up and was sinking. It did not occur to him to save himself until his duty was done. Officers and men, in danger of being swamped by the death struggle of the ship, rowed around her, trying to save life, and careless of their own. The captain was the last to leave the ship. No man sought his own safety at the sacrifice of another, nor sought it first.—Youth's Companion.
(1099)
FIDELITY TO THE RIGHT
Lydia M. Child said she would never work
on a winning side. Lydia Maria Child was
a writer in the full tide of popularity when
she devoted herself to the anti-slavery cause.
She was subjected to social and literary
ostracism. Her books were returned, her
friends forsook her, and Church and press
denounced her. But this did not daunt her
spirit nor swerve her for one instant from
the cause she felt was right, and she consecrated
the rest of her life to its support.
Words can not describe the deprivation to
which she was subjected, but she felt no
loss. As the inspiration spread, mothers sent
their children from house to house with
her "appeal," and vitally assisted the great
movement.—James T. White, "Character
Lessons."
(1100)
Fidelity to the Thing Undertaken—See Thoroughness.
Fighting—See Boys' Adjusting Their
Troubles; Strategy.
Fighting, Causes for—See Peacemaker,
The.
Fighting Qualities Admired—See Accomplishment.
FIGUREHEADS
The time is ripe for abolishing figureheads in the moral, ecclesiastical and social world, as well as in the navy.
Secretary Meyer has approved an order
originating in the United States Bureau of
Construction for the removal from all the
vessels of the Atlantic fleet of their figureheads.
This action is based purely on war-service
reasons. It is urged that in time of
peace for maneuver purposes the figureheads,
if gilded, afford a shining mark to reveal to
the constructive enemy the whereabouts of
the ship and in time of war, if painted with
the protective war color, the artistic value of
the figurehead is wholly lost. Furthermore,
figureheads cost a good deal of money and
have a good deal of weight, and serve no
practical value whatever in warfare.
Even as far back as the times of the Greeks and Romans, and the Phœnicians and Egyptians, figureheads, made often in the image of the gods of war, were regarded as important to their triremes as oars or rudders. Great Britain has at her navy-yards at Southampton, Portsmouth and other points arranged figureheads from the old wooden ships of her navies as a feature of naval museums. Of course, the figureheads from American battleships would be a different thing. Most of them are made of brass, and are in some cases fine works of art.
The figurehead on the Olympia, which was designed by St. Gaudens, cost $12,000; that on the Cincinnati, which embodied the design of the Olympia's figurehead, cost $5,700. The figurehead on the cruiser New York is a very fine model of the coat-of-arms of the State. Some of the largest of the figureheads weigh several tons, and in that respect are objectionable.
(1101)
Financially Strong, Morally Weak—See Drink, Peril of.
FINITENESS
The tiny dew-drops as they rest
At morning on the flow'ret's breast
Are children of the mighty sea,
Small gleams of its immensity.
The candle shining in the night
From the great sun derives its light;
Its little beams are truly fire,
And upward to their source aspire.
No less the humblest son of earth
May lay a claim to heavenly birth;
We are not born of senseless clod,
But children of the living God.
But after all is said and done,
The spark of fire is not the sun,
The drop of dew is not the sea,
Nor is the best man deity.
—Charles William Pearson, "A Threefold
Cord."
(1102)
FIRE, COST OF
Fire levies upon Americans each year an
enormous tax, calculated by government officials
at almost a million and a half dollars
a day and 1,499 lives a year.
As a result of an investigation by officials of the geological survey, it has been ascertained that cheaper fireproof materials can be used to advantage in construction, that
