HIDDEN FORCES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4775, 12 November 1924, Page 3

HIDDEN FORCES.

MEN WHO MAKE GOOD. THE UNKNOWN QUALITY. We are full of hidden forces. Iff a crisis we discover powers in ourselves. powers that have lain dormant, secret reserves of ability,, only waiting occasion to leap forth. . You can tell just what strain a baof iron will bear, just what weight a locomotive will pull, and just how much liquid a glass vessel will hold; but you-cannot tell how much responsibility a man can carry without stumbling, nor. how much grief a woman’s heart can suffer without breaking. The human being is the unknown quantity in the universe. The frightened boy can jump a fence he would not atempt in his sober senses. A frail woman jn the desire to save her child becomes as (strong as Sandow. A soldiei battle-mad acquires the strength of ten. , The one thing nobody knows is whqj; he can do in a pinch. The forceful natures are those that depend upon this hidden nerve force. These are the pioneers to whom the danger from unknown beasts and savages is a welcome fillip. Panic only calms them, clears their brain, and steadies their hand while other men go mad. Defeat only rouses in them dogged strength, slanders, sneers and curses cannot drive them'from their work; success or praise does not make them dizzy. They are not prudent, they are not wise; they are not skilled and train- . ed; they simply make good wherever they are put. There is no recipe for producing such souls. The choicest heredity cannot breed them, schools cannot prepare them, religion cannot form them. They are not heroes. They are bet'ter—they are men. When jou meet them they seem commonplace, often shy and awkward. But don’t be deceived. They are only really Great Men. For they are the men who make good.