Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 January 1915 — LEARN TO DISCOUNT DANGER [ARTICLE]

LEARN TO DISCOUNT DANGER

British Medical Officer Studies the Psychology of Courage Among the Soldiers. London. —A medical officer who has been making a study of the “psychology of courage” at the British front, says that most men confess to a feeling of fear which only wears off after several days in the trenches. “But once this physical instinct of terror is conquered, there comes,” says the medical man, “a second courage, which, while not despising danger, is able to dlscount'it. Under Are these men find a self hitherto unsuspected, an elusive quality which for want of a better title is called manhood.” “The soldier learns first to. control, then to measure, his fear,” he says. “He learns to discount possibilities just as the ordinary railroad traveler does. And -the work in hand generally engages and holds more and more of his attention. Then comes a time when he wants to go back to the firing line, not because it Is pleasant there, but because staying away is just impossible. 'While the man who has not yet been under fire cannot safely count upon experiencing this or that particular feeling when his hour comes —this depending upon temperament and circumstances—he can, I believe, count upon soon achieving the second courage, which is the priceless possession of the veteran. 'Under Are he may lose every preconceived notion he ever cherished or shunned, but it is highly probable that he will find himself.”