New-York tribune., 1922-10-27
The Tosuer
Corr, Ee. York 1,4buns Inc.. 1898

1 AHu " yVu WSSe BpoA oWthh"Sas r
yor would not hesitate a minute
| about jumping In TO save that per-
sons life, would your
| II you force us to be candid, it all
depends:
a. Upon whom the person might be-
II it were cer.ain persons, we might
hesitate hfty seconds and then assist the
course Of Nature by throwing rocks.
t2l Upon how fast the river m ght
be running, Us depth and what we knew
of that river, generally, anyhow.
(3) Upon how cold the water was
We are subject TO pleurisy. bronchitis,
etc, and we would be sure to remember
1t at such time.
az Upon whether we had an engage
ment for dinner that evening, and
| whether there was time to change our
clothes between the rescue and dinner
time.
| (5) Upon whether other persons
standing about knew we were good
swimmer.
(6) Upon what our wife might think
Of 1t, If she happened TO be present.
| t7l Upon how long it had bean since
| lunch, or the previous meal; for it is
| very bad For person to go into the
water 100 soon after ca ing.
These considerations would present
themselves TO us very rapidly, no doubt
! with the rapidly with which per-
sons past life flashes before his inner
eye when ne is drowning, perhaps--may-
be in some hing like thirty secondhand
at the end Of that time, If every hing
aeemed all right, we might jump in.
Unless we felt that we were being
bullied by public sentiment into playing
he part of the conven ional hero.
Saving persons life is. an extremely
dangerous experiment. 1t is apt to
create sen mental tie, which mny be-
| come good deal Of bore later. We
knew o fellow ore zine who sarad
persons life, and the saved person
forced an intimacy upon hm, ana So
| rowed money and tobacco from him for
years. One must think quickly in these
crises.
A first false step, in the way of hero
ism and mpulsive courage. ard you are
committed to an attitude for life; an
attitude which may entail long train
Of annoyances and debilitating incon-
veniences.
The American lnd,an--or Arnerindian.
ss it is now fashionable TO call him
was not fully appreciated by our pioneer
torefathers, who murdered, and were
murdered by, him, who sold him gun.
powder and whisky, traded with him,
stole his land and chivvied him west
ward and ever west; our ances.ors did
not know him ae q spiritualistic econ
Srol." 1t is astounding how many OF
hese Indians, since thsy passed hTer,"
have Interested themselves in kindly
fashion In the lives Of individual MEM
bers OF the Palefaced Tribes. The hers-
after must be full and spilling over
with Indian bucks who used to huns
deer and bear and settlers while they
were on the earth plane, but now spend
heir time hun ing mediums with whom
they can chat in a cozy fashion concern
ing intrnsically uninteresting details in
the experience of persons whom they
never knew. 1t is Indicative OF a lack
OF imagination on the part OF these In.
dian ghosts; one would think they might
be able to find something more appeal
ing to do with their time, snd some.
hing more in character Sill, one
never knows how tastes will change after
death; they have not merely time on
their hands, but eternity.
These reflections are induced by read.
ing a passage from an article BY Sir
Ar hur Conan Doyle In "The New York
World" He is speaking OF a mediums
who went into trance for him when
ne was in America not very long aRo.
and he says:
Z. Then, In deep, grumbling voice,
ne began TO talk, the words pro.
Tossing TO come from the usual In.
dian control, Black Hawk in this in
stance. He spoke for nearly swo
hours. chatting with us, Joking, in.
PRODUCING other spirits, answering
questions and in all ways playing
up the part. he gave the names Of
dozen people ut least upon the
o'her side who had messages for
! my wife or for me--about equally
divided between us-and every ono
OF these names did really represent
some one who had lived. The bro.
ceedings showed an intimate knowJ.
edge Of my family history"
And so forth. Our own interest in
Sir Ar'hur's family history, what shere
is of 1t, Is genuine genu,n.
though mild. 1t arises from an inter.
est in Sir Arthur himself, and thar
comes from an interest In his very an.
ter aiming books. the Sherlock Holmes
stories, "The White Company" micah
Clarke" ETC., etc. Are we TO supna.a
that Black Hawk, the Indian chief. has
formed an enthusiasm for Sir Arthnra
Family history through reading Sir Az.
snur's books also? We seem to be- an
an!e TO shake ourselves free from :
sRep slcism as to Black Hawks in ara.s
IN the romantic fiction Of this dav AnJ
yet, in spite Of our skepticism. the u in.
terest may be there H. .'.r go. sa
OF pocahontas, for all we know r,a,, e.
awaiting impatfentlv the nay% rn..sy ~