
departed; superstition has taken its
Place. In the words of the beautiful
1G7 psalm, "They reel to and fro. and
stagger like a drunken man, and are
at their wits end And it may no. be
amiss to note, in passing. that the
Hebrew translation of the latter part
is "AIl their wisdom is swallowed Ip."
A famed lecturer of Detroit, Michi-
gan, William ID. Fitzpatrick, C.S., re-
recently said; LET us pause just long
enough to pay our brief respects to
our little friend the germ, and to the
germ theory. / refer now to the bad
the wicked germ. We are told that
there are good germs, but they do not
seem to be popular. The bad germ
is the only one we ever hear much