PRESENCE OF MIND.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 540, 8 February 1913, Page 2

PRESENCE OF MIND.

CALMNESS UNDER DIFFICULTIES Shortly after leaving school, the father of the present Lor.l Kinuaird and Mr. Gladstone, both yoatlis, *?ent some time together in Italy. One day they wero on the Mediterranean in a light craft when a furious storm suddenly arose. After struggling for some considerable time against it, the boatmen gave way to panic, and cast themselves down in the,bottom of the boat and began to pray. Left to herself the little vessel was in imminent danger of foundering, and had it not been for the presence of mind of Gladstone who, being aware of the seriousness of the situation, sprang vto the holm, and told his companion to attend to the sail, a great man would undoubtedly have been struck off in his youth, cn.l the modern history of England considerably modified. Lady Halifax tells a story of an incident which happened to her grandmother,. when a little girl, living in the great mansion close to Saffron Walden. She was sent with a message to the housekeeper, who, for some time, had been known to be semi-insane. The woman) suddenly, however, appears to have gone raving mad, for as soon as the little girl had entered the kitchen, she rushed to the door an:l locked it. Then, picking up a knife, she went to where the child was standing and told her that she had a mi.-rsion from God to kill her. But ready wit prevented the tragedy. The girl said she dared not do it as she had a reprieve, picking up a serviette and handing it to her. This little action at least saved the girl from being seriously injured, if it did not actually save her life, ao the housekeeper instantly put down the knife and let her go. A somewhat amusing story is told of Mark Twain, which gives an instance of the great humorist's ready wit. When in the midst of some important work his telephone-bell rang and, after shouting himself hoarse and receiving no answer, he used some language which is not generally seen in print. While thus engaged, he heard a n answer in' astonished tonss, and recognised the voice of an eminent, divine. With his usual quickness of mind, he at. once inquired, '"ls that you, <?o'-tcr ? I didn't hear what you said. My butler has been on the phono, and hj says he couldn't understand ;.'ou."

When a prominent Government official was motoring to his office in Calcutta, some littb while ago, a Bengal youth, of abo it fifteen years of age, threw a steel '-omb, of about the size of a cricket hall at tlic car; Seeing the action of the toy, the official immediately jumped up in the car, stretched out his hand, a nd caught the infernal machine. Had it uot been for his timely action, however, he would undoubtedly have been blown to pieces, and a number of pedestrains (for it was a crowded thoroughfare) seriously injured. There is nothing more terrible than a fire at sea, and in such circumstances it is very iiifiicult for the captain to prevent a panic occurring amongst his passengers. One Sunday morning, after divine service, the captain of a great Mediterranean liner learned that a serious fire was raging in the hold of, the vessel. Without the slightest hesitation he immediately ordered a firedrill. nnd the passengers, thinking that there was nothing amiss, enjoyed the sight. For six hours a desperate fight was maintained in mid-ocean, and ' it was not until Several officer;;, and finally, the captain himself, were brought up on deck in an unconscious state, that the passengers learned the true state of affairs. By this time, however the flames had been subdued, and the vessel was able to proceed to the next port without any trouble occuring with ■ the passengers. Great presence of mind was shown by a young schoolmistress rccmtly, when she found herself confronted with a burglar. Hearing a uoise outside her bedroom, the young woman jumped out of bed, and 0 n opening the door, saw a man standing on the stairs. "Who are you ?" she asked, and the intruder told her to go back to bed. This she did not do, however, but ordered the mau downstairs. He did as he was bid, but stopped when half-way down and asked the lady to come oji<l let him out. After turning on the light nhc did as he requested, shook hands wi-th him at the door, then aressed and cycled for the police, with the result that the intruder* was arrasted several bours later..