Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-12
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
RY PAUL /. COLLINS.

act of the hero" rather than his sui
cidal leap into the sea.
One who has heard that blood cur
ding cry, in midocean las has the
writer, Man overheard" and has wit
messed the lowering Of a rescue boat.
while the ship plowed on under its re-
SiStleSs momentum, cannot but Shudder
In that other case. the man overheard"
was demented and a suicide. but not
ripple upon the pillows told where he
had vanished
Az d the recent act. of diving into the
ocean from a ship In motion, Is claSsed
by many as an act of courage. rather
than in The same class as that which
was so condemned by the King. Not
love. but Vanity!" II the dive could
possibly have saved a drowning per-
son, and the diver had ignored danger
to himself II would have been heroic, in
decd, but as 1t was inspired by vanity.
its courage was not to be compared with
the after "alibi," in attempting to ex-
plain II away
Dare deviltry Is not courage. any more
than jazzine tin pans and footing horns
is music. In this age Of jazz, there APP
pears to be popular confusion AS To
the difference between noise and melody
-foolhardiness or ignorance as to real
perils. and the courage Of a hero recog-
nlzlng the danger. yet going on with
his duty,
In the seventeenth century there lived
one OF The hravest soldiers that France
has ever boaStcd--Gen. Turcnne, He
nad never lost battle, yet he tremhled
as great battle was opening He felt
his knees quaktng. and he spoke sternly
to himself
Thou trembest. body? II thou knew
est whittier l shall take thee presently
thou mightest we'll tremblel
viii, In worthy cause In the face
OF recognized dan2er~-~that is courage.
Contrast the vanity plunge into the
sea with the courage Of a fireman who
ruShes through flame and smoke to save
child IN burning huildingl Or
policeman who fights several burglars
IN the dark! Or the courage of that
62-yc2r~old pasSerby who discovered a
crowd watching a boy drowning IN Tidal
Basin last week. and who instantly civcd
and saved the Childs life. while score
of Younger bystanders stood helpless.
The world has all too few real he
rocs. and their number is not increased
by vanity teatS. for there was never
known combination Of vanity and
herotSm, 1t was the taunt Of the fight
erS at the front during the World War
that the world champion prize fighter
vas content TO remain In essential in
dustry'' rather than face real danger
This has no reference to Tunney the
modest Marine. who fought his coun-
trYA enemies first and has since con-
ducred thet champion" and Shake
without boast of his proves
either at the front or at the pursuits
OF peace, following the danger,
Carlyle lectured on Heroes. and this
extract is the paragraph which fingers
IN memory
An, yes, | will say again, The great
silent meni Looking round on the noisy
inanty OF the world words with little
/ meaning, actions with little worth, one
loves to reflect on the great Empire of
Silence. The noble silent men, scat
tered here and there. each In his de-
parlmeht. silently thinking. silently
working, whom no Morning Newspaper
makes mention of! They are the salt
of the earth, A country that has none,
or few of these, is In bad way. Like
| forest which had no roots, which had
all turned into leaves and hougha-~-
which must soon wither and be no for
est. Woe for us II we had nothing but
what we can show OF speak Silence.
'he great Empire OF Silence, higher than
The stars. deeper than the kingdoms OF
death, IL alone Ii great, all else Is
small"
How that recalls the Bible expression
, OF the most awing manifestation nf the
Almighty, not In tha storm. but In 1.-THE
still small voieei" Great decisions are
formed IN silence, Does the Jazz age
know that9
Yes, the world has gotten confused
ideas about what real heroism means
"Oh. 1udRm mt thou hast fled ~
/ british beasts, and men have lost their
, reasonth
Perhaps It's due. 10 the heats~the
heated pace OF modern life, the heated.