Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1900 — URBANITY A PAYING QUALITY. [ARTICLE]

URBANITY A PAYING QUALITY.

Instances in Which Courteous Men Have Found Politeness Profitable. Many years ago the late Dr. Shippen, of Philadelphia, left his house In early morning and was hurrying down the street when he noticed a singular and ■ferocious-looking man, whose gaze was •fastened upon him. With Instinctive politeness and bonhommie he smiled, raised his hat and passed on, when suddenly he heard a shot. Turning he found that the stranger had just left his home with the insane intention of killing the first man he met. He was the first man; but his absolute fearlessness and constitutional as well as cultivated courtesy had put the man off his guard, and the next passer-by had caught the bullet intended for him. That smile and bow had saved his life. When the country was a century younger and the Indian was yet in the land, a gentleman upon the then frontier was hunting with friends, got separated from them, and completely lost his way. Every effort to retrieve his steps led him still further into the wilderness, and night overtook him in a dense forest. Overcome with fatigue, he lay down under a tree and slept profoundly. In the morning he awoke with a start, with that Indescribable feeling that some one was looking at him, and, glancing up, lie saw that he was surrounded by hostile Indians, and that the leader of the band, in war paint and feathers, was bending over him in no amiable mood. He took in the situation at a glance—knew his immediate danger, and had no means of averting it; neither did he understand a word of their language. But he was self-possessed, knew the universal language of nature, and believed that even under the war paint and feathers “a man’s a man for a’ that.” He fixed his clear, bold eye upon the Indian, and—smiled! Gradually the fierceness passed away from the eye above him, and at last an answering smile came over the face. Both were men—both were brothers—and he was saved! The savage took him under his protection, brought him to his wigwam, and after a few days restored him to his friends. Courage, self-com-mand, and tact had gained the day.— Lippincott’s Magazine.