Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1896 — Rewarding Heroism. [ARTICLE]

Rewarding Heroism.

Only to the officers and men who In time of war have distinguished themselves by some act of valor or devotion is the Victoria Cross awarded. Where the act of daring is performed under the eye or command of an admiral, general or officer, the cross can be awarded on the spot. Where not so performed, the claimant has to make good his claim, which is most jealously inquired into. In the first case the decoration is made publicly before the naval or military force to which the claimant belongs, and his name is to be recorded in a general order, while the cause of his special distinction is to be set forward. In the second Instance the decoration is to be conferred as soon after the claim is proved as possible; and the name of the recipient must also appear in a general order. Valor, like virtue, is, of course, its own reward, and the best men, as a matter of fact, are seldom claimants for so great an honor. They are recommended by comrades who were eye (witnesses of their heroism. Lorenzo Faginoil, who saved Garibaldi’s life In IM9 by hiding him in the swamps nejr Ravenna, after he had been obliged to leave his dying wife in the retreat from Rome, has just died at Ha-enna.