Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1910 — THE FIRST CHOICE. [ARTICLE]

THE FIRST CHOICE.

It Was Ri*ht, Too, Because the Bravest Are the Tenderest. Some years 'ago the excursion steamer returning from Alaska to Seattle dislocated its propeller in a dreary portion of the inner passage and came to a forced stop. For two days the vessel’s engineers and machinists labored to repair the break, but without success. Two of the boats were manned and dispatched for aid to Victoria, 300 miles away. In the meantime it was discovered that the ship’s stores were not abundant. Alarm bred in the minds of the pessimistic passengers, and the contagion spread. Starvation might assail the vessel before help arrived. A former California .official took it on himself to reassure his timid companions, but his effort was not perfectly adapted to raise drooping spirits. In fact, his closing sentences but added to the gloom. “Let us be brave,” he said. “If the worst comes and that dread necessity which in such misadventures has met others must be faced by us,-let us remember that it is good to die that our friends may live. The one or more that may be sacrificed will be consoled by that thought” There was a moment’s silence, awful in its intensity, then a cheerful volte was heard. "You should be taken first, Governor Booth. You know the bravest are the tenderest." And even the terror-stricken smiled once more.. —San Francisco Argonaut